Bear Gully Campground; great coastal camping
There’s some pretty magic coastal camping near Melbourne if you’re prepared to look around, and we stumbled across a real ripper campground recently, called Bear Gully. It’s small, boutique, right on the coast and very economical. Exactly the sort of camp site we normally prefer!
Keen for more camping in Victoria? We’ve got you covered!
Where is Bear Gully?
You’ll find this national park camp North West of Wilsons Prom, right on the coastline, and basically facing Tidal River Campground way in the distance. It’s only two and a half hours from Melbourne on the southern coast, making it a really good weekend option.
What amenities are at Bear Gully?
There’s shared fire pits here, along with the usual drop toilets, but nothing else.
What’s at Bear Gully?
This campground is a fairly small, quiet and laid back campground. We saw a variety of wildlife, including a big wombat that came out each night, lots of wallabies, a koala in one of the trees and Sarah nearly stood on a Red belly black snake on the way to the toilets.
The beach is full of rocks and some seaweed, with a huge number of pools for the kids to explore. You can walk to different parts in either direction where the swimming is more suitable, but it’s a really scenic location at sunset or sunrise.
All camp sites are a short walk away from the beach, and there’s an interesting fresh water creek running out into the ocean that was endless entertainment for the kids.
No digging
Its worth noting that you are not allowed to dig at all in this campground due to Aboriginal cultural significance. I believe the camp was closed for some time whilst agreements were made, so do the right thing and leave the shovels and kids digging toys packed away.
What does it cost to camp, and booking requirements
It’s well priced to camp here, at just $15.60 a night for our family of 4, and you need to book in advance, and allocate a site that you’ll be staying at.
Is it worth a stay?
Our kids had a ball playing in the various rock pools and creek, and despite no fish being caught we had fun flicking some bait around, and having a swim. It’s a nice part of the world, and one that seems quieter and less well known.
The seaweed and rocks make it less nice to be on the beach than normal, but it’s a pretty stunning part of the world that we thought was worth a visit.
