Lake Rotomanu, New Plymouth
Overnight Campervan Parking
18 Rankers Reviews
0 Face-to-Face
13 New Plymouth
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Information
Tents and other temporary structures are banned from freedom camping in New Plymouth District.
People freedom camping in non-self-contained vehicles can stay for a maximum of one night in a 30-day period, and must freedom camp in the marked spaces.
Four sites available only.
Details
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Organisation |
Local government organisation |
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Location |
North Island ▷ Taranaki ▷ New Plymouth |
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Reviews
Showing 13 reviews of 18.
Get the best out of it. Here's how…
Wayne
Ranking: 8/10
Picturesque setting, well located in relation to surf spots, coastal walkway, golf courses and CBD. On downside: boy racers and their loud duf duf music and squealing tyres. Topping that tonight the Naki’s primal drumming demographic have congregated by lake at sunset.
Ko
Ranking: 6/10
The lake is lovely and if it wasn’t for some loud hoons dangerously racing their cars and blowing their horns as they passed by from 10pm-2am, it would have been a lovely experience.
George
Ranking: 4/10
Non self contained can stay one night, clean facilities and nice enough area but the lake is very busy with families and jet skis. Seems as though people enjoy revving their engines/doing burnouts along the road at night to bother the campers but feels safe enough with everyone else around.
Melanie
Ranking: 7/10
Tidy enough place to stay for a night. 4x NSC sites. Lots of cars going up and down the road, even though it was a dead end so was a bit worried and didn’t sleep that well. Pretty spot!
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Bex
Ranking: 9/10
Nice little spot.. great walking and plenty of space to park
Wanderingphoenix
Ranking: 9/10
Stayed for 1 night. Weve parked our campervan almost right next to the lake. Perfect view when you woke up in the morning!
Flush toilet is available. Though there is a shower but both of them are our of order. But a shower is not something you wpuld expect in a freedom campsite 😊
Boardwalk Blss
Ranking: 9/10
Very pleasant camping spot which was not overcrowded while we were there. Freedom camping anywhere around the lake but there are 4 designated placed near the toilets for NSC vehicles. Below this level are designated spots for SC vehicles. We camped further round the lake in a large pullout which is “legal” tho locals did “check us out”. Close to central New Plymouth - we found the i-Site folk very helpful and encouraging of SC freedom camping in the area in designated spots
Mathieu
Ranking: 1/10
There are 4 spaces for non-self contained, and lots of room for self contained vehicles. There's toilets, and even a sink for washing up.
However, some young locals were parked by our camper, with their lights on, being very loud and obnoxious from about 10, until 1 am. When another camper confronted them, asking them to simply move to the other side of the lake, they got very aggressive and started threatening her and hitting her car. We called the police but the locals left before they got there. It felt very unsafe and we didn't sleep a wink.
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Gracjan
Ranking: 1/10
WARNING! : SINCE 2020 YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO STAY HERE WITH AN SELF-CONTAINED-VEHICLE!
However NSC is fine on marked places but SC is not. We got a ticket for 200$ and talked to a friendly local who was very pissed about this situation as well, but he showed us an newspaper article that said that you aren't allowed to stay here with self contained vehicles.
Luna
Ranking: 8/10
It's a nice spot near a lake, with toilets and showers (the showers weren't working tho). You have a great view over the lake and it's near to town. Non self contained vehicles must park in marked spots and there were only 4, so be fast to get one. When you're self contained there's a lot of space! Trash bin available.
Eva Muselaers
Ranking: 9/10
4 non self contained spots, plenty of Self contained places. Toilets, a sink, plenty of grass around carpark, big lake ( quite some watersport on the lake so quite busy at daytime as it's summer holiday). Very close to Rewa Rewa bridge & coastal walkway.
Dave Kitson
Ranking: 10/10
There are 100+ flat parking places in the park - many with nice views of the lake. All but a few, right by the sea, are available for self-contained freedom camping. Other camping is MUCH more restricted as mentioned in previous reviews. So if you are SC there is no need to cram yourself into the first car park you come to. You can enjoy the area as late as you like secure in the knowledge that there will be plenty of space when you arrive.
When we were here, virtually everyone was in the first car parks but I checked with the ranger who was busy moving on non-SCs and he confirmed that we could park anywhere.
Tassie Travellers
Ranking: 9/10
Beautiful spot next to the river. Very serene. Quite a few noisy cars back and forth but that settled down at dark. Not an issue for us. Suggest you don't park near the kayak launching area which we didn't see when we arrived. Not a friendly person stating we are not allowed to park where we were early the following morning. We are fully self contained and parked in a car park away from the NSC vehicles.
