Banksia Bluff Campground, Cape Conran Coastal Park

With those warm summer days just around the corner you may be in the throes of packing up your winter wardrobe and planning a relaxing summer beach holiday.  Which is exactly what I am doing as I write this!

For us, the Banksia Bluff Campground in Victoria’s Cape Conran Coastal Park has been a family favourite beach holiday destination for over 25 years. The Coastal Park is in East Gippsland approximately 420 kms east of Melbourne and 530km south of Sydney.  The Gurnaikurnai people are the traditional owners.

We fell in love with Banksia Bluff when our children were little and our purse strings tight. Escaping the big smoke, the simple slow life and our healthy wholesome camping holiday built beautiful memories. We swam, walked, fished and explored rockpools. We cycled, laughed and played and all slept well to the sounds of the gentle ocean waves. It was a perfect family holiday. Every year.

Parks Victoria have worked hard to maintain Banksia Bluff as a place to unwind and enjoy nature, and the campground vibe has changed little over the years.

The 2019/2020 bush fires devastated Victoria’s high country in the state’s northeast and south to the coast, including Cape Conran. The fire destroyed the cabin accommodation, the Parks Victoria office, the walking path information signs and boardwalk stair connections. It also severely damaged the camping area including the toilet facilities.

A mountain of work has been done to restore the Park and campsite, and it is now looking wonderful. Construction is underway on the new Park office and activity centre and the cabins are due to start construction at the end of 2025. The trees and woodlands have well and truly sprung back to life and are flourishing as the Australian bush has a lovely habit of doing. The coastal walking paths have been re-established, and new toilet facilities have been built.

Our children are now adults and our camping buddies these days include a group of good friends. On our Banksia Bluff camping trip in late March this year we continued doing the same wonderful things; swimming, going on walks, fishing and exploring, or just relaxing at camp. The tranquil sound of ocean waves and local birds continue to be the soundtrack.

Magpies, currawongs, honeyeaters, plovers, goannas, kangaroos, bandicoots, potoroos, wallabies and wombats are neighbours, including the infamous Yogi, the resident wombat. Yogi is not the least bit shy and visited our campsite most nights searching for a camp snack or three. Nothing will get in the way of a wombat! After a humerous night with Yogi, we made sure we kept our food securely packed away from exploring wildlife!

The wooded campground has beautifully situated sites amongst banksia woodland, mahogany eucalyptus and natural vegetation and backs onto the Southern Ocean. A few minutes’ walk along sandy tracks dotted throughout the campground take you to the pristine East Cape Beach.

The 135 campsites vary in size and shape, and can cater for small and large groups, tents, campervans and caravans. There is also a dog friendly section. Banksia Bluff is very popular in busy holiday periods so be sure to book well in advance. We stayed out of school holiday period, it was quiet, and we didn’t have any trouble booking.

If you love camping and the outdoors, add Banksia Bluff Campground to your “to-do” list. If you want idyllic bushland and beach camping with minimum facilities, maximum idyllic nature and a campfire, Banksia Bluff is your heaven. If you are after a campground loaded with gleaming tiled shower facilities, a well-stocked store and manicured lawns, Banksia Bluff is not for you.

The Campground’s amenities are basic. The outdoor beach showers are cold water only and the toilets are flushing. All sites are unpowered, and you will need to bring your own drinking water.

But don’t be put off by the term “basic”. We live simply and well when we camp, with banquets of delicious food served each night, drinks at cocktail hour, and hot showers via our all-terrain caravan. Various ranges of fabulous camping gear are now available. The days of lying uncomfortably on a thin foam roll inside a flapping canvas tent and eating baked beans from a can are long gone. If you want it.

There is so much to explore at Cape Conran. Eight relatively easy trail walks take in rockpools, sandy beaches, estuary views, rocky ridges, gorges and boardwalks. A couple of my favourites are the East Cape Boardwalk and Cape Conran Nature Trail. The coast provided an abundance of food for the Gurnaikurnai, and interpretive signs along the boardwalk provide insights into first nations’ history of the Cape. Whales and dolphins are often seen in the ocean and last summer when walking along the East Cape Boardwalk we were treated to a large school of dolphins playing close to shore!

If you are a keen angler throw a line in at the beach, or you’ll find a boat ramp at Salmon Rocks. The snorkelling on a calm day is wonderful. We usually head to Joiners Channel.

You can swim and surf at both East and West Cape beaches and the Yeerung River is a beautiful safe swimming estuary for kids and adults alike. The Yeerung is also great for canoeing. For experienced divers, Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary hides three shipwrecks, 1,000 fish species and you may spot the local seals.

This holiday we did something a little different and headed to the Sailors Grave Brewery just up the road, on the way into Marlo.  The Brewery has 16 beers on tap, Mexican-inspired “beer food” and live music.  It was a great afternoon out!

Only visiting for the day? You’ll find several day visitor picnic and barbecue areas overlooking the East Cape and West Cape Beaches.

The Banksia Bluff Parks Victoria Office is located at the campsite entrance and sells ice, gas and firewood.  The office also provides walking maps and a lovely “Common Flora Species of Cape Conran Coastal Park” brochure. We have had great pleasure in spotting and ticking off the flora species on our walks including beauties like the Forest Boronia, Milkmaids and Coast Wattle.

As part of your holiday planning, imagine the sun has set on another day. You are sitting back at camp after a wonderful day of activity, or a wonderful day of not doing very much at all. You have a drink in hand, the campfire is crackling, and dinner is on the camp stove.  If you are like me, you have found your slice of heaven. See you there!

Visit the Banksia Bluff Campground website or the Parks Victoria accommodation website for more information on the campground including planned closures in 2026.

Dogs are permitted on dog friendly allocated sites and are to always be on leash to protect the flora and fauna. A word of advice. Make sure to guard your dog against paralysis tick which is found in the area. The ticks are potentially deadly for dogs.