Review: Middle Rock Holiday Resort, One Mile NSW

Time of stay: March 2020

Overall

Middle Rock Holiday Park is located on the south side of the Port Stephens area in NSW. We stayed for 2 nights and booked 2 sites as we were staying with friends. Overall we were extremely impressed with the location and facilities of the park. It is well located to lots of attractions in the area, has clean amenities, a large camp kitchen and a fantastic pool located next to a cafe/bar.

Price

It cost us $100 per site for 2 nights. This was for an unpowered grass site. $40 per night for the site (2 adults) plus $10 for our eldest child. Our youngest child was free as she is 4 (their free infants are from 0-4).

I find this getting towards the upper end of what I would pay for a unpowered site, especially at $10 extra per child. The price could possibly be forgiven due to the fact that they do have a great pool, a large camp kitchen and the amenities are kept very clean.

Campsites

We booked 2 sites for 2 nights. They were both grass unpowered sites that were fairly flat. They also have powered grass sites and powered concrete sites as well as various cabins and even motel rooms.

On one site we had our Mars Camper Trailer and on the other was a tent and gazebo. The sites were a reasonable size without being huge. We could easily fit the camper trailer and car on the site.

We had sites towards the back of the park, surrounded by bush and wetlands on one side and with a lot of tree cover. It was very quiet, with a short walk to the amenities, camp kitchen and playground, and a longer walk to the pool.

I think if we were to stay here again we would try and get sites closer to the middle of the park away from the trees, simply because it was quite annoying with leaves etc falling from the tree and we got a few spiders deciding to make webs between the trees and our car and camper.

You can’t have a firepit at the campsite, however they do have communal firepits that can be lit in certain months.

Being near the wetlands we also got a visit from a large goanna looking for food. It freaked the kids out a little bit but was a good lesson for them about not leaving dropped food on the ground.

Amenities

The amenities were kept clean and the ones we used had plenty. We didn’t ever have a wait for a shower. We didn’t have any reason to use the laundry as we were only there for a weekend so cannot comment on that.

Camp Kitchen

The camp kitchen was big, undercover and clean. It had 4 BBQ’s, 2 microwaves and a double sink. There were also toasters, kettles and fridges you could use. There were multiple large picnic benches to sit and eat which were also undercover. We ended up using it to cook with a fair bit to save us using our own cooking stove and gas. The playground is also located close by so the kids can play while you cook with them still being in sight.

Location

We found the location of the Middle Rock Resort to be excellent. It backs onto the sand dunes of One Mile Beach with beach access directly from the park. It is only a short (although rather steep) walk over the dunes to get to the beach.

Middle Rock Resort is also conveniently located to attractions around the Port Stephens area. It is right next door to the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary and a short drive to many other attractions. If you are looking to drive on Stockton Beach it is close to the northern entrance.

Playground / Kids Entertainment

The playground is small, but seems well maintained. There is lots of grass around it for kids to run around and play as well. There is a jumping pillow at the front of the park, which is covered by a shade sail, which is fabulous for keeping the heat off. This is a big improvement on a lot of other jumping pillows at caravan parks – we’ve seen lots out in the open sun and they can get extremely hot.

Pool

The pool at Middle Rock Resort is fantastic. Our kids absolutely loved it. There is a small kids pool with a couple of slides, a heated plunge pool / spa and 2 connected larger pools with a big shallow area. It is also right next to the cafe / bar so you can have something to eat or drink in between swims. We’d give it 5 stars but we’ve taken off half a point because the main pools aren’t heated.

Coffee and Food

There is a cafe / bar near the pool. It offered a small menu, coffee, drinks and alcohol. We shared a few pizzas and they were really nice. We also had a few happy hour cocktails from the bar while the kids were swimming one afternoon.

Overview

Camp Kitchen – BBQ – Sink – Shared fridge – Undercover	Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pool – Heated	Yes Only plunge pool/spa
Playground	Yes
Jumping Pillow	Yes (in shade)
Other kids entertainment	No
Bikes/Scooters allowed	Yes
Food/Drinks available?	Yes (cafe/bar)
Mobile phone reception	Yes
Laundry	Yes (cost)
Family bathroom	Not that I saw
Dump point	Yes
Maximum people per campsite	6
Extra charge for children	Yes (4 – 15 years)