BEST HOLIDAY PARKS IN AUSTRALIA FOR
Discover the top holiday parks around the country for your next family holiday as voted by you in the annual Out & About with Kids Readers’ Choice Awards
Opening image: BIG4 St Helens in Tasmania
Best holiday park in NSW: BIG4 Easts Beach Holiday Park, Kiama
Located right on the beach at Kiama on the NSW South Coast, BIG4 Easts Beach Holiday Park has everything a family could wish for. There’s a jumping pillow, two pools (one with a children’s play area) and a Krazy Kids Club offering activities including cupcake decorating, sand art and slime making on weekends and during school holidays. Its water park, Sunny’s Aquaventure Park, features multi-level platforms with two water slides and a giant tipping bucket, an ocean-themed splash pad with interactive features, plus a shaded water journey for babies and toddlers.
Images: An aerial view of BIG4 Easts Beach Holiday Park, Children playing in the water park © NEG Photography
Best holiday park in Queensland: BIG4 Gold Coast Holiday Park, Helensvale
The closest holiday park to Dreamworld and Warner Bros. Movie World theme parks on the Gold Coast, BIG4 Gold Coast also has the tallest water park at any holiday park in Australia! It has a huge tipping bucket and several slides catering to kids of different ages. The pet-friendly holiday park also has a jumping pillow, pedal karts, a bike track, a half-size basketball court, games such as table tennis, movie nights and a remote-control car track. You can also go fishing in Salt Water Creek, and kids can sign up to cooking lessons including pizza making and cookie decorating, and go on scavenger hunts. Its onsite restaurant, Nibbles Café, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Image: The water park at BIG4 Gold Coast Holiday Park
Best holiday park in Victoria: BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Queenscliff Beacon
Across the road from the beach at the entrance to the twin towns of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula, this holiday park has a range of kid-friendly facilities, including an indoor adventure playground, a shaded jumping pillow and a heated indoor pool. Adults can unwind at the on-site day spa, enjoy a free yoga or pilates class or work out in the holiday park’s 24/7 gym. Around 90 minutes’ drive from Melbourne and five minutes’ from Searoad Ferries, providing access to the Mornington Peninsula, it has luxury villas, modern apartments, contemporary cabins and caravan and camping sites.
Images: A family at BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Queenscliff Beacon
Best holiday park in South Australia: Marion Holiday Park, Bedford Park
This family-friendly holiday park has all the features of a tropical resort just 12 kilometres from Adelaide. Kids will have a blast in the 45-metre lagoon pool, indoor heated pool, and in the water park. When it’s time to dry out, the jumping pillow and adventure park are waiting, before settling down in the outdoor cinema for a movie. It also has a café and beer garden, with accommodation including campsites, poolside units and apartments, bungalows and villas.
Image: A Lagoon Unit at Marion Holiday Park
Best holiday park in the Northern Territory: Discovery Parks, Alice Springs
Just five minutes’ from the CBD, Discovery Parks – Alice Springs (previously BIG4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park), is a convenient spot to base yourself for a Northern Territory adventure. It has a range of facilities, including camp kitchens, pools, a splash park and jumping pillows. Accommodation options include sites for caravans and tents, budget-friendly rooms, safari tents and self-contained deluxe cabins.
Images: The pool area at Discovery Parks, The waterslide
Best holiday park in Tasmania: BIG4 St Helens Holiday Park
This holiday park on Tasmania’s north-east coast is just 300 metres from the Georges Bay waterfront and provides an ideal base to explore the Bay of Fires, Binalong Bay, St Columba Falls, Scamander and Wineglass Bay. With powered and unpowered campsites, a bunkhouse and self-contained cabins to choose from, it has a jumping pillow, play area and a state-of-the-art outdoor camp kitchen as well as a unique chain fire-pit with seating all around.
Image: Girls playing table tennis at BIG4 St Helens
Best holiday park in Western Australia: Mandalay Holiday Resort & Tourist Park, Busselton
Situated between Busselton and Dunsborough in the Margaret River region, Mandalay Holiday Resort & Tourist Park has loads of kid-friendly features. Think solar heated outdoor pool with waterslide, another heated pool with a shallow beach, a games room with a fireplace, a pool table, table tennis, four adventure playgrounds and a jumping pillow. It has powered caravan and camping sites, glamping tents, cabins with up to three-bedrooms and villas.
Images: The pool at Mandalay Holiday Resort in Margaret River, A family by the pool
Best holiday park group in Australia for families: BIG4 Holiday Parks
Started by four caravan park owners who met for dinner in Ballarat in the 1970s and were unified in a belief that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parks”, BIG4 Holiday Parks has grown to include around 180 properties around Australia. Its brand hallmarks are quality accommodation and facilities, cleanliness, and excellence in customer service. All BIG4 parks are franchisees which are individually owned and operated, some by families and others by corporates such as NRMA Parks & Resorts and Ingenia Holidays. It’s developed three distinct park types to help guests determine which park best suits their holiday needs – Classic, Holiday, or Premier parks.
Image: An aerial view of BIG4 Adventure Whitsundays at Airlie Beach
