We arrived in the dark but were impressed by the lush green scenery that we woke to.

There are very smelly but spacious drop toilets (not those small plastic mini toilets that the very remote DOC campsites have), but they didn't have a light so take a torch. We had to leave early and the lake was covered in dense mist so we didn't get to appreciate the views. Overall I was very pleased with this pretty site.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

I appreciated these as examples of what nature can create but I like geology and geography.

Others may find them less interesting/an anti climax. Go through the DOC walk entrance not via the restaurant (don't follow the big blue signs) so that you don't feel obliged to pay $2pp to use their steps down to the beach.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

We had bad weather on the day we went so can't comment on the scenery too much.

But the Jucy cruise was good. They'd run out of milk by the time we went to get a cup of tea which was a shame. The staff were knowledgeable and the captain does the perfect amount of talking - a good balance of information and peaceful times on the water.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

A truly relaxing experience.

A few problems though - their website doesn't say what each 'package' contains, so I booked the indulgence package and also chose to pay for hire towels. Turns out the package includes towels, so on arrival I had paid for towels twice. They offered me extra beverages or ice cream instead of a refund. I also found the staff to be quite abrupt (but not impolite) and their voices, volume and tone not in keeping with the tone of the experience. The waiting area is shabby. We were also shown to our pool room 5 minutes late with no offer of extra time at the end to compensate. Remember you still have to undress and take a shower before you can hop in and start enjoyed the tub. Luckily 50 minutes in the tub is enough as it's very hot! The tubs and rooms themselves are AWESOME.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

More of a car park than a campsite; it's literally a gravel area on the side of the road.

However there are so few other free or DOC options in the area that we had to use it, and so did many others - it was busy and crowded. The toilet is a distant and steep uphill walk, has no light or toilet paper and smells very bad. The hills surrounding it are nice, but possibly my least favourite site that we stayed at.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

Not an especially beautiful camping area but in the distance are the great snow capped mountains.

The camp area itself has no facilities but it's close to Tekapo and free, so gets my approval! It was a spooky drive in at night time as there's little else around and you feel like you're driving down a ditch into a trap. Extremely cold overnight temperature! There's a warning sign as you enter about quickly changing river conditions so perhaps don't visit after heavy rain in case of flooding.

Reviewed over 8 years ago