Camping near St Helens

Small St. Helens, on the north-east coast of Tasmania, is a popular fishing and diving spot. Chartered fishing trips take fishers past Georges Bay and into the open ocean in search of deep-water fish, while underwater caves and kelp forests feed colourful fish, which, in turn, attract divers. Another drawcard is the beaches, with the nearby Bay of Fires being home to what some have called the most beautiful beaches in Australia. Campers can stay at comfortable, well-equipped holiday parks in St. Helens itself or at more basic beach-side camping areas with unpowered sites along the coast, especially north of the town.

Bay of Fires Conservation Area

This series of bays north of St. Helens contains some gorgeous white-sand beaches that seem to be decorated by bright orange lichen-covered rocks. There are campsites for tents, caravans, and camper-trailers in the area, and best of all they’re free and don’t need to be pre-booked. With one exception (Taylors Beach), these beach camping spots have toilet facilities, but you’ll need to be self-sufficient in other respects. The northern section of this conservation area is part of the Mount William National Park, which also offers beachfront camping.

St. Helens Point Conservation Area

On a peninsula east of the town, this area contains more beautiful beaches and large sand dunes, where you can walk and even use dune buggies. It’s an easy day trip for campers staying in St. Helens itself, but there’s also a caravan park at Stieglitz, on the southern end of the peninsula.

Scamander

A 20-minute drive south of St. Helens, the small beach town of Scamander is set upon a river estuary. There are reliable conditions here for surfing, so camp at one of the caravan parks in the town for easy access to this stretch of coastline. Anglers can cast right into the ocean here, and there’s a forest reserve inland from the beach where you can camp and barbecue your catch on the provided BBQs.

St. Helens and other parts of north-eastern Tasmania are popular beach destinations, so the weather and other conditions are best for beach activities in summer, from December to February. Late December and January tend to be busiest with Australian families, as it’s the school summer holidays, so book caravan park accommodation ahead of time, or come outside peak season.