Camping over the summer holiday period has always thrown up its challenges … but things have gone next level this year in Victoria!
The State Government’s decision to remove camping fees at 131 Parks Victoria campsites until the end of June sparked a surge in bookings that has created issues of its own.
The Age reports that, since October, campers have booked more than 165,000 nights at the sites – a 93% increase from the same time last year, when only 85,500 bookings were made.
This figure does not include the more than 1,000 free camping areas across the Parks Victoria network that are still operating on a first-come, first-served basis.
Caravan parks and campsites across the country have been packed this summer. PIC: Dozza
The newspaper says the initiative, which has saved campers $7.3 million in booking fees, has seen all but two locations – Lake Eildon and Croajingolong National Park – currently fully booked for the season.
The thinking behind the free camping plan was to relieve cost-of-living stress … but there have been knock-on consequences.
Among one of the major fears was that the initiative would lead to a surge in ‘ghost camping’ where by people would book campsites ‘just in case’, and then not show up because there was no financial incentive to go to the bother of cancelling.
What the booked-out site situation has also meant is that those who were slow off the mark to make a booking are faced with the prospect of going from free camping at a national park to spending a small fortune at caravan parks instead.
The Age reports that soaring caravan park rates at some of Victoria’s most popular holiday destinations are putting camping out of reach for some.
It says those lucky enough to have snatched a coveted spot in a caravan park along the Great Ocean Road are in some cases paying more than $800 a week for the site, and cabins are fetching about $3000 a week.
The paper reports that, on the Bellarine Peninsula, campers are paying nearly $200 a night for a powered site during the Australia Day weekend.
The Age spoke to a Melbourne mother of two and avid camper who decided to holiday on the NSW South Coast after struggling to find affordable sites in Victoria.
“The prices are crazy, there’s no availability, and it’s beyond my means,” she told the paper. “I’m a solo parent with a well-paid professional job and can’t afford to take my kids camping in Victoria.”
The Age reports that the woman, who did not want her name published for privacy reasons, said campsites in southern NSW had more availability, and fees ranged from $40 to $90 a night.
“I think more foreshore camping grounds need to be made available, so the prices come down and availability increases for this peak period,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to worry and go in ballots and save for six months to take a two-week camping holiday with our family.”
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I refuse to use caravan parks because their fees are outrageous, I don’t book other sites either, I prefer to sleep on the side of the road rather than be squashed up in some crap joint.
Agree…but do find legit off road spots, especially SA and Vic..
Hi guys, sorry but the caravan parks need our help to survive.
But in saying this I won’t stay in parks over $60.00 per night.
A good park should be from $35 a $40.00 per day.
I have heard of parks that charge $20.00 a night and you have a great night with music and food, you domain believe $5.00 a burger
Anything above this is a rip off.
Yallingup in WA $132.00 per night mind you it is peak time but you don’t get anything extra for the price.
I also wont stay at caravan parks if I can’t get a refund.
I stayed at a caravan park that was working from their own power and the subject came around to the running costs and the price of diesel … Simple answer was.. That he would turn off one motor and start the other motor.. The second motor ran the freezers in the small shop… The other motor ran the caravan park… The power in the caravan park went off around 8-30 pm and did not return until 8-30am…
I agree 100%
Paid camp sites should be kept in our parks.
How else are parks staff to be paid and facilities provided, plus more parks staff employed to police the growing number of people flaunting the system and leaving untold mess and damage to our parks.
We definitely need a better way for booking and to stop ghost camping.
For me the old way of first come gets the spot, but leave the money in the box and police its collection.
Increase the fines and consequences for ghost camping and damage to our parks.
The fees should be kept nominal and affordable.
As for caravan parks, the fees are out of hand.
It is a disgrace and gouging the fees that are charged now.
And the practice of increasing the price for sights throughout the day, which is called “progressive Pricing” should be made illegal.
The government has cased the supermarket’s for this practice, why not our caravan and camping/holiday industry.
Totally agree with all u say, I live on the road mostly off grid and have noticed a big change in what the greedy C Parks have done…
City council and government is charging big moneys in taxes and levys the caravan parks. The are passing it to the travellers. People think is the caravan park being greedy….big part of the fee you pay to caravan park go to the government. Any cheaper and would not be worth doing it.
Like a lot of situations the tax is in form of levy. Do you make money or not is irrelevant. You pay the fees and levys. If you haven’t make any profit…bad luck
It’s like the rental market….everyone think the landlord is greedy….in actual fact the landlord is tax collector. Collect from the tenant to give to the government levys and fees….No way landlords are selling….
It’s becoming better to have nothing and be look after by the government.
I would be interested to know exactly what these taxes and levies actually are because they certainly do not apply to all caravan parks since there are still some caravan parks that are more reasonably priced. My view is that high prices simply reflect demand and supply that relates to the popularity of the park in the context of its location and seasonal demand with the owners intent on maximising their profit. While campers continue to pay the asking price there will be no incentive to reduce fees.
People on disabilities who can drive should have a special allowance due to what life has thrown at them and some people will know what I’m implying here. Cheers……..
There should be no paid sites in parks . We own the parks not the government. They also need to stop restricting where people go in parks and stop corralling people in like cattle to small areas
I’m sorry to say you can’t trust everyone to do the right thing, more area opened up means more mess and damage to the environment. I’ve seen it in free camping sites all over Australia.
We paid $120 for one night at a discovery park on the northern NSW coast no power access or water xmas 2023 the prices have got ridiculous yet you can go to inland caravan parks for$35 to $40 per night. I believe it is the corporate parks that have driven proces up they are greedy.
Agree and greedy councils.
The gov tries to encourage people to go out and enjoy australia – but greed
inevitably stands in our way.
If campers are happy to pay these high prices the greedy Park Owners will keep putting the prices up. Freedom of choice is in the hand of the user – You!.
The prices that most caravan Parkes. Is outrages. They have just become more ey Hungry.
There is no way they can justify over $35-40 per night for a power site.
The big Parkes try and justify the price by telling you of all the good things they have put into the park.
What a load of rot. No one asked them for all the unnecessary items that take all the fun from camping and make the kids enjoy the outdoors without the BS van parks.
In years to come when people stop caravaning/camping watch the prices come down.
We have been travelling around most of Aust for over 30 years for work/pleasure and I will not stay in a van park that rips me and others off.
We perfer to stay somewhere on the side of the road where it is peaceful.
I suggest to people who can have the option
DO NOT STAY AT VAN PARKS.
Whilst I do concur some caravan parks (mainly corporate parks) are charging high rates, I am flabbergasted that $35-$40 per night for a powered site is considered expensive, considering the costs of running such a business. I personally would be happy to pay this rate anywhere in Australia.
Yeh well said Gil
40 bucks per night is not possible for old age pensioners. Plenty of beautiful free camps if you do a bit of research.
G’day as a former fruit block owner and having harvest workers from the 80s most harvest workers used caravan parks for accommodation. Fast forward 25 yrs after a break fom the industry I was gob smacked at the price of caravan park fees and also the fact that caravan parks have all become tourist parks charging ridiculous rates as a now full time traveller and harvest worker I think it a crime to be charging $40.00 plus for a site to park a caravan over night is ridiculous they got rid of permanent residents and have out priced harvest workers i have said for a few years now that this will come back to bite them with fewer people choosing to camp at tourist parks evident when travelling you go to towns where the cp is to expensive some $60 per night no we will not pay that so you drive on to the next rest stop to see 30 vans all thinking the same thing it’s a false economy overcharging travellers and being underutilised where as if they charged a fair price they would be full and word of mouth is a real thing for travellers and we vote with our feet. Thank you for reading. Happy travels everyone.
The Parks are making hay while the sun shines. It makes their books look good when they want to sell and move on.
Complain as much as you want, CP are booked out solid at the high prices.Its even worse if you have kids, easily over 120 bucks per night.
Get used to it or go to Bali!
Ridiculous policy by Vic. Government. Maintenance and services will drop , those who strategy is targeted will not necessarily benefit ,. Retired caravan travellers who can easily afford NP fees will benefit most and those who want to park their vans for free will not be policed. Surely better to charge all and give low income earners free or discounted fees and those who can afford pay to maintain our beautiful National Parks.
Assumption that grey nomads are wealthy
So true, most are pensioners or low income but still want to enjoy camping and seeing Australia.
To pay $200/night for a powered site is insanity. I use mostly free/donation camps & Showgrounds & I avoid the coastal areas because of the prices & the crowding.
And still the vanparks whine to Council to close free sites!!
And it is worse in towns where the Council owns the park !!
How selfish can you get?
The same thing all over the country as all the prices are out of touch I had to book a camp site 2 years in advance just to get a site in Q.L.D
I have never paid any fees when I go camping. I have been camping for over 30 years.
I do not understand why people pay, even $1 is outrageous.
No I don’t camp on roadsides or rest areas.
There are literally thousands and thousands of free camping all across Victoria!
We just come from Warrnambool in Victoria and a caravan park was changing us $198 p/n for a powered site, its fair to say that we will never be going back to that caravan park again
If the councils did their job they would allow camping in self-contined in areas not used all around the towns to bring tourists in. Now the tourists go elsewhere and those places benefit. So many nice and suitable places managed by exclusion. after all – WE the PEOPLE own these places. Councils get way too high handed and want to impose authority everywhere.
It’s all very well to charge over the top prices in Caravan parks during holidays but what real gets up my nose is when you get into the park and find if only half full it means one of two things. It’s too expensive and not the best, best location. Also don’t forget Covid……
What’s covid got to do with their prices..? Had a fellow at a caravan park say to me after a day on the road ..” Call it a late check in.. And so… Half price.. “
I think it is about time Councils provided more affordable camping for people. When we started camping back in the 1970’s, there were more council run parks which were affordable for families like mine. Now, these greedy caravan park owners are only exploiting people with charging over inflated and exorbitant fees, as if the cost of living isn’t already through the roof! Now families can’t even afford and enjoy a holiday together. Where has this Country descended too? It is a sad day for all and is only going to get worse if something isn’t done.
I agree with you 100%
Some caravan park owners are nothing but greedy parasites. Anything over $50 a night for a power site is immoral in my opinion. It is about time the ACCC were given teeth, and these grubs penalised.
Even $50 per night is not possible for pensioners … I travel alone in a small van, no kids, do not require power or water or playground equipment … … …
Caravan parks like the big 4 are the ones stopping free camping over Australia. They weed there way into council.
We camped down at Wilson’s prom in early December – we were lucky to get a spot as it was fully booked online with the free camping incentive. However less then half of the sites were occupied whilst we were there. Such a shame that people treated it that way but also the booking system is flawed and should force some kind of deposit – redeemable at the visitors centre when you actually turn up.
Does anyone know of a National Park booking system that actively managed and reduces ghost camping? If so perhaps it should be replicated.
Cost of living, many people can only afford to stay local, increasing demand. Maybe there’s a way to limit those without kids booking coastal sites during school holidays? Plenty of time the rest of the year for other punters to enjoy them. . .
Maybe even staggering school holidays a bit for different regions could be considered…
Free camping in Victoria is the first positive decision made by the Victorian Government in years. I don’t think there will be too many complaints, with exception of one or two, which is normal. Good job Victoria.
We stayed at park on central coast cost us $800 for a week
From late December 2024, to the 6th of Jan 2025, we booked and camped at Emu Bight, which is near Loch Sport Vic.
I was amazed, that out of 24 sites, only about 10 were occupied at any given time while we were there, about 10 nights. I expected the park to be super busy over the Xmas break, but I realise now that the sites must have been ‘ghost booked’, due to the number of vacancies?
While there, we saw the park Rangers a couple of times, but they did not know anything about the vacancies, nor did they have access to the internet to be able to investigate our questions about the vacancies.
The thought that someone could book a site for free, and then just NOT turn up, to be incredibly arrogant, careless, selfish.
Also, while we were there, some campers were incredibly noisy, they were cutting trees for firewood, using generators at very late hours, and left there sites covered in rubbish, but that’s another story.
We were happy to pay. In fact we DID pay when we booked, but then we received a refund of the booking fees.
I believe that the site fees for our National Parks are VERY affordable, especially when compared to traditional caravan park prices.
I say we ALL SHOULD pay to camp in our parks. Someone has to pay to help manage and protect our parks and pay the amazingly dedicated staff who care for them.
We booked 3 nights at a free national park campsite in Victoria (2 sites, 2 families travelling together) only to find when we arrived someone else’s tents, gazebos, eskys, bbqs etc on both the sites (but no people present at the sites to request them to move). Calls to parks vic led to no solution, with young kids we didn’t have all day to wait for the people on our sites to return etc so we had to go to a local caravan park and pay to stay for the 3 nights (great full they could fit us in) but feeling disappointed we can’t rely on bookings we made using the parks vic system. Parks vic don’t seem to feel any obligation to sort it out as the sites were free for us to book (i.e. they don’t owe us a refund etc, as we hadn’t paid to book them). Whole system is a mess
To stop ghost camping charge a fee when booking, and receive a refund when you actually turn up or cancel.
Do not mind paying something like $10 a night per couple $12 family when amenities are provided as a cost is involved in upkeep As for park owners most are just taking advantage of the situation where opportunity exists. There should be a way of capping prices when greed is so obvious. Read over 400,000 vans sold last year if correct the Parks Vic and Gov must start looking for more camping areas . We free camp most of the time. My hint when in WA stay away from the coast as council rum van parks are far cheaper as low as $10 per night.
I haven’t attempted to book a free campsite in Victoria. I have stayed in a Victorian national park campsite with room for 100 vans just before Christmas and we were the only people there. On the same one month trip through Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, the highest price paid was $70/night on the SA coast and also at Gold Coast hinterland. More common charges at Inland CPs were $25 to $50. Some towns open their showgrounds/golf clubs to campers for very low prices, e.g. $19/donation.
Caravan parks are using a system where the computer automatically charges against demand- its a total rip off especially on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria- close to 200 dollars for a overnight large carpark to put your caravan on