DOC campsites in Coromandel

Camping with DOC in Coromandel

Free DOC camping is almost absent from the Coromandel. Of its 20 campsites, 18 charge a fee and 19 can be booked online through DOC, so plan ahead rather than counting on a spare pitch. The one free campsite is Moss Creek Campsite in Coromandel Forest Park, a backcountry site reached on foot with non-flush toilets and nothing else listed.

Coromandel Forest Park holds 14 campsites. Many are roadside standard sites at $10 a night for adults, with non-flush toilets and stream water: Booms Flat, Catleys, Totara Flat, Wainora, Hotoritori and Shag Stream all fit that pattern. Whangaiterenga Campsite is also $10 and is the only campsite in the region with flush toilets. Kahikatea Campsite is for self-contained campervans only, at $13, and has powered sites. Further in, Trestle View ($10), Billygoat Basin ($10), Dancing Camp ($12.50) and Crosbies Hut Backcountry Campsite ($12.50 to $15) are all reached on foot.

Northern Coromandel is the coastal end, with 5 campsites, and every one has cold showers. Waikawau Bay Campsite is the region's largest, with 132 sites, powered sites and an adult rate of $18 to $23. Port Jackson costs $18 to $20, while Stony Bay, Fletcher Bay and Fantail Bay are $18 each. All of them take campervans, though Port Jackson, Fletcher Bay and Fantail Bay are classed as backcountry campsites.

Across the region, 14 campsites list campervan access and the landscape runs from forest to rivers and lakes to coast. Where water is listed, it is untreated tap or stream water, so carry a filter or boil it. Only 2 campsites allow dogs in some form. Wentworth Valley Campground appears in the list without fee, access or facility details, so check DOC before relying on it. With just 2 DOC huts in the region, campsites far outnumber huts here.