Freedom Camping in Tasman 2026: Motueka, Richmond, Takaka and Abel Tasman

The bylaw and what it excludes

The council adopted its Responsible Camping Bylaw on 11 September 2025, and it took effect on 1 November 2025, after submissions on a draft that was then called the Freedom Camping Bylaw. Its page says the bylaw does not apply to DOC land, commercial campgrounds or private land such as a supermarket car park. The council has published an interactive map of the designated spaces alongside it.

Freedom camping in a tent on public land is not permitted anywhere in the district, according to the council. That rules out the beaches and reserves that look tempting around Kaiteriteri and Mapua. A vehicle that is not certified self-contained has only the three sites below, and a tent needs a campground or a DOC campsite.

Sites that take vehicles without certification

The council's page lists three designated sites where vehicles that are not self-contained may stay: Motueka Beach Reserve with 3 parking spaces, Alexander Bluff Road Reserve at Ngātīmoti with a maximum of 40 vehicles, and Fittal Street parking in Richmond with 12 spaces. Space is first come, first served, so a site that is full means a campground, not a nearby car park.

The council has also said it provides 147 freedom camping parking spaces across the district. That total, and the further sites in the table, follow the consultation draft of the bylaw, so they need checking on the council's map before you rely on them. Decks Reserve in Motueka, for instance, was drafted as a weeknight site only, from 6pm to 8am.

Nights and the other conditions

The draft bylaw set the maximum stay at two consecutive nights, on no more than two separate occasions in a calendar month, counted within 500 metres of a site. It asked campers to leave by 8am unless a site's entry says otherwise, to keep their belongings inside one parking space and to light no fires. The council's final text may differ in detail, so read the signs and the council page for the exact limit.

Self-contained vehicles are the default for every other space, and the draft defined them by a valid certificate. Blue warrants stopped counting on 7 June 2026, so the green card on the windscreen is the one to carry. The council can give written consent in advance for something outside the rules, with the draft asking for the application 20 working days ahead.

Where freedom camping is prohibited

The draft's Schedule 1 prohibits camping in any reserve, park or sportsground that is not listed as a designated site, and in cemeteries. It also marks red the townships and beaches most visitors head for: Takaka, Pohara, Ligar Bay, Tata Beach, Wainui Bay at McShane Road, Marahau, Kaiteriteri and the Kaiteriteri to Sandy Bay road, Split Apple Rock, Riwaka and Motueka township, with a part of the Decks Reserve car park excepted.

Inland the draft names Saint Arnaud township and Lake Rotoiti's Kerr Bay, and Wakefield's Edward Baigent Scenic Reserve. Mapua is in neither schedule of the draft, and the council has no designated site there. If a spot is not on the map as a designated space, the safe reading is that you cannot stay.

Fines

The bylaw leaves penalties to the national schedule. Camping in breach of a bylaw costs $400, using a vehicle that is not self-contained where the rules require it also costs $400, and a missing warrant card costs $200. The fee for refusing to leave when an officer tells you to go is $600, and leaving waste on the land or damaging it costs $800.

Court fines can reach three times those amounts. The notice goes to the registered owner of the vehicle, which means the hire company for a rental, and the company will normally charge the renter plus an admin fee.

DOC campsites and the Abel Tasman

KiwiCamping's DOC data (11 August 2026) lists 37 DOC campsites in Nelson and Tasman, 31 of them bookable online through DOC, 2 of them free, with adult nightly rates from $10 to $31. Tōtaranui Campground is the largest. The bylaw does not reach DOC land, and DOC publishes its own notices for freedom camping on conservation land.

For the coast track, the Abel Tasman campsites guide covers the walkers' campsites, and the Nelson, Abel Tasman and Golden Bay guide covers a drive through the area. Booking early matters in January, because the Tasman's beach sites sell out first.

Using KiwiCamping around Tasman

KiwiCamping covers the DOC campsites, huts and holiday parks of the Tasman region on one map, with tracks, filters for facilities and a satellite view of the coast. The council's designated spaces are not in the app, so open the council's map for the one you intend to use. Place details, saved places and guides still open offline, while the map tiles, routing, weather and photos need signal.

Put a paid site beside each night that relies on a council space, since a space of three can be taken by 6pm. Trips keep the order of your nights with dates and notes, add up the distance of each leg and show the forecast at every stop. Free to download, with in-app purchases.

Places along the way