Ruakaka Beach Holiday Park — Attraction in North Island

It's quite unbelievable but the situation at Ruakaka is worthy of mention. We arrived at 11am and were informed we could not check in until 12 noon. Reason – all sites needed to be vacated and cleaning done prior to new arrivals (even if you were self-contained and didn’t need facilities). It is to be noted that it is the middle of winter and the camp was very empty. We filled in some time by having a walk around the camp (not allowed to drive in the gate before 12), and chose our preferred site. However, even though the site was unoccupied, we were not allowed anywhere near it, and told to return at 12 noon 12 noon – the office is closed. We waited and finally called the phone. Response was they were “working in the camp and would be there within 5 minutes”. We waited a further five minutes, nobody came so we called again. Same response “we will be there soon”. After 3 calls, 12.15pm, still no-one to check us in. We gave up and left. This camp is absolutely governed by rules, rules for everything. We kept to the rules about check-in without fuss, but the management failed miserably to abide by their own rules. Life is too short for this lack of common sense and poor treatment...

Currently staying at this beautiful family friendly campground situated on the beautiful Ruakaka estuary. What we love about this place is all the staff are so helpful and security is around making you feel safe but you don't feel like it's constant. Other Campers are friendly and everyone looks out over each other's sites. The estuary is usuable at anytime of the day, low tide is great for building sand castles, beach cricket, soccer, touch, frisbee the options are endless. High tide is great for paddleboarding and kayaking and we have only seen 1 boat through here so very much a safe environment. Our kids are 5 and 6 years old and we feel so safe having them down there. The facilities are always clean and the bins are emptied regularly. The playground is very well sheltered and the kids love playing there. Close to shops, surf beach and only a 30 min drive to Whangarei if needed. Site manager Annemarie is friendly and looks out for all those in the park and keeps the campsite safe for everyone with regular messages during your stay for any events that happen whilst here. We highly recommend this campground for your next...

Location is excellent but rules are excessive and management have zero common sense. We felt like we were walking on egg shells.

One evening at 9pm, a security guard told us to move all our vehicles inside the site boundaries. This was confusing as reception recommended we park parallel in front of the boundary line so there was enough space for our tents.

We didn’t argue and moved our tents and gear (in the dark) for about 30 minutes while security stood watching us. We felt targeted as most other campers had their cars parked in front of the line!

Then another incident. Quite time is 11pm and we wanted to respect that so a few minutes before we quietened our voices and turned off light music. At ONE minute past 11pm the security guard showed up and gave us a noise warning.

For the next two days security constantly loitered around us which felt stressful and unfair.

I really wanted to love this place. The facilities and location are excellent. But management are rude and pedantic. Look elsewhere if you care about a place with...