Discovery Parks - Ballina

This is a great park, situated on a lake/backwater of the Richmond river its close to a beach and an easy bike ride or 4K walk to town along the river. Bicycle track along river into town and also north along the coast, to some great beaches. You can go all the way to Lennox Heads not that we did.

We stayed here in January during peak summer. The park is well presented, and the cabins look nice and are equipped with everything we needed. It’s a great place for kids — the jumping pillow, games room, and the various-sized puddle pools were a big hit with our children. However, there were some major downsides for us. The bathroom had a strong unpleasant smell, which was hard to ignore. We also have a 1-year-old who still naps during the day, and while there is air conditioning in the living area, there is none in the bedrooms. As a result, the rooms became unbearably hot, like an oven, making daytime naps nearly impossible. Wi-Fi was essentially unusable — you’re much better off using your own mobile hotspot. It’s disappointing to see that similar feedback has been mentioned in reviews going back years, with little sign of improvement. The park always seems to be fully booked, so perhaps there’s little incentive to modernise. We genuinely love the place and the facilities for kids, but until our children are older, we wouldn’t stay again — it’s just too difficult with a baby who needs to nap comfortably during the day.

We could not be more grateful to the park manager who went over and above for us. Due to experiencing grief after losing our dear friend, I made a booking for the wrong date but Adrian graciously found a room for us that was beyond what we could have hoped for. The cabin we stayed in was right by the water and had everything we needed. It was just so wonderful to experience the beauty of the surroundings at this difficult time. We had ample room which meant we could sleep comfortably; giving us the energy we needed for our travels en route from Brisbane back to the Central Coast. We especially loved the bathroom products which were natural products and were grateful for the provision of supplies for tea and coffee etc. We truly cannot thank you enough.

Great caravan park on Shaws Bay, East Ballina. Well organised with permanent residents, cabins, and caravans in separate areas. Lovely gardens too. Excellent facilities...we had an ensuite which was super clean, provided hand wash, hand lotion shampoo and conditioner. Very nice touch. The closest bbq area again was spotlessly clean and provided washing up items. Beautiful pool area and kids wading pool, free mini golf. Highly recommended!!