The far south coast of NSW has some of the most exquisite and pristine beaches you will find anywhere in Australia or possibly the world. We had heard on the grapevine that Kioloa was pet friendly so decided to check it out for ourselves - as most pet lovers already know, most parks put out the Sorry No Pets signs during the holidays and this was the worst time, Xmas 2000! Kioloa is reached by turning off the highway at the Shell service station at the Bawley Point turnoff. It is 13kms in on a good bitumen road.

Arriving without a booking on Xmas Eve we were instantly made most welcome. Nothing was too much trouble and we were amazingly given a choice of five sites with shade. A nice touch was being given the future occupancy info on each site in case we decided to extend. A great idea! The beautiful beach above is EXACTLY what you see as you emerge from the park.

TV reception is acceptable - point north. We had to put our Explorer C10 up 3 metres. Don't know why we bothered though as this place is so lovely we watched nothing and just enjoyed the natural surroundings to the full!

Kids are very well catered for in this family orientated park. There is a great play area full of all sorts of interesting gadgets. There is plenty of room for bikes and skateboards without causing problems for campers. Management zip around the park on motor scooters keeping an eagle eye on things without being intrusive. Another reason we picked this park was that it is just down the street from the multi award winning Racecourse Beach Park. Our reasoning is Kioloa would be trying harder to please - we were right! If we had a say in the awards we would unhesitantly choose Kioloa!

This park has absolutely fist class management and a good example of this is the boom gate. This is linked to the booking system and each card has a unique imbedded code linked to your site number. You only need to wave it near the reader - saves banging your extended rear view mirrors! Why can't credit card/EFTPOS readers work so easily? The system works fantastically well. If for instance you try to smuggle in an extra car the system detects this and it stops people telling little fibs! There is stacks of parking for visitors right at the front of the park. Check in by the way is quick and easy and the boom gates don't get clogged as happens in so many parks.

There is a very rough and ready shop just across the road. About 5kms back towards Bawley Point is a great little strip shopping centre. It has a good mini supermarket with good fruit and veg, a nice butcher, an excellent fish shop selling fresh and cooked seafood - chips are hand made too, a liquor shop and about half a dozen other shops including a newsagent. Don't try to walk to these shops if it is hot! The closest major shopping centre is Bateman's Bay in the south or Ulladulla in the north.

Obviously at Xmas time noise is a problem and it takes this park a long time to settle down at night. Being on a calm cove there are no surfies, so this is one less source of noise. Permanents tell us that most of the time it is blissfully quiet. There is just about zero traffic noise. The birds at dawn are wonderful!

The swimming pool is excellent and very popular being open from 7am till 7pm. Lots of comfy seats, some excellent tree shade late afternoons and a couple of big shade sails. The pool is well maintained and a credit to the park owners. It is ideal for doing laps very early in the morning and during our stay this was a popular 7AM activity. There are a couple of excellent gas BBQs in cute covered gazebos - a nice touch. These are between the dam and the pool on a nice open grassy area. A lot of attention has been given to ensuring that the park doesn't get that overcrowded feeling, a point appreciated by most thinking campers and two ball playing areas have been provided. There is just about zero lighting in the camping area, but this makes it easier to gaze at the stars and let the ocean lull you to sleep. There are all types of cabin accommodation from budget up to the $200 a night jobs. This is all immaculate and very pleasant to look at even though it is located at the front of the park well away from the campers. All buildings blend in well with the surroundings and there is nothing unsightly in this quite large section. In fact there just aren't any messy areas in this park at all as all the park bits and bobs are kept well out of sight.

The beach would have to be the best feature of this park. Because of the delightful offshore islands most of the time it is very calm. On our visit westerlies were blowing and it truly was like a millpond. The water gets that gorgeous turquoise shade inshore and is so appealing. None of the beach photos here have been enhanced - it really is that lovely clear colour. There is a good launching ramp at the end of the beach. At the same spot is a couple of tables ideal for a romantic breakfast as the sun peeps up over the horizon. We used these most mornings.

Mobiles just don't work in this area even back up on the highway. We were told if you walk out to the tip of Bawley Point you get one bar and if the wind isn't blowing also at the southern tip of Kioloa Beach! Never mind as there are two Telstra phones right outside the park. In emergencies there is a talkback type night bell direct to the owners - a great idea. There is very little vandalism in this park - limited to initials on toilet doors.

On bugs - flies are there all the time. Sandflies aren't too bad - same with mozzies. Watch out for stingrays and blue bottles when swimming. During our stay the only wildlife we saw actually in the park was birds.

This is a fabulous place for beach walks. The next beach south is Merry Beach and you can do a round trip in under two hours. To the north is Bawley Point, but the sand is fairly soft. Management kindly provide a two page "things to do" sheet. A great idea! It even has intriguing mystery type 4WD trips into the forest. In all, enough activities to keep you going for a week or so. Other less imaginative park managers please take note!

Kioloa makes a great touring base. It is almost on the edge of beautiful Murramarang National Park and quite close to the beautiful Pigeon House Mountains. A good day trip is to pop down to Pebbly Beach. (this is an excellent link) If you look at your map it shows a road coming out of Kioloa and heading out to the highway - about 9kms and this appears to be a great scenic short cut. Ouch! This is not a good idea unless you have a 4WD as there are lots of washaways. However, the first two kilometers are the worst, so give it a try if you like travelling through forests. We had to stop several times to clear fallen branches and listen to the bellbirds. Oddly there were no flies! Turn left at the Dam Road sign and you will end up back on the highway. About 2kms south turn left at the Pebbly Beach sign. Although gravel, this road is excellent and yes you could take a camper/small van down here. The last kilometre is steep downhill, but there are no sharp bends and provided it is not raining it presents no problems as long as you take your time. Pebbly Beach is one of the most delightful spots in NSW. It is a great camping area, so here is our quick assessment!

Camp sites cost $6 for a day pass, plus $10 per night. Absolutely magic outlook from the beach, but not from the sites which are benched with gravel surface - boil drinking water - BBQ's and toilets - lots of crimson rosellas and king parrots, grey wallabies and eastern grey kangaroos, good gravel roads with plenty of room for passing and scrap firewood supplied.

No drinking water two amenities blocks more primitive camping no sites marked some lovely shady spots - lots of old vans - no dogs or powered sites - walking trails through bush and to the beachfront - visited here Christmas day and only half full. Piles of stones etc, everywhere so obviously improvements underway.

Heading south the camping area at Depot Beach is a naturally treed area and regularly mown. Facilities include good amenities blocks, old fashioned fibro cabins, excellent firewood supplied, good tables ad chairs scattered throughout park - ideal for vans or tents. This is now run by National Parks like many older camping grounds in the immediate area.

Murramarang National Park was supposedly full, but the onsite office was closed. We believe it could have taken twice the numbers already here and still have had plenty of room to move. 

In summing up Kioloa is a great park and we unconditionally recommend it. It is at that difficult stage of development. We hope that it stays the way it is as it had new owners two years ago and locals have told us of many improvements. Lets hope that the current development of concrete roads etc. stops before it gets into the primitive area where one can still enjoy a fire on the ground. One unconfirmed horror story we heard was some trees are to be cut down to make more sites!

Just before the Murramarang turnoff, there is Benderah Rest area not easy access for vans, but toilets, BBQ, water and a large fenced paddock. This spot could be just the ticket if you arrive late in the area saving a night's accommodation. The camp is below the level of the highway reducing traffic noise.

Finding the park is easy. From either direction on the Princes Highway turn off at Bawley Point Road and follow the signs. The turnoff is between Ulladulla and Bateman's Bay. We used the excellent NRMA New South Wales Touring Map 2. This Covers Canberra and from Nowra to the border and DOES show a lot of the tracks mentioned in the story. The Kioloa Beach Holiday Park is on the net (bit slow - be patient). You can write to them at 635 Murramarang Road, Kioloa, NSW 2539. Phone: 02.4457 1072. Fax: 02.4457 1481 and email holidays@kioloabeach.com.

Bob and Chrissy Eustace