Pinewoods Holiday Park — also known as Pinewoods Motor Park — has been welcoming holidaymakers to Red Beach since the early 1900s. Set at the head of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula on Auckland's Hibiscus Coast, this long-established park offers relaxed camping in a beautiful, quiet environment, now enclosed by the neighbourhood it helped put on the map.
Accommodation suits every style of stay: powered and non-powered camping sites for tents, welcome spots for campervans, cosy cabins, and spacious baches available for both short and long stays. There is even an ownership side to the park, with baches purchased as shares in Pinewoods Motor Park Ltd.
The facilities are a genuine strength — fully equipped kitchens, a communal BBQ area, tidy shower blocks with unmetered heated showers and hair dryers, laundry amenities and Wi-Fi throughout the premises. Kids are well looked after with a playground, trampolines and a Summer Holiday Programme over Christmas, all within gated, well-monitored grounds.
Red Beach is only a five-minute walk away, with the Red Beach Surf Club right next door. The park holds a 4-star Qualmark rating, New Zealand tourism's official mark of quality, and guests consistently praise the friendly, helpful staff and spotlessly clean amenities.
Pinewoods Holiday Park — also known as Pinewoods Motor Park — has been part of Red Beach life since the early 1900s. Set at the head of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula on Auckland's Hibiscus Coast, the park has hosted generations of visitors: overseas travellers using it as a base to explore local attractions, campervanners passing through, and families who return year after year for relaxed camping in a beautiful, quiet environment.
This long-established seaside, cliff-top camping and bach area has kept its character even as the Red Beach neighbourhood grew up around it. It delivers on the promise of seaside simplicity: a quiet, gated retreat barely five minutes' walk from the sand, with the Red Beach Surf Club right next door. The park holds a 4-star Qualmark rating, New Zealand tourism's official mark of quality, and guest reviews keep circling back to the same themes — exceptionally clean amenities, friendly and helpful staff, and a location that's hard to beat.
Accommodation covers the full spectrum. Campers can choose powered or non-powered camping sites, and campervanners are well catered for — one visiting couple touring New Zealand intended to stay three nights and ended up staying seven. Cabins offer a cosier option; guests describe units with a queen-size bed and a set of bunks, some fitted with a heat pump for cooler evenings.
At the top end are the park's spacious baches, available for both short and long stays at great prices. There is also an ownership side worth knowing about: baches are purchased as shares in Pinewoods Motor Park Ltd, with shareholders holding 500 $1 shares in 34 acres of parkland and buildings and a licence to occupy a bach. Anyone curious can contact the park to view baches currently for sale.
One of the park's defining features is how child-friendly it is. The grounds sit behind closed gates and well away from the road, and are well monitored — guests describe it as a place where you feel safe and where kids can play freely. On site you'll find a playground, trampolines and even a gymnasium for older family members.
Over the Christmas holidays the park runs a Summer Holiday Programme with festive entertainment for the kids — a tradition that fits neatly with its role as a long-standing family camping ground. The majority of visitors are returning guests, many having holidayed here for years.
The communal facilities are a genuine strength. There are fully equipped kitchens and a communal BBQ area for cooking, and the shower blocks are tidy and well maintained, with unmetered heated showers and hair dryers — something travellers in particular appreciate. Laundry amenities include washing machines, dryers, tubs and an ironing board, and Wi-Fi is available throughout the premises.
Red Beach itself is a gentle, family-friendly stretch of sand good for all ages — you'll often see paddleboarders riding gentle waves close to shore. Beyond the beach, the Whangaparaoa Peninsula offers plenty to see and do. The park's own suggestions include visits to historic Puhoi and Snowplanet, the indoor snow attraction, while Orewa and the rest of the Hibiscus Coast are close at hand.
The park's office hours are 8am to 5pm on weekdays and 8:30am to 5pm on weekends, and the team can be reached on 09 426 4526. Bookings can be made online to secure preferred dates, and it pays to plan ahead for the busy summer season — though the park also advertises winter specials for quieter times of year. Staff are known for going the extra mile and are happy to help with tour recommendations and local tips.
Whether you're pitching a tent for a weekend, parking a campervan between road-trip legs, or settling into a bach for the whole summer, Pinewoods offers a simple promise that hasn't changed in a century: seaside simplicity in a quiet, safe, friendly corner of the Hibiscus Coast.