Best Campground at Cape York

Tony - this is our trip report from Jul this year - one of the pages is a list of recommendations

There is also a slideshow of photo's to music that will give you a good feel for the place.

Both are linked from the main page..

Site Link

I prefer to stay at loyalty a bit quiter and I feel a more central spot.
For that time of year I would book a site.
www.loyaltybeach.com/

All the best
Eric

Hi,
We went to Cape York a couple of years ago & initially stayed at Loyalty Beach but moved to Seisia after a couple of days.

Loyalty Beach was overcrowded & the people unhelpful. It was not at all pleasant so after looking at Seisia we changed over - had no problem getting a site - which was a really good one with a covered area & sink etc.It is a very central spot - near the wharf & shop.

Willy

Tony,
Our group stayed at Seisia C/P in 2002. Unfortunately we were ensconsed close to a local family house and they played "Tomorrow Never Comes" continuously (read -all day, all night) for four days.
Moreton Telegraph Station was a nice and cosy o'night stay.
Cheers,
Bros.

Stayed at both Seisa and Loyalty. Enjoyed them both.
I found Seisa had a lot more activity than Loyalty.

Hi Tony

If you want to be near civialization then Seisia is it. If you want a more quiet place then Loyality is the pick. Punsand is nice but the 4WD 11k's in and out before you have to drive anywhere maybe will not suit you?

Like all places, if you go in the busy times expect crowds and book before you leave home.

My pick is Loyality, although last time we were there in 2004 the owner wasn't as friendly as in 2002. We did go later in 2002 and all was good and we were quite happy with the campground and facilities. In 2004 we went (not our choice) in the busy time and showers were not as nice, people abused the water situation in the 2 new ammenities they had put up.

Hope you have a good time. I'm sure where you pick, you will not be dissapointed.

Cya
:)

We stayed at Loyalty in early June 06 and it was nice and quiet. We went out to Punsand Bay for lunch which was a fantastic lunch and a beautiful spot. As mentioned the drive in and out takes a fair while.

Other recommended places - if you can fit it in then Virlya Point would have to be our favourite spot on Cape York.

penefeather is one of the best spots to stay as well. I spend alot of my time of there.

Thanks guys very much for your comments.

Ivan, you have some great photos on your site.

Cheers, Tony

Depending on how many others are up there with you - Loyalty Beach can get a bit crowded but is my pick. Seisia is getting a bit run down these days with not a lot of maintenance going on. Whatever you do if you stay at Seisia make sure you get a spot as far away from the wharf as possible - lots of work goes on during the night unloading and loading ships and the bloody reversing beeper on the forklift can drive you to absolute distraction.

Cheers
Pete

We found the Unmagico camping area very quite with some great beachfront spots. That was about 7 years ago though and did hear a rumor that it had closed.

Mind you, the "lizard" tracks on the beach close to our tent one morning were a bit of a worry. Someone had left their bait bucket out and it was empty in the morning. Probably a similar issue anywhere up there though.

Regards avro

G'day Tony

Just spent 2 months north of the Jardine, finally (and reluctantly) leaving Nov last year.

Stayed at all the campgrounds you mentioned and IMO there is no best just different. Depends on the sort of experience you're after.

Umagico - Was open. Quietest of them all re tourists. Showers etc. Close to services at Umagico.

Seisia - Closest to services. Most like a "normal" southern commercial campground. Busiest. Previous comments about noise are accurate. Bothers some people but not others. Depends what your used to I guess. No noisier than plenty of caravan parks in towns and next to highways down south and quieter than many. Showers etc, restaurant, takeaway. Ferry to TI leaves from the wharf. Charter Fishing.

Loyalty - Still closeish to services (about 3km to Seisia). Showers etc. Kiosk. Scenic Chopper flights from the beach. Charter Fishing. Evening meals some evenings. As already mentioned can get busy but wasn't when we were there. More bush camping like than Seisia. Re previous comments about unhelpfulness. Like all the campground managers we found them plenty helpful enough. You do have to adjust to the more laid back approach to life which people operate to up there. If you have trouble doing that then I suppose the occasional person may appear to be unhelpful (But their usually not - just laid back).

Punsand - Most remote. Most bush camping like. (in fact they do have pure bushcamping at Cable Beach) Closest to the Tip, Somerset etc. Furthest from services but not that far. (Stock up at one of the Communities before heading in if you don't want to back track) Its all relative. Punsand is about 27km from Bamaga. Hardly a long trek given the distance you've already travelled.The 11km track in has now been upgraded and the sandy bits gravelled. It is now a fast drive in. They have a restaurant & bar. Only one's with a pool. Showers etc. Scenic Chopper flights from the beach. Ferry to TI - pick you up from the beach. Charter Fishing. If you decide not to stay here it's still worth a day visit for a look and a feed and a beer on your way to the Tip. There is an alternative track from Punsand back to the main track to the Tip so you don't have to back track.

We have our favourites but won't say which on an open forum because I think it's all a matter of opinion and depends on what you want from a campground. We enjoyed our stay at all of them. You could always have a look and decide when you get there. I suppose you run the risk of no sites being available but that hasn't happened to us yet.

There are also some nice bush camping spots if you would rather a non commercial campsite.

Have fun

Dodging