Teewah Beach camping: How much do Cooloola Recreation Area permits cost?
The Teewah Beach camping experience is a great Australian adventure. But you need separate Cooloola Recreation Area permits for both camping on Teewah Beach and taking a 4WD vehicle.
Every year, thousands of Australians pile into a 4WD vehicle and go camping on Teewah Beach in Queensland. The beach goes under several names. Some call it the Noosa North Shore, some call it Cooloola Beach. But the name doesn’t matter all that much. The Teewah Beach camping experience is all about getting away from it all and hanging out at an extraordinarily long beach.
For those without a 4WD vehicle, the best way to visit Teewah Beach is on a Great Beach Drive 4WD tour from Noosa. These affordable tours also include a kayaking with dolphins experience.
Where is Teewah Beach, Queensland?
Teewah Beach stretches about 51km from the mouth of the Noosa River to Double Island Point. It is part of the Cooloola Recreation Area, which is inside the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park.
Teewah Beach can only be reached by 4WD, and getting there from Noosa requires a crossing on the Noosa River ferry from Tewantin. Once on the beach, 4WD vehicles can use it as a highway. Well, they are if they have a permit, anyway.
Cooloola Recreation Area permits for 4WD vehicles
Cooloola Recreation Area permits for 4WDers are doled out by Queensland’s Parks and Forests department. The Cooloola vehicle access permit fees cost $13.95 for one day, and $35.50 for up to a week. For up to a month, the permits cost $55.90. These permits can be booked online, and are slightly cheaper than Fraser Island permits.
However, the Cooloola Recreation Area vehicle access permits don’t cover you for camping on Teewah Beach. For that, you need a separate permit.
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.
Teewah Beach camping permits
There are seven Teewah Beach camping areas, all of which have very limited facilities. If you’re planning to camp within the Cooloola Recreation Area, you need to be self-sufficient.
The Teewah Beach camping permits cost $7 per person, per night. This charge does not apply to children under five, however. Alternatively, you can book a family Teewah Beach permit, costing $28 per family per night. Make your Teewah Beach camp site bookings online via the Parks and Forests website.
If all of this seems a bit too much like hard work, then you can do a 4WD tour from Noosa. Great Beach Drive 4WD Tours runs day trips along the beach up to Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach. You can also stay at a Rainbow Beach holiday park and just do a day trip to Teewah Beach.
More Queensland travel
Currumbin Surf Club in Currumbin on the Gold Coast.
The best things to do in Innisfail.
Fishing at Lake Monduran near Gin Gin.
How much do Melbourne to Cairns flights cost?
Ocean Rafting tours in the Whitsundays.