Inskip Point camping, QLD: Permit costs and best campgrounds
The MV Sarawak campground is the biggest of the Inskip Point camping areas near Rainbow Beach, Queensland. Inskip Point camping permits cost $7 per night.
Inskip Point camping areas
There are seven camping areas at Inskip Point, Queensland. The largest of these is the MV Sarawak Campground. Camping permits cost $7 per night.
For more detail, read on.
Why go to Inskip Point?
For most people, Inskip Point near Rainbow Beach, Queensland, is where they catch the Manta Ray barge to Fraser Island/ K’gari before a Fraser Island camping trip. This is the shortest ferry crossing to Fraser Island, and the closest to Brisbane. If you’ve got your own 4WD vehicle, going from Inskip Point will save you time and money on taking the Fraser Island ferry from River Heads near Hervey Bay.
5 brilliant Rainbow Beach experiences you should book in advance
- Kayaking with dolphins – including a 4WD beach driving adventure.
- Beginner surfing lessons – you’ll be standing on the board by the end.
- Stand-up paddleboarding and 4WD tour combo – great value day out.
- Fraser Island day tour – visiting the island’s main highlights.
- Fraser Island three day tour – covering parts of the island most visitors miss.
Camping in the Inskip Peninsula Recreation Area
But the Inskip Peninsula north of Rainbow Beach is also popular with campers who have no intention of crossing to Fraser Island. The Inskip Peninsula Recreation Area has several campgrounds, most of them next the long sandy beach.
Now don’t go expecting luxuries here. All seven of the Inskip Point camping areas are fairly basic, and facilities don’t differ too dramatically between them. None have picnic tables, none have barbecue facilities and none have showers.
Inskip Point camping: MV Sarawak campground
The largest Inskip Point campground is MV Sarawak. It is named in honour of a former navy minesweeper that made weekly trips between Brisbane and Maryborough. There are no formally-defined campsites, so it’s all open camping behind the dunes. This makes the MV Sarawak camping area rather popular with bigger groups.
Open fires are permitted in this Inskip Point camping area, but only on existing fire sites. It’s recommended that campers bring a fuel stove with them. In fact, you’re best off working on the principle of self-sufficiency.
At least the MV Sarawak campground has a toilet block. That’s also the case for the Sarawak West, MV Beagle, MV Natone and SS Dorrigo campgrounds in the Inskip Peninsula Recreation Area. The other two Inskip Point camping areas – South Dorrigo and Pelican Bay – are even more basic, and do not have toilet facilities.
12 fantastic Sunshine Coast experiences to book now
- Taste coffee and ginger, do rainforest walks, and visit the best lookouts on a highlight-packed hinterland tour.
- Take a serene Noosa Everglades cruise along the mirror-like waterways – or canoe through the Everglades.
- Learn to surf at a Sunshine Coast surf school – or try paddleboarding instead.
- Combine sight-seeing and thrills on a fast boat tour.
- Go e-mountain biking on the downhill trails of Tewantin National Park.
- Kayak with dolphins as part of a beach 4WD tour.
- Explore the Sunshine Coast from above on a seaplane flight.
- Take an indigenous cultural tour – with bush tucker tasting.
- Visit the region’s best craft breweries and distilleries on a drinks tasting tour.
- Go jetskiing through the gorgeous Pumicestone Passage.
- Taste wines, cheeses and chocolates on a hinterland food tour.
- Watch migrating humpbacks on a whale-watching cruise.
Inskip Point camping permit fees
Camping at Inskip Point is not free of charge, but the Inskip camping fees are small. You must arrange and pay for a camping permit via the Queensland National Parks booking service in advance.
Inskip Point camping permit fees cost $7 per person, or $28 per family, per night.
That family rate is for one or two adults, plus accompanying children up to a maximum of eight people.
Pick the best K’gari/ Fraser Island tour for you
- HIGHLIGHTS PACKAGE: One day coach tour from Hervey Bay.
- FROM THE SOUTH: One day 4WD tour from Rainbow Beach.
- PACK MORE IN: Two day tour, staying at K’gari Beach Resort.
- BEACHY: Boat cruise with west coast beach stops.
- BACKPACKERS: Three day, drive-yourself camping adventure from Hervey Bay. Or similar from Rainbow Beach.
- MORE LUXURIOUS: Three day adventure, staying at the Kingfisher Bay Resort.
More camping and caravan parks
Cheap beachside accommodation at the Fingal Bay caravan park in Port Stephens.
Camp on the Bellarine Peninsula at the Barwon Heads Caravan Park.
The best site for a Seal Rocks camping trip.
Stay by the beach at the Moonta Bay caravan park on the Copper Coast.
Camp by the beach at the Diamond Head camping ground in the Crowdy Bay National Park near Port Macquarie.