Distance from Sydney: 40km north/1hr drive.
Price per night: From $34 per tent (plus $17 per person). Check camping fees and availabilty with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Reach it by the public ferry from Palm Beach or by car (fair warning: it's a 2.8km walk from the West Head Road carpark). The Basin campsite is a pleasingly democratic contrast to the resort-wear brigade who long ago colonised the area. During school holidays, this Pittwater paradise becomes the United Nations of the camping world, with bronzed Anglo grandmas, and cricket-playing blokes happily jostling for space. The sites are unmarked and unpowered and it’s for tents only.