Beach Camping in South Australia; 15 great options

Coming from Western Australia, we’re all too familiar with amazing beach camping. I had high expectations of the South Australia Beach Camping, and it has not disappointed in the slightest.

In this post, we cover the best beach camping that we found in South Australia, along with what it costs, whether you need to book, what we thought of it and plenty more.

Free camping is the best
South Australia has some truly incredible beach camping

Perlubie Beach

If you haven’t heard of Perlubie Beach in South Australia, you’ve probably not started researching camps too much! This is one of the most well known beach camps in South Australia, and its absolutely stunning.

You can camp directly on the beach in a 4WD, caravan, camper trailer, tent, swag or however you prefer.

The beach can be very soft, and gets much softer the further you drive along but it’s a beautiful place, with shallow water that the kids love. To this day, Perlubie Beach camp is our kids favourite camp site, and that speaks volumes.

Some recent changes were rolled out that meant for a pricing increase, designated camp sites and a booking system, but it doesn’t take away from the beach being truly incredible.

Perlubie Beach views
Enjoying the beautiful Perlubie Beach
Sunset on Perlubie Beach
There’s often spectacular sunsets here

Wittelbee Conservation Park

Just 15 minutes south of Ceduna lies a fantastic, low coast camp site that is pretty good for a night or two.

There’s a number of different places you can camp, with some spots being on the beach, or right nearby. We chose a spot overlooking the cliffs as the wind was howling from one direction.

Sunset at Wittelbee
It’s hard to argue with a spot like this
Walking on the beach at Wittelbee
The beaches are beautiful too

Point Brown

Not far to the south of Ceduna lies Point Brown; a brilliant slice of coastline where you can free camp to your hearts delight.

The point is 2WD accessible, but a 4WD gives you much greater option, and if you want to camp on the beach its your only choice.

We got absolutely hammered by mosquitoes here and left early, but it would have been one of our favourite places to camp if it weren’t for that!

Magic sunset at Point Brown
Amazing views from camp
Point Brown Free camping
There’s so many places you can camp here, for free!

Tractor beach

15 minutes south west of the beautiful Streaky Bay lies Tractor Beach, another popular camp site in the area. We called in for a look, and earmarked it as a place to stay later on. It’s small enough, has great views and would be a fantastic place to spend a few days.

Point Gibbon

There’s a lot of camping around Cowell, with some of it requiring you to pay cash in an envelope. The exception to this, is the new campground at Point Gibbon, which must be booked online, and is a well set up, limestone area with great views.

This is more protected than some of the other camp sites, and we had a really good stay here, after a pretty average start.

Camped at Point Gibbon
Amazing camping at Point Gibbon
Point Gibbon Camp Sites
There’s a heap of sites here that you can book in advance

Carrow Wells

In terms of favourite South Australian camp sites, Carrow Wells is up there with the best. This is a donation camp, with some of the best coastline you’ll see anywhere, and there’s a couple of places that you can camp very close to the beach.

We had amazing views here, and great weather, which made for a pretty amazing stay.

Rocky limestone area at Carrow Wells
Carrow Wells was one of our favourite South Australian Campgrounds by far
A short walk to the beach
Beach views, just metres from our camp

Moonlight Bay

Getting closer to Port Lincoln lies another great free camp, right on a beautiful bay. There’s a heap of camp sites here, with a 4WD becoming very valuable in terms of giving you improved choice.

The views from many of the camp sites are great, and we really enjoyed our stay here.

Free camping on the Eyre Peninsula
The beautiful Moonlight Bay
Moonlight Bay Camping on the way to Port Lincoln
We loved our stay here on the way to Port Lincoln

Walkers Rocks

Elliston is a truly magic part of the world, and whilst it took a bit to warm up to Walkers Rocks Campground, its in a beautiful location and the beaches here are really nice. 

Walkers Rock Camp ground
Walkers Rock is a great coastal campground
Bob tail at camp
You might even get a few visitors calling through your camp site

Near Point Labatt

If you want to see a huge colony of seals and Sea Lions, a visit to Point Labatt is worth the drive.

We camped nearby, on the inlet which looked stunning, and was actually decent enough for a dip, but it was hot, had lots of ants and plenty of bees!

Camped on Baird Bay near Point Labatt
Camped just down the road from Point Labatt
Rock Pools at Point Labatt
There’s some amazing rock pools nearby if you look around

Wauraltee Beach

One of our favourite campgrounds on the Yorke Peninsula was Wauraltee Beach, and when I confirmed that you can camp right on the beach for free, it made it even better.

Do the right thing; leave zero trace, respect the locals and those around you, and hopefully this stunning part of the world will continue to be able to be enjoyed by thousands of people each year.

Wauraltee Beach Camping
Wauraltee Beach is nothing short of sensational
Wauraltee Beach Campground cost
Looking out over the beautiful beach

Burners Beach

Not far from Point Turton lies Burners Beach; a truly beautiful part of the world.

There’s two camp grounds; the northern section that is much quieter with no amenities, and the southern end that has the toilet, lots of grass and a heap of room for everyone.

Burners Beach camp ground
Those colours are hard to beat!
Our camp site at Burners Beach
Camped metres from the water, and a nice beach

Swincer Rocks

After doing more coastal camp sites in South Australia than I care to think about, we stumbled across a gem that stood head and shoulders above everything else; Swincer Rocks.

This place is absolutely incredible, and it seems far less well known than everything else, which meant we had the entire place to ourselves.

Looking down on camp at Swincer Rocks
Swincer Rocks was our favourite Yorke Peninsula Campground by a long short
Swincer Rocks Camp Ground
This was such an amazing surprise, and we completely fell in love

Rapid Bay

One of the most popular campgrounds in South Australia is Rapid Bay, and whilst we’re not normally ones to enjoy camping in busy places, this place is one of the most scenic, and stunning locations we’ve ever been to.

Yes, we dealt with a heap of people, but still had a truly awesome time, and would certainly go back. 

Views of Rapid Bay
Rapid Bay is beautiful beyond words
Rapid Bay Campground
It’s incredibly popular though, so book in advance!

The Granites

Not far north of Kingston SE lies a spectacular beach called the Granites. The camping is in a bitumen car park, and whilst its a bit left field for us, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Initially I didn’t like the campground at all, but once you peak over the dune to the beach, its hard not to be swayed!

Views of the Granite Camp ground
Camping in the car park above the Granites Beach, which is beautiful
On the beach at the Granites
The Granites Beach is truly stunning

Southend Tourist Park

Caravan Parks are so not our thing, but on the odd occasion we find ourselves at one, and Southend Tourist Park is an absolute ripper.

We ended up with an unpowered site on top of the dune overlooking the beach, and despite some pretty shoddy weather, we seriously rated this place.

Views from our window
Looking out of Hybrid Caravan windows right onto the beach
Camped at Southend Tourist Park
Southend Tourist Park was an unexpected, but amazing stay