Dundee Beach Holiday Park; is it worth a stay?
While in the Northern Territory, we had a lot inland camping planned, and we decided to head out and see the coast, somewhere other than Darwin.
Dundee Beach was the place we settled on, and despite hearing a few average reviews, we headed out for two nights anyway.
Where is Dundee Beach Holiday Park?
You’ll find this place roughly 140km South West of Darwin, past Berry Springs, Territory Wildlife Park and Crab Claw resort. It’s located in a more remote part of the Northern Territory, and will take you around an hour and 40 minutes to get there.
What does it cost?
Unpowered sites are $30 per night. Powered sites are $48 per night. An ensuite site is $10 extra per night.
First impressions
Having only come from Mt Bundy Station, 220km away, we arrived at Dundee Beach by about 11AM. There’s no signs pointing to the caravan park, so we tried unsuccessfully to check in at the tavern!
After some directions, I headed to the check in point, and was given a bit of paper to put on the dash board, and asked to follow someone into the park as they had a group of people arriving.
There are boom gates to enter and exit, but no one mentioned to us how to open them. Eventually we worked out the code on the top of the paper was it, but you had to use the hash key at the end. We weren’t given any paperwork or instructions, or told where anything was, what you could and couldn’t do and were basically left to do what we wanted.
I picked a spot with a bit of shade, and we set up, had some lunch and kicked back. We hopped in the 4WD, had a drive around town and down to the 4WD beach, then another boat ramp and back to camp.
There are a lot of houses at Dundee Beach, most of which seem to be holiday/rentals, but its all gravel around the place and seems to be its own little town.
To be honest, we weren’t enjoying it much. It’s set up for those who love to fish, and especially those with a boat, but there really isn’t anything to do except drive around, sit at the tavern, enjoy the beach or head out fishing.
You can’t swim at the beaches because of the crocodiles, and with Oliver around we were feeling a bit tired. We actually tried to move into Darwin a day earlier, but the park we’d booked was full.
We have a change of heart
The caravan park is nice. It’s not incredible, but its certainly not bad. It has a nice, small pool, clean toilets and showers, heaps of room to camp and they allow fires. There can be a fairly significant walk to the amenities, but its well presented.
Sarah didn’t enjoy the camp site, but I thought it was pretty good; fairly grassy, lots of shade and it enough room for Ollie to run around safely.
We had dinner early, and headed down to the beach for a look as the sun was going down, and my perspective changed very quickly, after watching the sun lower its head into the ocean, with the palm trees and perfect weather. Dundee Beach is nothing short of stunning.
There’s no other words for it. It has a nice rock bar to flick off, a great boat ramp and the palm trees lining the beach are stunning. The red rock lights up as the sun goes down, and I really enjoyed it. A sunset at a beautiful place can easily turn your experience around!
Knowing there wasn’t much for us to do the next day, and not wanting to sit around and do washing, or other boring chores, we headed into Berry Springs about 90km away to check out the Territory Wildlife Park.
What else can you do in the area?
If you are prepared to explore a bit, you’ll find a couple of 4WD tracks that takes you down onto the beach south of Dundee Beach Holiday Park. You can head out to Crab Claw Resort, which is another popular destination.
Litchfield National Park and Territory Wildlife Park aren’t too far away as well. Alternatively, just kick back and enjoy the area, or head out fishing.
You can catch mud crabs, barramundi and a heap of other good fish and this is amplified hugely if you have access to a boat.
To visit Dundee Beach Holiday Park or not
If you are wondering whether its worth the drive, that’s up to your circumstances and what you enjoy.
Please know that these comments were made in the middle of a 3 month trip with an 18 month old toddler, travelling in a soft floor camper trailer and we were regularly worn out.
I don’t think that it really suited us with a young toddler, but I would very happily go back with kids that were 8+ and a boat. I’d happily spend a week there for that matter.
There’s not much you can do at Dundee Beach, but it is a beautiful place and the Caravan Park is good, no matter what you hear elsewhere. Yes, there are no defined places to camp, or water nearby the unpowered sites, but it is a great caravan park.
If you have a boat (like many people here do), it would be a truly amazing place to kick back and relax, and it seems like a lot of locals from Darwin do exactly this.
I recommend it, but go with the right expectations, or you’ll feel let down!
