Ōkārito Community Campground

Ōkārito Community Campground is a community-run campground on a Department of Conservation recreation reserve in the small coastal village of Ōkārito. The beach and lagoon are a few minutes on foot, so it works well as an overnight base for coast and wetland walks. There are separate grassy tent areas and sheltered sites for campervans, caravans, motorhomes and buses.

The campground doesn't take advance bookings, so aim to arrive by mid-afternoon during the busiest summer holiday stretch. Ōkārito has no shops or service stations; pick up groceries and fuel before turning off toward the village.

The campground's flax and native-tree plantings provide shelter and attract birds. Nearby, the Ōkārito Wetland Walk takes about 20 minutes, while the Trig Walk is about an hour and a half return for views from the Tasman Sea to the Southern Alps. The Three Mile Pack Track passes through kāmahi, kahikatea and rimu forest and by Three Mile Lagoon, then returns along the coast at low tide. Ōkārito Lagoon is a 3,340-hectare unmodified coastal wetland used by more than 76 native bird species; the country's only kōtuku (white heron) breeding colony is north of the lagoon at Waitangiroto River.