Ranking: 10/10

Beautiful place to camp, clear markings on where to camp, nice clean public toilet and there is water for dishes, not drinkable though. We spent 2 nights in tents, 5 kids, four adults and one dog. People came and went each day and we befriended a lot of our neighbours during our stay. The beach is beautiful, we hunted for kaimoana but the pipi were quite small so put them back. Would highly recommend and would return if ever back in Mahia.

Reviewed 6 months ago

Ranking: 8/10

This is a great free campsite right on the water. We stayed for 2 nights with our 2 children (8 & 11) and two small dogs.

We arrived around lunchtime and had almost the entire allocated camping area to choose from. By night time I counted 17 different groups staying on our first night and 12 on the 2nd.

They do come by once or twice a day to introduce themselves, answer questions, check on everyone and to make sure you are camped where you should be. We found it marked out easily so didn't need help.

The toilets are tidy for public toilets which are open 24/7. They have sensored lights that go on at night for those midnight toilet runs you may need to do with the kids.

There is a tap next to the bathrooms which we used for boiling and then doing dishes but we didn't drink it as we were unsure of the quality.

The water is a lagoon that flows into the sea and is good for exploring and seafood collecting. It remains shallow for a big portion of the shore and then drops off to 1.5metre - 2metre depending on the tide. This area flows more like a river out to sea so I would recommend only experienced swimmers or closely supervised children swim in this part. If you lift your feet you'll get swept towards the sea shoreline.

We did walk the length of the lagoon to the beach during mid and low tide. During hightide this is possible just a lot more splashing involved.

Dogs are allowed but not off their lead.

We'll go back again at some point.

Reviewed over 1 year ago

Ranking: 9/10

A lovely grass spot along the coast. A beautiful drive down there and a nice place to sit and watch the sunset, stars and sunrise. There are (flush) toilets and changing facilities as well as a bin. The camping area is clearly marked and there is plenty of space, while I stayed there were about 8 vehicles and there was space for double that if you are all in cars/campers and considerate of one another. Overall a lovely place to spend the night.

Reviewed over 2 years ago

Ranking: 1/10

What's up with these fines? This is just weird. Will skip and F**** you weird council ! Get a life! Omg who are these people ?

Reviewed over 3 years ago

Ranking: 1/10

DO NOT STAY HERE! Unfortunately we read previous two feedbacks already after received $200 fine from Wairoa district council for camping in a wrong place, otherwise we would avoid this campsite. We are very accurate and respectful travelers, prior to our stay there we checked the information on Wairoa council website about the area and even checked the map, it has two areas - green to camp and red to do not camp. We got there quite late, installed our tent on the side marked green on their map, just after the last camper and went to sleep. Nobody tried to let us know we are in a wrong spot. We got up early before sunrise to have a breakfast and continue our travel. Two weeks after we received $200 fine (ticket issued at 10pm) for "freedom camps where not permitted". I though I received it by mistake, but now reading previous reviews I see that this is the way how Wairoa council works and makes some extra money from travelers, deciding to save a little money and choose free site instead of staying in a holiday park. Do not repeat our mistake.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

Ranking: 1/10

DO NOT STAY HERE!! This campsite was clean, tidy (noisy due to building site) but overall beautiful and very well maintained. However if it is dark when you arrive, beware. My partner and I had been driving all day when the Rankers app told us we could stay at this campsite. We got there when it was dark so it was quite difficult to see signs. What we could see was on the right hand side as we drove in, there were two or three big workers machines parked, opposite these was a patch of grass filled with campervans, then there were some wooden bollards and on the other side was empty other than one tent. We figured this was the spot made for campers in tents so we pitched our tent and went to bed. We left the campsite before 9am, so were not obstructing families or tourists. We later got a $200 fine for 'camping in the wrong spot'!! This is disgusting. I wrote back to the council explaining the circumstances and that had the sections been marked properly, we would have camped next to the campervans. Read a review further down saying the council knocked on their van to let them know they were in the wrong place- this would have been a very nice warning as we would have got up and moved there and then but apparently the council decide who they want to help and want to fine. (Our ticket was issued at 11pm, so not too late to let someone know they are in the wrong spot)They have declined our letter and the fine must still be paid. I feel that this is unfair as there was alot of work going on and no lights to see designated areas. As a backpacker i do not have $200 spare but i guess this is just how New Zealand works.

Reviewed over 4 years ago and experienced in November 2017