Tasman Holiday Parks Papamoa Beach $8m refurb revealed, including THAT swimming pool

I’m not much of a camper. I’m a fairly happy camper figuratively speaking, but literally? Not so much. “If only this campground had some luxury accommodation, then I’d be away laughing!” is the sort of line I’ve used in semi-jest over the years to much eye-rolling, but me and tents just don’t get along.

As I wrote in the NZ Herald back in 2019 when my wife and I did an epic Bay Of Plenty/East Cape road trip in a decked-out motorhome:

“There was Form 1 (Year 7) camp in 1993 where my sleeping bag was so flimsy and the nights so cold that I had to wear all my clothes to bed and drape myself in both my beach towel and tea towel. Handy hint: tea towels aren’t that warming. Then there was 4th Form (Year 10) camp in 1996 when I left the bottom of the tent open and forgetting I was on an incline, woke up with only my head still in the tent and my classmates laughing at the headless body falling out of the bottom zip.

And the final in the terrific tenting trifecta was 7th Form (Year 13) camp in 1999, when I was using a portable shower that doubled as a head pillow. Only problem was it leaked and in the morning I found myself lying in a pool of water. Good memories, good times.”

I somehow forgot to mention in that article the fourth major tenting incident which was sleeping deep in the Australian Outback in unseasonably cool weather in 2018 where it dropped to -2 degrees celsius overnight having been 23 during the day. My phone froze and stopped working, but I did get to hang out with John Farnham amidst some towering sand dunes, so on the balance of things, worth it. But still, me and tents!

Well you wouldn’t read about it, but someone must’ve heard my cries of wanting the communal joys of a campground holiday, but without having to experience it in a tent. And so it came to pass, Tasman Holiday Parks Papamoa Beach revamped their prime piece of coastal real estate just 12-kilometres south of the iconic Mauao of Mount Maunganui with an $8-million dollar makeover complete with six beachfront villas and eight poolside villas.

Before you freak out and fear for the non-divas among us that you can no longer pitch a tent or park up in your motorhome, Tasman Holiday Parks Papamoa Beach still provide ample space for that. It’s just that they also now have genuinely high-end villas, and not only that, one of the best resort-style swimming pools anywhere in New Zealand.

Click here to read my NZ Herald ‘Room Check’ review of the refurb, and why Tasman Holiday Parks Papamoa Beach is a genuine option for a Pacific Islands-style vacation, but without the cost of the airfares.

With a focus on native replanting, on architecture that compliments the beautiful Bay Of Plenty landscape, and on fun shared facilities and activities aimed at families, we had a wonderful three-generational getaway (me and my wife, our two children + grandparents). Hopefully it’s not too long before we are back, and we’ve promised our daughter that anyway. So happen it will!

And yes, before you ask, that enormous pool is heated, meaning you can book a holiday here outside of the peak summer period when prices are significantly reduced.

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