We recently stayed a week on a beach front powered site at Kurrimine beach, halfway between Cairns and Townsville. $21 a night and $135 for a week. To get there turn off the Bruce highway at a little place called Silkwood. The camp is owned by the Council, basic amenities, hot showers and toilets, washing machines/clothes lines & drier. No camp kitchen. There is a boat ramp. All the sites were pretty generous sizes and some had concrete slabs. The dump site is only for portable tanks so we emptied our fixed tanks at Innisfail on the way back north. There were only 4 other campers staying there and it was school holidays! You can't book, you just go there but the caretaker said it's never busy. If I went there and he wasn't there I would just pick a site and pay when he turns up.

The same council has another camping ground at Mission Beach, also right on the beach. Also basic amenities and the same price. The caretaker told us campers can stay at both camps for up to 8 weeks at a time. For people on a tight budget, who want power, and need to save on fuel by not traveling around too much, these are both good options to 'winter up'. Cheaper than staying home. Non powered sites are cheaper. There was a sign saying 'no generators'. Not sure about pets, but the caretaker had a dog that was tied up all the time.

Kurrimine Beach has a pub, a couple of takeaways, and a petrol station with basic food items. Mission Beach has several restaurants, a couple of tourist shops and a grocery store. If you're coming from the south, could save some money by stocking up at a Townsville supermarket. If coming from the north, Innisfail is the last town with a supermarket, after Cairns.