Turtle Sands

We stayed in one of the luxury tent style accommodation options. Arriving on a Monday & staying for 3 nights this was the perfect base for the turtle experiences that are within walking distance. The glamping tent was great large with good appointments & close to the beach also. You have to black out everything for the good of the turtle beach but if you can't live with this between 6pm & 6am maybe this is not the place for you. The staff were great plenty of wildlife to watch & look at a relatively new park doing lots to make your stay very enjoyable. You are about 20 mins from Bundaberg here which makes it very quiet & the waves on the beach are the loudest noise. The only thing we found a little downer was the water pressure in the shower or when trying to do dishes. It is probable because the grounds man has a drip water feeder almost everywhere & this feeds from the accommodation outside taps rather than having its own supply. This was not enough to spoil our stay & would like to return again some day.

Stayed in a 3 bedroom Villa. Advertised as air conditioned but fails to mention in Villa’s description that only the main bedroom and lounge has air conditioning. Middle of Summer and our kids sweated at night in 35 degree heat. We tried keeping their bedroom doors open so the air con would flow into their rooms but there is a stupid sensor light outside the bedrooms that lights up when some walks out to the bathroom at night. you can’t turn it off. part of the “Eco” design.How could a brand new villa be so poorly designed? Another mid description was “washer and dryer” it has only a washing machine that had a drying function on it, only if you put on a full wash.and even then clothes were only half dried. 7 day stay I spent more time washing and hanging out clothes on our veranda. Seems everyone was doing the same thing! Also pool towels was a mystery. when I rang up 2 days before my stay they told me pool towels were included. so i didn’t pack any. guest seem to have same coloured towels around the pool so I asked reception on first night but they told me no they weren’t included but gave me extra bath towel when i questioned it further. $800 a night I expected more. Park is basic. would be better off camping. also worth mentioning there really was no benefit of staying at Turtle Sands for turtles. beach access is closed 6am-6pm and most days we were pushed off the beach at 5:30pm anyway. we didn’t get to see any extra turtles by staying here. We walked up the beach daily and Mon repo Rangers don’t want you anywhere near the dunes to see what they are doing. hatchlings often were laying from 4pm but they were carefully guarded for the paid tours. they would move hatchlings to the water in buckets and wouldn’t bother interacting with people walking along the beach. only benefit was after the tour, you were only 5 mins from home. most guests drove because the walk to the turtle centre was too dark. I’d love to see more of a reason for people to stay at turtle sands rather than bargara. maybe a exclusive ranger experience one night of their stay? or free tour ticket. stayed during 30% off time but definitely wouldn’t return full price. Camping would be better value.

Beautiful spot right on the beachfront of Mon Repos beach. Excellent to view the turtles. The caravan park is well set out with spacious sites. The amenities are fantastic and clean. Staff are super friendly too. It was lovely and quiet at night and so nice to hear the sound of the waves on the beach. They put on a free welcome BBQ on Friday night which was so nice of them. Definitely recommend this park.

Bookings of more than six sites needed for park to open, and pre paid, this was not a problem, BUT.... On arrival you have to let your self in and find your spot yourself and basically park where you like, no arrival service at all. When talking to manager (supposed owner) he was very arrogant and his motto, my park, my rules, do as I say not as I do. Doesn't care if you don't come back (his words) Dogs not allowed but his ran free though park and sites at his will. Children not allowed to ride their bikes in the park and very over priced for what you get. Amenities very out dated. It was a lovely park otherwise, great surrounds, beautiful beach as well as bush walks, but my advice, stay at Bargara as not that far away, and do a morning trip to Mon Repos.

Fantastic location. Can’t wait to see what NRMA do with this park. Hopefully they work closely with the turtle centre to ensure the development of the park is a partnership that benefits the environment.