Seisia or Loyalty Beach?

[crackacoldie]

Just wondering what is the better campground and what people's opinions are?

  Cracka

[LC]

When we were there Seisia was crammed in like sardines, the facilties were filthy, they even had people set up ontop of the septic tanks. Some of our fellow travellers got to Seaisa a few days before us and had already set up there, so we stayed there too against our better judgement.

We had a drive around Loyalty Beach it appeared to be way in front of Seisia. Didnt check out the faciliteis but there werent anywhere near the number of people.

The Seisa people didn't even keep spots for those that had made bookings many months prior to their arrival.

Punsand bay a little closer to the tip also looked nice, but not sure about powered sites.

This is the only picture I have of our campsite at Seisia we had cram two KKs and two 4wd's onto the one site. The tent ropes in the foreground is the next people's campsite! The drum hanging on the tree is the power box. They just had extension leads strung between the trees with powerboards in each of the drums.

[muzza01]

Pundsand bay is heaps better except no power.  Where there is power, there are crowds.  Seisa would be my last choice.

[Foss]

Punsand Bay "camping resort" (not sure about the resort bit) has a limited number of powered sites, but not right on the beachfront. We have stayed there twice, both on the unpowered beachfront. Great spot. We drove through both Seisa and Loyalty for a sticky beak and came to the conclusion we were  happier with where we were at Punsand.

[McGirr]

I don't mind Seisa , also have stayed at loyalty Beach. The drive to and from Punsand Bay is a pain if you need to get groceries. But every one is different on where they prefer to stay.

Mark

[Fathom]

Punsland has some powered sites... Also a little pool.. Has good amenities  Closest to the tip but also a little far to go back into town. Also has nice deep water out front to fish. 
Seisa had less "waterfront sites" but easy to walk to the jetty to fish.  Can't comment on the amenities as have not seen them. 
Loyalty has by far the most sites along the water, good amenities. Not so good for throwing a line straight out due to it being pretty tidal.. 
If I was going back I would stay at Loyalty again.

[letsgo]

Well that's helped answer the question for us too . We were planning on staying at Punsland, so sounds like its the right choice.

[TOPNDR]

We stayed at Punsand Bay in '07, had a great time and a powered site.  Pity the charger on the KK shat itself on the corrugations on the way up there!

[Smithyworld]

We also stayed at Punsland Bay. Would have to say that this was one of the best campsites I've stayed as due to the location on the beach. That was until I got to 1770!! 

[toad]

 Seisia is a great place to stay, IF you book in advance one of the beachfront hut sites.

[gclan]

I think everyone who plans a trip to Cape York agonises over this same question

Do you specifically want to stay at Loyalty Beach or Seisia, or are you open to more options, and hence a bigger decision making headache?

We ended up camping at Punsand Bay, Alau Beach, and Loyalty Beach, and stayed in a cabins at Seisia and at Resort Bamaga on our trip last year.
I've listed them there in order of what I thought was least formal/caravan park like to most formal/caravan park like, or most bush like to most civilised.

Punsand Bay is under new management this year, and they've apparently done an overhaul on the place. They've even got beer on tap now @ $5/schooner.
The new managers are supposed to be very good operators(they run the Cape Tribulation Camping Ground).
We loved it up there, and the kids loved the pool too. Magic sunrise and sunsets and beautiful sandy beach.
It was the least caravan parky of the lot (last year). As mentioned before, the unpowered sites are towards the beachfront, and the powered sites are near the back.
If you don't like bush camping though, you won't enjoy Punsand Bay as much as the others.

Alau Beach (at Umagico) was a welcome surprise, with nice clean facilities and a beautiful beach. It was less touristy and had more of a local Cape feel. You have to weave your way down through the community of Umagico to get to the beach, and it is the smallest of the parks up there, but we really enjoyed our one night there, and would happily go back for several nights next time.

Punsand Bay was our favourite, followed closely by Alau Beach. They seemed to have more character about them than the others.
If you need a campsite with all the amenities close to town, then my personal preference out of Loyalty or Seisia would be Loyalty Beach. Seisia was very,very popular when we were up there in July. The good thing about Seisia though is that you can walk to the shops, wharf and fishing club etc....

In the end, I think you need to consider where you'll be spending the majority of your time: around the campground and town relaxing and socialising, or out sightseeing and exploring? Also whether you're caravan park people or more bush camping, with amenities, kind of people?

Here's a link to some photos of our campsites if you want to get an idea of what some of them are like. They start at the end of page 6 (Alau Beach) and go onwards.
They may give you a bit of an idea of what the sites and beaches are like.
http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=25497.0

Odds are you'll enjoy whichever one you pick

Cheers
Karen

[Kris]

Just to throw a spanner, we stayed at Seisa in July 2011.  We did not have a powered site.  We were walked around the park to select the sites we wanted.  Yes, there were only 3 of us with tents!  We picked one with a fair bit of shade, one row back from the beachfront sites.



View from the beachfront site

.

Everyone has good and  bad opinions of each place!  We had no issues, but no we haven't stayed at any of the other places.  The place wasn't packed, but did get a few more in over our 4 day stay.  And we ended up looking out onto a few more rigs in the beachfront sites.  But we only had one lay day at camp, the rest of the time we were sightseeing.

Enjoy it, wherever you end up  Kris

[crackacoldie]

Thanks everyone for your replies, probably more confused than ever   Just looking forward to getting there.  We were unable to get a camp at Elliot falls, it is booked out for 2 months in advance

Think we will stay at Loyalty Beach as we will need to catch up on the house duties as well as sight see.

  Cracka

[gclan]

Sorry if it was my babble that confused you. I do unfortunately have a habit of doing that

Glad you've decided though. Have a great trip!

Karen

[crackacoldie]

Sorry if it was my babble that confused you. I do unfortunately have a habit of doing that

Glad you've decided though. Have a great trip!

Karen

No, you didn't babble, just more places up there to camp than we had found in research.  All of it was great information, I think I should have asked the question a few months ago though

  Cracka

[Carlisle Rogers]

Loyalty Beach is just out of Seisia, and yes, it can be a bit quieter in the busy months. Plenty of shady sites, though, if you aren't precious about being on the waterfront. And if you're feeling adventurous, there are tracks heading north following the coastline that come out at an epic fishing spot at the mouth of Paterson Creek. Just mapped the place for Hema for the first time!

Here's us at Loyalty Beach:

[crackacoldie]

Loyalty Beach is just out of Seisia, and yes, it can be a bit quieter in the busy months. Plenty of shady sites, though, if you aren't precious about being on the waterfront. And if you're feeling adventurous, there are tracks heading north following the coastline that come out at an epic fishing spot at the mouth of Paterson Creek. Just mapped the place for Hema for the first time!

Here's us at Loyalty Beach:

Thanks Carlisle, will check that out when we get there in a couple of weeks.

[bert56]

If you stay at Seisa, make sure everything is locked up at night. Things tend to walk.


Bert

[gclan]

Carlisle - Where exactly is Paterson Creek? Is it the creek that you cross driving north from Loyalty Beach, or is it a closely guarded secret until the new Hema map comes out?

Always on the lookout for an adventure


Cheers
Karen

[Carlisle Rogers]

Karen,

It does run just north of Loyalty. You can follow a maze of tracks that run north up the coast there that take you out to the mouth. It was a closely guarded secret, yes. Epic spot, though, and hopefully a new one for a few brave souls who are looking for something different from the Cape.

Carlisle

The track in...


The creek at the mouth - legendary fishing when the tide rolls in over the mud flats and connects with the creek.

Carlisle - Where exactly is Paterson Creek? Is it the creek that you cross driving north from Loyalty Beach, or is it a closely guarded secret until the new Hema map comes out?

Always on the lookout for an adventure


Cheers
Karen

[gclan]

Thanks Carlisle. We'll keep your secret

It looks similar to the mouth of the Laradinya Creek which must be just north of there somewhere. That is a great spot too, but keep an eye out for crocs and soft sand

[HEM19X]

Passed a stack of vehicles heading up the cape yesterday... all going at the speed of light! Wherever you stay, make sure you book, as for camping at Eliot Falls, there is an area just north of it on the telly track that may be ok. The Myswag guys camp there each year I think.

We had the pick of sites at Seisia but wouldn't fork out the $8 per night for a Hut if towing a CT. Loyalty & Punsand are nice but powered sites are limited.

Have a great trip

Hem

[crackacoldie]

Passed a stack of vehicles heading up the cape yesterday... all going at the speed of light! Wherever you stay, make sure you book, as for camping at Eliot Falls, there is an area just north of it on the telly track that may be ok. The Myswag guys camp there each year I think.

We had the pick of sites at Seisia but wouldn't fork out the $8 per night for a Hut if towing a CT. Loyalty & Punsand are nice but powered sites are limited.

Have a great trip

Hem

Thanks Hem,  We have booked at Loyalty Beach now.  With the rain and cold setting in home here in the Barossa, makes me look forward to it even more.

 

Craig

[EFIwindsor]

We stayed at loyalty beach last year. It was great. We walked through Seisa and we happy we chose loyalty beach.


HZJ105, turbo, FMIC, Superflex arms, H151 conversion. Towing a custom Walkabout Camper.

[miller]

[