BUMPER crowds and perfect weather made it a record-breaking Easter weekend for the region’s holiday spots.

It was shaping up to be a big one with all national parks in the region fully booked by early Friday, but fingers remained crossed that last week’s wet weather would not hang around and scare holiday makers off.

Mother Nature turned it on for everyone, from business people who rely on tourism trade, to campers exposed to all the elements.

Ruth Modin from Rainbow Beach FoodWorks says in the 30 years she has been running a business in Rainbow Beach it is the best Easter holiday crowd she has ever seen.

“It’s super fantastic. The best Easter ever and it’s still going good,” she told The Gympie Times with obvious enthusiasm.

“It was our turn. There’s been record crowds. The beautiful weather has kept the crowds happy, everybody is happy. Kids are absolutely loving the place.”

Cassie Head from Rainbow Beach Hire a Camp said sunshine and warm temperatures had lifted campers’ spirits after the wet Christmas holidays.

Her fingers had been tightly crossed that rain would not dampen what promised to be a fantastic Easter for hers and other businesses that rely on holiday-makers.

Tin Can Bay was also full to the brim with campers desperate for a place to pitch their tents.

The weather has made such an impact on the local economy that residents decided to help business people make the most from the influx of visitors.

It is believed one local with a vacant block opened it up to a couple of campers and other residents made their yards available for visitors to spend a few days.

All camping areas within the Cooloola and Inskip Peninsula recreation areas were at capacity for Easter, including Poverty Point, Harry’s Hut, Fig Tree Point and the upper Noosa River.

Police have been out in force on the Cooloola Coast, patrolling the beaches at Inskip and Teewah.

As hundreds of four-wheel-drives turned Teewah Beach into a highway on Friday, officers from the Sunshine Coast District Tactical Crime squad, Roadside Drug Testing Unit and Brisbane Dog Squad set up a roadblock targeting speeding, drugs and alcohol.