Denham Seaside Tourist Village, Lyndon Sparrow
Do you want to watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean every night? Get a campsite with a view without breaking the bank at these affordable caravan parks and campsites. We’ve followed the Indian Ocean Drive (Australia’s newest highway) all the way up the Western Australian coast from Perth to Exmouth, picking out our favourite places to stay along the way.
Cervantes
Pinnacles Caravan Park is your best option if you want to camp near the famous Pinnacles Desert. There’s no camping in Nambung National Park, and this caravan park has good facilities and easy access to the national park.
Geraldton
In a quiet spot north of town, this popular caravan park has everything you need: good facilities, good access to the historic sites of Geraldton, and a tremendous position for watching the sun go down on the Indian Ocean.
Kalbarri
Located in the centre of town and just opposite the beach, Murchison River Caravan Park has the facilities you’d expect at a caravan park along this popular holiday route, such as toilets and showers (disabled access), laundry, dump point, camp kitchen, barbecues, pool and a playground
Denham
Denham Seaside Tourist Village
With a position near the beach fit for a king, and the views to match, Denham Seaside Tourist Village is your best option in the area. It has good facilities and the fishing opportunities are famous.
Francois Peron has a range of camping areas with good facilities and great views – but you do need a 4WD to access any of the campgrounds in this national park.
Carnarvon
You’ll find Quobba Station north of Carnarvon. There are two options for camping at Quobba Station – the campground next to the station or the far more isolated Red Bluff, which allegedly has the best sunsets this side of Australia.
Coral Bay
At $50 a night for an ocean-front basic site, Peoples Park Tourist Park is on the expensive side. But it offers a great position in the extremely popular Coral Bay, with good facilities – so you might think it’s worth a bit of extra cash.
Exmouth
Ningaloo Caravan and Holiday Resort
If you’re all about the location, you can’t do much better than this centrally located caravan park, which has accommodation ranging from cabins to campsites.
Ningaloo Lighthouse Caravan Park
This caravan park has ocean views, which is a top requirement when travelling along the Indian Ocean Drive.
Unlike its southern neighbour, Francois Peron National Park, you don’t need a 4WD to access many of the campsites in Cape Range National Park. While the campsites facing the Indian Ocean are often windblown and exposed, the views are worth it. Sites book out at popular times of the year, so make sure to get in quick.
The trade-off for this campsite being free is that you have to be entirely self-sufficient – there are no facilities here. But there are fantastic views of the Indian Ocean, as this campsite faces Shark Bay Marine Park.
