Depot Beach Campground in Murramarang NP books out for summer. How NSW bookings work, when sites sell out and how to catch a cancellation for your dates.
About
Depot Beach Campground sits on the South Coast inside Murramarang National Park, a short drive off the Princes Highway between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. The pitch is simple: bush and rainforest behind you, the beach a couple of minutes' walk in front, and nothing much to do but swim, walk and eat. It's one of the easiest national park campgrounds in NSW to love, which is exactly why it's hard to get into over summer.
Two short walks start right from the campground: the Depot Beach Rainforest walk and the Rock Platform walk. The park itself is always open, but NPWS can close it for bad weather or high fire danger, so check the alerts on the official page before you head off.
The sites
According to the official NPWS campground page, Depot Beach has 40 campsites, covering tent sites, camper trailer sites, caravan sites and spots where you camp beside your vehicle. There's a mix of powered and unpowered sites, and all sites are marked.
Facilities listed by NPWS:
- Toilets and showers
- Barbecue facilities, picnic tables and covered picnic shelters
- Electric power (on powered sites)
- Car park
NPWS asks you to bring your own food and drinking water. Each site has parking for one vehicle; tent-only sites park around the edge of the tent-only area, and there's a limited amount of extra parking in the campground car park.
Check-in is from 12pm and check-out is by 11am (late check-out fees may apply). You check in at the on-site office to confirm your site number, and if the office is unattended there's a whiteboard. Online, you can book up to 40 people or 9 sites; bigger groups go through the NPWS group booking enquiry form. Camping fees don't include park entry, which is charged per vehicle per day.
How booking works
Every NSW national park campground is booked online through the NPWS website (or by phone on 1300 072 757). There's no ballot. You search availability for your dates, pick a site type, and pay at checkout, which includes a non-refundable booking fee.
The cancellation terms matter a lot here, because they shape when sites come back:
- Cancel 31 days or more before arrival: 75% refund, booking fee excluded.
- Cancel less than 31 days before arrival: 50% refund, booking fee excluded.
- If NPWS has to cancel because of a park closure (extreme weather, fire), you get a full refund including the booking fee.
Date changes are possible within the same site type, but the whole booking has to move together and can't be split.
When it sells out
Summer is the crunch. At the time of writing, our availability checks show the Christmas to Australia Day stretch at Depot Beach already booked out, along with the other NSW coast campgrounds we sampled. NSW school holidays, Easter and long weekends are the next to go, and fine-weather weekends in spring and autumn can fill too.
Availability is shown by site type, so a night that's gone for powered sites may still have an unpowered or tent site left, and vice versa. If you're flexible on site type, you'll see far more openings.
How to get a cancellation
People's plans change, and when they do, the site goes straight back into the pool. The trick is seeing it before someone else does.
The refund rules give you a useful clue about timing. The refund drops from 75% to 50% once you're inside 31 days, so a lot of people tidy up their plans just before that cut-off. For late December and January arrivals, that puts a cluster of cancellations roughly between 20 November and 26 December. Openings also pop up in the last few days before arrival, when people pull out for weather or work.
Refreshing the booking page dozens of times a day works, but it's miserable. Instead, watch Depot Beach on Aussie Camp Alerts: pick your nights and site type, and we'll email you when one frees up. The free plan covers one live watch with alerts about 15 minutes behind. If you're chasing several dates or campgrounds, the Summer pass adds instant alerts by Telegram and web push.
When an alert lands, move quickly. Have your NPWS account logged in, know your vehicle and party details, and book first, plan second.
Getting there
From the Princes Highway, enter Murramarang National Park via Mount Agony Road. Keep right at the fork onto North Durras Road, then continue onto Depot Beach Road to the campground at 2B Depot Beach Road. NPWS lists the roads as sealed, all-weather and fine for 2WD vehicles, so caravans are no drama.
The Depot Beach office is open daily (hours vary, closed Christmas Day), and the National Parks Contact Centre takes calls from 7am to 7pm.
Nearby alternatives
If Depot Beach is full for your dates, these are worth watching too: