Easter Camping in Queensland: Last-Minute Trip Ideas from the Sunshine Coast (Camper Hire Tips)
Last Easter, we hadn't planned anything.
It was maybe ten days out, the kids were about to be on school holidays, and we just had to cancel an oversea trip due to a little passport mishap that meant one of us wasn’t able to fly. The good news was we still had a free long weekend, and no bookings on our vamuz II camper at this stage. So we booked it ourselves.
We ended up driving north to Agnes Water and staying at 1770 Travellers, a properly good campground a short drive from the beach, with a pool, clean amenities, and that loose, end-of-the-road energy that Agnes Water always has. We booked it about a week before we left. Sites were still available. It ended up being one of our favourite long weekends of the year.
I tell you this because every year around this time, people assume Easter is fully booked. Some of it is. But a lot isn't, especially if you're flexible, have a van that can handle a bit of gravel, and you're not locked into the same three campgrounds everyone else is fighting over.
Agnes Water Was the Right Call
If you haven't been to Agnes Water and 1770, put it on the list. It's about five hours north of the Sunshine Coast, a solid drive, but the kind that's worth it. The town sits at the end of the bitumen, literally the northernmost surf beach on the east coast (people of Yeppoon will writing in I’m sure), and it still has that slightly forgotten coastal feel that places like Noosa lost about fifteen years ago.
1770 Travellers is a well-run park right in the middle of it all. Powered sites, a pool, good bathrooms. Nothing fancy, but exactly what you want after a long drive with kids in the back. We arrived Thursday night to be the Good Friday traffic, spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the beach, and didn't do much else. That was the whole plan.
The drive up the coast in the camper, watching the suburbs give way to cane fields, then scrub, then that big wide Queensland sky, that's half the point.
This Easter: The Sunshine Coast Hinterland is Wide Open
If you want something closer or you've left it even later than we did, the Sunshine Coast hinterland is genuinely underrated at Easter.
Right now there are over 500 Hipcamp sites available across the region for the long weekend. That's not a typo. While everyone's scrambling for a spot at Noosa or Rainbow Beach, there are properties up in the hinterland with fire pits, creek access, big open paddocks, and no one else around.
We did a version of this in the Scenic Rim last year (you can read that one [here]) and it's the same principle, go inland a bit, get off the main roads, and you'll often find the better trip. The hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast; Kenilworth, Mapleton, Maleny, Imbil are all green and cool in April, the tracks are passable, and the crowds aren’t as hectic.
The Vamuz II is built for this. It's a GWM Cannon 4x4 with a rooftop tent, solar, and enough clearance to get into the spots that the big motorhomes can't reach. Pet friendly too, if that's relevant.
The Honest Case for Booking Now
Easter is April 3 - 6 this year. That's 2 weeks away.
If you want the good sites, like the ones with creek access or views or actual separation between your neighbours, the window is closing. The 500+ Hipcamp listings available today won't all be there in two weeks. And if you're looking at driving to Agnes Water or anywhere north of Bunderberg, accommodation in the coastal towns fills faster than the campsites do.
Last year we got lucky with a week's notice. I wouldn't rely on that again.
If you want to use the Vamuz II for Easter — whether it's a hinterland loop, a run up to Agnes Water, or just a few nights at a Hipcamp 45 minutes from home — now is the right time to lock it in.
Check the Vamuz II's availability for Easter →
And if you want help planning the route, just message us. We know these roads, the free camps worth stopping at, and the ones that look good on a map but aren't.
