Whites Bay Campsite
Blenheim area
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Whites Bay Campsite
This camp has lovely scenery and is close to a surf beach at Pukatea/Whites Bay. Go walking, fishing, swimming or kayaking from here.
Pay cash on arrival at the self-registration stand at the campsite. There is a maximum of seven days per stay for this site.
From Labour Weekend to Easter the gate is closed from 9 pm to 7 am daily. Closing the gate is for campers safety.
DOC Campsite Pricing
Whites Bay Campsite is categorised as a DOC Standard Campsite. The following pricing indicates usual pricing. Prices vary for some campsites and may include seasonal pricing. Visit the DOC website for exact pricing.
DOC Standard Campsite
Standard campsites have a more limited range of facilities and services than Serviced campsites. These campsites have toilets, a water supply that could be treated or untreated tap water, or from a stream or lake, and vehicle or boat access. Bring your own soap for washing hands. Untreated water should be boiled before use to ensure it's safe. Wood BBQs and fireplaces, cold showers, picnic tables, a cooking shelter and rubbish bins may be provided; this will vary from site to site.
| Feature | Value | Value |
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| Unpowered Site | Adult | $10.00 to $15.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Child | $5.00 to $7.50 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Infant | $0.00 per night |
Adults are 18+ years, children are 5-17 years, infants are 0-4 years.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
|---|---|---|
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Organisation |
DOC MarlboroughCentral government organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Blenheim |
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Categories |
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Operating Season And Hours |
All year |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |
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Websites |
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Basic Camping
Reviews
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4.5/5
Beautiful bay with lovely beach and some good hiking.
Facilities were great (toilets and showers) and there’s a host on site. It was busy so recommend booking with plenty of time ahead of staying
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4.5/5
New Zealands finest camping spot.
If you're not being annoyed by the morning calls of the Weka, the glow worm night lights will keep you up.
Totally awesome!
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4.0/5
Great camping spot, showers, beautiful beach.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
- check in with the camp host
**** GATE is LOCKED 9pm - 7 am ****
This was the first DOC site or any site at all that we stayed at in 3 weeks that had a gate. I missed the signs, and the small print on the website booking stating the gate would be locked til 7 am. We had to be at the ferry at 645. Which is why I chose this campsite, the only affordable availability for a nonself contained van (due to new laws) - the 30 min drive to the early ferry was great.
Until we saw the locked gate during departure.
This lead to a very negative interaction with the camp host.
Regardless of my travel experience and due diligence with planning I hit my first snag in 3 weeks of NZ travel.
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5.0/5
Stayed one night only mid March, hardly anyone there, lots of birds including a couple of friendly weka.
Bring your solar shower, there's a hook you can use.
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4.5/5
This place was a piece of paradise.
Our host was wonderful and he helped us sort an amazing site with a little stream at the back and weka cruising around.
The beach was very gorgeous tho the water was super chilly for the time of year and not many were braving past their knees.
The only downside was the fast influx of many daytrippers who park everywhere and can block you in if you're wanting to break camp and move on. We had to do some strategic parking to make sure we could get out. We were there at peak season and the weather was gorgeous so perhaps only a problem at those times.
Would love to go back to Whites Bay and camp for longer.
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4.5/5
A real gem of a campground!
The area for tents in front on the beach was great, only one other tent with us so it was very peaceful. Lots of campervans but they are parked on the road or in the other campsite in the bush. We loved going for a swim in the evening and having the showers and toilets so close. Cold shower only, flush toilets and a space to change clothes when you go swimming. Tap water is available but needs to be boiled. Also, lots of birds! We paid in advance online but the DOC guy is nearby if you need to book on arrival. The only "disappointment" was the glow worm cave which was absolutely impossible to find (and we searched for a long time). I don't know if we somehow managed to miss it or if it simply doesn't exist anymore?! But still, one of our favourite places to stay during our trip!
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5.0/5
Great location.
Great facilities for a DOC site. Right beside the gorgeous beach and only $10 pp. Hard to beat!
Well worth the drive round the coast to get to.
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4.5/5
Beauty campsite, good washrooms and close to lots of tramps.
Glow worm grotto is a great night activity! Make sure to close your doors around sunset though, we got invaded by a TON all at once as the sun went down. After sunset things seemed fine again.
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4.5/5
We were heading to Robin hood and found road was closed.
Turned into whites bay. Eftpos was a life saver as it was after dark and we were not prepared for cash. Really friendly guy. Sorted no problem. Parked up 2 berth camper bunked down. Short walk up the beach in the morning and we were off. Very pleasant quick stay
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3.0/5
Good for what it is.
$6 a night per person, cold showers. Advised to treat water from taps. There's walking, fishing, glow worms and bike tracks. Up a winding hill about 15km north from Blenheim.
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4.5/5
Beautiful bay with lovely beach and some good hiking.
Facilities were great (toilets and showers) and there’s a host on site. It was busy so recommend booking with plenty of time ahead of staying
-
4.5/5
New Zealands finest camping spot.
If you're not being annoyed by the morning calls of the Weka, the glow worm night lights will keep you up.
Totally awesome!
-
4.0/5
Great camping spot, showers, beautiful beach.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
- check in with the camp host
**** GATE is LOCKED 9pm - 7 am ****
This was the first DOC site or any site at all that we stayed at in 3 weeks that had a gate. I missed the signs, and the small print on the website booking stating the gate would be locked til 7 am. We had to be at the ferry at 645. Which is why I chose this campsite, the only affordable availability for a nonself contained van (due to new laws) - the 30 min drive to the early ferry was great.
Until we saw the locked gate during departure.
This lead to a very negative interaction with the camp host.
Regardless of my travel experience and due diligence with planning I hit my first snag in 3 weeks of NZ travel.
-
4.5/5
This place was a piece of paradise.
Our host was wonderful and he helped us sort an amazing site with a little stream at the back and weka cruising around.
The beach was very gorgeous tho the water was super chilly for the time of year and not many were braving past their knees.
The only downside was the fast influx of many daytrippers who park everywhere and can block you in if you're wanting to break camp and move on. We had to do some strategic parking to make sure we could get out. We were there at peak season and the weather was gorgeous so perhaps only a problem at those times.
Would love to go back to Whites Bay and camp for longer.
-
5.0/5
Stayed one night only mid March, hardly anyone there, lots of birds including a couple of friendly weka.
Bring your solar shower, there's a hook you can use.
-
4.5/5
A real gem of a campground!
The area for tents in front on the beach was great, only one other tent with us so it was very peaceful. Lots of campervans but they are parked on the road or in the other campsite in the bush. We loved going for a swim in the evening and having the showers and toilets so close. Cold shower only, flush toilets and a space to change clothes when you go swimming. Tap water is available but needs to be boiled. Also, lots of birds! We paid in advance online but the DOC guy is nearby if you need to book on arrival. The only "disappointment" was the glow worm cave which was absolutely impossible to find (and we searched for a long time). I don't know if we somehow managed to miss it or if it simply doesn't exist anymore?! But still, one of our favourite places to stay during our trip!
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5.0/5
Great location.
Great facilities for a DOC site. Right beside the gorgeous beach and only $10 pp. Hard to beat!
Well worth the drive round the coast to get to.
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4.5/5
Beauty campsite, good washrooms and close to lots of tramps.
Glow worm grotto is a great night activity! Make sure to close your doors around sunset though, we got invaded by a TON all at once as the sun went down. After sunset things seemed fine again.
-
4.5/5
We were heading to Robin hood and found road was closed.
Turned into whites bay. Eftpos was a life saver as it was after dark and we were not prepared for cash. Really friendly guy. Sorted no problem. Parked up 2 berth camper bunked down. Short walk up the beach in the morning and we were off. Very pleasant quick stay
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5.0/5
Fantastic beach and beautiful capsite with lots of different options for camping and shelter.
Very clean toilets. Brilliant walking tracks and lots of options from short walks to all day ones. Cant reccomend highly enough
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4.0/5
Awesome camping ground, very close to the beach.
We arrived really late and managed to talk DOC into opening the gate. Lots to do swimming , cliffs , walks and glow worms. Was a little bit windy but very shelteredand hard rocky ground on the hills to put pegs into so take a hammer!
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4.0/5
Beautifull but $13 each.
Self registration. No bins, cold showers, good toilets, no fires.
Pretty gul when we arrived on a Sat afternoon at 4pm. Pretty drive up and down and round windy road.
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4.0/5
We were the only campers here on this Winter’s evening.
Fell asleep with the sound of the ocean almost beside our camper door. Strolled up the hill for a look at the glow worms! Gorgeous! Toilet facilities were modern and relatively clean.
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4.0/5
Lovely place.
Particularly nice to experience with children as there are plenty of places to explore.
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5.0/5
Excellent camping spot - quite sheltered from the passing cyclone.
Hot showers too! Pleasant camping in the bush with minimal sandflies and a few cheeky Weka. Check out the glow worms!
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4.5/5
White's bay camping is very quiet in the off-season.
There are two official camping areas that were closed off in winter but there is adequate space for camping in the loop around the historic telegraph cottage close to the beach. Apart from a couple of firm gravel patches next to the toilet block the available grassy spaces are very soft and muddy. The toilet facilities are excellent and very well maintained. Apart from the attractions of a beach and a short bush walk to the gloworms there is not a lot to do at White's Bay.
The road from Rarangi is very steep and narrow in places. Caravans and larger motorhomes could find it a challenging drive in strong winds from the south.
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5.0/5
We did many of the walks that start here.
What a great way to kick off your day!!
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4.5/5
We had a lot of wet weather when we were here which didn't allow us to enjoy this campsite fully.
But it has a great beach! The camping area was nicely maintained and there were some places to get out of the wind. There is a permanent camp host who can also give information about the walks and area.
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4.5/5
This DoC campsite beside beautiful Whites Bay is in a stunning location.
The facilities are simple (new flush toilets and cold showers) but is well maintained and worth the $8/head camping fee. The beach is just beautiful and looks very safe for swimming and there is a range of walks to satisfy all. Don't miss the glow work grotto. Friendly Camp Hosts ensure that everyone pays up and keep the place clean and tidy.
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5.0/5
Fantastic site.
Stumbled across it on the way to another site and decided to stay. Facilities were so clean and better than some campsite that we paid $40 for. Lovely private beach. Great value for money, only costing $6pp.
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3.5/5
Nice area, although very windy road from the town and very busy during the day.
Was very pleasant view with nice beach. Just be careful of the grass; most of the site is grassy and quite boggy, so it seemed, we got stuck on a flat normal looking grassy site and needed fellow campers to help push us out.
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4.0/5
Great DOC site.
Quiet over public holiday weekend in winter. Loses the evening sun but great beach.
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4.5/5
A great little camp right at the beach.
Good facilities (cold showers though) and room to spread out. Might get crowded in mid summer as there is a surf club on site. Great views over the Marlborough vineyards on the way in and out.
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5.0/5
Spectacular location and beach.
This has to be one of the best DOC camps in the country. If the sea were just a bit warmer it would be #1.
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4.0/5
Trees provided nice little 'alcoves' to set your tent up, which gave more privacy.
Clean modern bathrooms. Close to bay & beautiful scenery. Friendly manager. Passes a farm where you can buy fresh farm milk, so take an empty bottle to fill up - delicious stuff! Cold showers.
