Punakaiki Beach Camp

Go for the cabins! The cabins are amazing! The staff is friendly and the facilities are clean.

Good: great location with Paparoa track, rugged beach, walks, views, cafe's. Bad: wifi only works in the kitchen area. Bad: expensive. In all our camping ground we stayed at in the sth island it was the most expensive. Bad: it rained the entire week we were there - obviously not the camping grounds fault but drainage was an issue. Bad: sites are far away from the one toilet block. Bad: showers are terrible. Plumbing issues meant either only hot came out and was scorching or freezing cold. The push button timer for water was annoying, only lasting for about 20 seconds. Bad: I asked if at front desk if there was bike hire around and they said no but right next door I found bike hire. It's a shame they don't support other community business. Bad: the idyllic photos on website showing the river are a bit misleading. It's a bit of a walk to get there. And you have to get the right time for tides. No wifi was the biggest problem for us as we depended on it for work.

Unique stay, room is basic, pillows aren’t great. Wonderful atmosphere. Towels aren’t provided but front desk was nice and gave us some.