Curio Bay Camping Ground

Wonderful campsite with great spots between the reeds - great protected bay with Hector dolphins, seals and yellow-eyed penguins - beautiful paths and great food are on top

Nice campground, decent sized pitches. We stayed in an unpowered site. Individual toilet blocks could do with some attention. Agree with the other reviews - the amenities block is too small for the size of the ground. It also shuts between 10am-1pm for cleaning, which seems a long time for such a small building. Inconvenient as it spans over lunchtime. Perhaps only one person is staffed to clean it. Kitchen area and bathrooms were modern and clean. Does get very busy due to the size. Location excellent! Right in between both bays, surf hire next door at Porpoise Bay.

Not really a good place to stay for the night. You can access to the famous beach without spending the night. The man told us in the morning that it was chill as the camp wasn’t busy (we were maybe the only one there) so we’ve been to the bathrooms areas at 10: 30. And he came in like he forgets what he just said before, to told us we had 2 min to shower before it closed it. We rush under the shower but he decided to hurry us more by turning the light off. We start to scream but he wasn’t enough for him cause he decided to turn off the hot water. Terrible experience

Definitely not recommending this camp. There is no service at all. There are no staff at the camp at noon. There is no cooking stove in the kitchen.
It didn't work, there was no hot water for showering, and I couldn't find anyone to help after calling many times. It was a nightmare. We are just like sleeping rough in the wilderness, money is always collected. We met another young couple in the camp who called us for half an hour but no one listened. They finally gave up and drove away from the camp. I don't understand why there are so many good reviews, and I really doubt whether it is true.

Really bad experience with the staff where the cleaning lady did not trust us regarding our previous night booking. She did not want to let us take our food back from the kitchen. She was really suspicious and complain to the manager who came and did not apologize after seeing that we obviously booked the night before.
I don’t recommend at all

Great location, service at reception minimal. Had to go back to get code for kitchen and then reception was closed when we realised we had not been given wifi code. Could have more toilets around the campsite. Nice kitchen, showers etc. Again, facilities must be very busy in peak season!

The place is beautiful, but I gotta evaluate the campground itself and the service. First, I paid for a powered spot and there was no information I would need an adapter to plug my stuff there. They deal with tourists daily, so there are no excuses for that. Basically, I paid for an extra I couldn't use due to lack of information.
Second, this is pretty expensive considering what they offer. You're using a camping spot, but paying for a room.
The brightside was the shower. Good flux, warm.

Nice camping, nice stuff
great location, we could swim with dolphins and seals and saw yellow eyed penguins, just amazing,

A great place in an absolute dream location. Shower okay. Kitchen too. A toaster was broken. Unfortunately, the parking space we had was a bit sloping. The absolute highlight is swimming with the dolphins. It's unbelievable how they seek to be close to humans and come within touching distance. If you walk along the entire bay you can also see sea lions. We were lucky enough to see a family with three boys. Unfortunately it didn't work out with the penguins.

Almost didn't book as there were slightly mixed reviews but that would have been a mistake. Amazing location. Clean facilities (you no longer have to pay for a shower as other reviews mention). Saw lots of dolphins in the bay playing in the waves. Tried to go and see penguins but were told after there are only 4 that live in the beach so unlikely to see them. Fairly windy.

Beautiful 5 star spot. Unfortunately whoever runs the place has no idea about customer service.
Toilets and kitchen closed for extended periods. 10am-1230! I understand cleaning needs to be done but people also need to use the bathroom that they are paying for. It could easily remain open like every other place.
Rude and aggressive cleaner/maintainer.
The people in the check in and restaurant were nice though, however inexperienced.

Nice terrain, big tent places, surrounded by 1 meter of bushes as fence. Even with lots of wind, comfortable. Close to beaches and spot to see pinguins. To see pinguins you need to be at the right moment; information about that was contradictory. We saw them between 5 and 7 pm (no dusk). Only 2 going to the sea.
Good kitchen, showers and toilets, clean. Office is limited open but can be called. Nice museum at office giving lots of insight in petrified forest with nice animation and film.

Booked online, the guy at the cafe handed us our paper bag, didnt mention our instructions and pin code etc was on a separate bit of paper and not on the map like every other camp ground we had been to in the sth isl.weather was at it's best or worst when we were there.very very windy kids, could hardly keep up right, tides were not kind for viewing the rocks.keep that in mind when planning a trip there.photos of sea spray on rocks were fab very wild and windy.sent the girls up to the kitchen at 10.55 to fill water bottles for our car trip to Dunedin they were denied entry by the cleaners who were not supposed to close the facility till 11.a bit nit picky I know but I was annoyed by the cleaners attitude.not a penguin to be seen but thems the breaks.cant control mother nature.

$45 for a camp site is to much and have to pay for a shower aswell sites not even level i have no idea how you would stay there in a tent my opinion i would stay elsewhere

Inadequate showers dribbled out and we're like warm, not good value for money, most expensive on our trip.very disappointing.

Too dear for what you get, been all around nz this is over the top!
Don't come here no dump station pay for all your facilities.

We had a good sheltered spot for our RV, surrounded by flax plantings, close to facilities. Saw lots of dolphins in Porpoise Bay and one of us swam. The waves, seaweed and petrified forest were awesome to view. Lots of walks, cliff, beach, rainforest. The cafe was handy and we enjoyed a good coffee.

Awesome location facilities average. Definitely recommend staying there if in the Catlin's area. Stunning views and scenery.

Curio Bay. Nice campground (contrary to some of the feedback) and friendly staff. Snug sites or site bays separated by flax plantings on what would otherwise be an inhospitably windy peninsular. Safe drinking water. Fairly tight security to keep day visitors from using facilities: good clean showers ($1 coin needed), toilets, laundry and kitchen/dining space. There are other toilets dotted around the camp area; less salubrious but you don’t need to walk far in the night. Beach is good for walking and swimming, and there were dolphins playing in the sea. Petrified forest and penguin crossing very nearby (200m walk), and a remarkably peaceful, quiet forest-reserve walk, to the sound of native birds, across the road.

Amazing location on the Cliffs above Porpoise Bay. Powered sites are a generous size (10m) but the site we booked had no power supply without running a cable across the road so we moved, which was not an issue. New kitchen and amenities block with code access. Bathrooms could have been cleaner as mould in a new shower is not what I expected. Showers $1coin for 5mins but plenty of time to shower. The most amazing thing is the location. We saw beautiful sunrise & sunsets and swam with the Hector's dolphins who frequent the Bay. The cutest baby dolphins I have ever seen. A once in a lifetime experience. Our neighbours were locals from Balclutha who made us feel very welcome, we had an awesome time and would definitely return.