Tauranga Bay Holiday Park — Local services in Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community

We read the first article in the media about the campground this year but dismissed the concerns as an exaggeration. We then heard from locals that people had been having bad experiences with intimidating management here. Nevertheless, we had booked and decided to go. The weather was sunny and hot (albeit windy) and we enjoyed the beach as usual. The lagoon is wonderful and the kids are old enough that the steep drop-off into the sea isn't a concern. ||The campground was another matter though. Both toilet blocks have a strong sewerage smell coming from them. The power supply was not reliable which was problematic at times. They seem to have a security issue confirmed by the fact that one of our kids' new boogie boards was stolen from behind our caravan.||We are polite, unconfrontational people but when we cautiously mentioned one issue, her reaction was very inappropriate. ||So, we can confirm reports that the campground is run by a disorganised, dishonest and intimidating manager.||We have been staying here occasionally for decades but will not return until current management changes. ||There are other campgrounds in the area such as Matauri Bay and Taupo Bay that are very well run and appropriately prices that we...

Incredible beach, calm and peaceful. The campgrounds have basic facilities, the lot is plenty enough for your tent, gazebo and large vehicle or even camper. The on-site dairy was very useful. HOWEVER The shower facilities are absolutely disgusting, thick sludge on the floor. This needs to be hot pressure washed as it smells awful and unhygienic!!! The cleaning lady hates her job, I heard her twice mutter swear words on different days, throwing the box out the door. The lots need to be clearly marked, unfortunately we were on the wrong site, this isn't a major but our kind neighbors who helped us move said this happened to them last year, and obviously the people who were initially on our meant to be site got it wrong too. Soap dispensers and hand driers should be in the toilets and shower basins... 1 soap dispenser on site isn't enough! A larger bin is needed for the kitchen, clearly with the amount of people staying 1 medium bin isn't enough as the assigned "kitchen waste only" bin.

So if you are staying here I would suggest you just wash in the sea.

Hopefully the Owners see this and make some quick and easy adjustments as per my kind...

A beautiful location spoilt by dangerously incompetent management. The water at the camp is not safe to drink and management said nothing to us upon checking in. There were no signs on the taps by the sites and we had filled our caravan with contaminated water before - by pure chance - one of went to the toilet and saw a sign saying 'boil water before drinking'. There was no safe drinking water provided at the camp. Had we not seen this tiny A4 sign, my family would have been horribly ill. When I asked the owner if that's something she should have said upon check in, she became aggressive and completely denied any responsibility for informing guests that the water was not safe and that if I didn't like it I could go. So we did. As soon as we could find a booking elsewhere we left. We went to Matauri Bay, which took the situation seriously and both did not have taps on the caravan sites and also provided safe drinking water. All in all, the service at Tauranga Bay camp was the worst I've experienced in 30+ years of camping all over the...