Elliot Bay campground is an undiscovered treasure on the east coast of Northland.

I’m hesitant to write about it because we’d rather this untouched paradise stayed a jealously-guarded secret. It’s set in the most astonishing beautiful, remote location far away from the noisy crowds and tiny cramped plots you encounter at so many commercial camping sites. We arrived on Christmas Day 2023 and the new managers, Charlotte and Michael, were incredibly kind and attentive to us, taking time to provide excellent information about the area while preparing Christmas dinner for a large number of family and friends. We requested a beachfront site and ended up with an entire paddock right on the beach to ourselves. We could park our fully self-contained motorhome wherever we liked. There were a few groups camping in tents in another part of the campground but our only immediate neighbours were rare and endangered dotterels and oyster catchers. A handful of surfers and fisher-people turned up during the day along with hikers traversing the rugged coastal headlands to even more remote bays. We climbed the hill behind us, ablaze with pohutukawa trees in full bloom, and discovered exquisite, deserted Pahi Bay. Ours were the only footprints in the sand that day. We also hiked the nearby Whangamumu DoC Track to a long-abandoned whaling and sealing station. Highly recommended for spectacular scenery and rather gruesome history of how the whalers cornered their prey in this small and tranquil bay.

Don’t go to Elliot Bay campground expecting fancy facilities. It’s exactly as advertised, a rustic, back-to-basics Kiwi camp site where you need to be able to survive off-grid and without wifi. It’s a rare privilege to find such an unspoiled gem these days.

However, if camping is really not your thing, there’s upmarket accommodation on a hill overlooking the beach.

Reviewed 10 months ago