River Diamantina 2019 Review

Australians love a large luxury caravan and Melbourne manufacturer River has its own take on the big and bountiful theme with its Diamantina.

There are six basic layouts offered in the Diamantina range, from a 19ft 6in two-berth rear-door to a 23ft two-berth, east-west configuration.

The Diamentina isn’t just for couples: there are two family vans, in 19ft 6in and 22ft 6in body lengths. But unusual for a timber and aluminium-clad van is the offering of a slide-out model, available in a 21ft 6in length.

Club lounge version

The van we’re reviewing here is the 22ft 10in Club Lounge version. The idea of a club lounge is not new -- it’s a signature feature in many European caravans -- but unlike the overseas vans with their front lounge the River’s is at the back.

This makes it easier in some ways to enjoy a location’s view by being able to reverse into the site and take advantage of what's out back, like a river or beach -- something harder to do with front-lounge vans, especially if you’ve only stopped for the night and still have the tow vehicle hitched up.

The River uses double glazed hopper windows and combined with the three large roof hatches (and bright interior decor) it feels bright and airy throughout the interior fit-out.

However, it'd be nice to have one larger window up the back to make most of the club lounge’s view rather than the two smaller ones fitted. However, the lounge itself is spacious and with the multi-adjustment table top everyone can get comfy around it.

Extra bed

The table also drops down to serve as a bed base and a cushion is supplied to fill in the gap on the base. The lounge also has small triangular tables mounted just below the windows; a great spot to put down a beverage while taking in the view.

There’s also an LED reading light on each side of the lounge, a two-pole 240v outlet on the offside and a USB outlet on the nearside. However, another USB outlet on the offside would help keep the peace when there are two devices needing a charge.

To top it off, a 12v Sirocco fan is mounted to the nearside wall for when off-the-grid and trying to keep cool on those hot summer days.

Cooking time

With this type of layout there always seems to be a good amount of room in the kitchen, and so it is here.

There’s not only a fair bit of bench space on the offside around the sink (with the stove top cover down), but also on the nearside. Even with the stove in action you’d have plenty of room on the nearside for food prep.

There’s also a lot of cupboards and shelves in and around the kitchen, including a (small) slide-out pantry below the offside bench. One interesting feature is the top drawer on the offside that slides out to reveal a slide-out bench.

To plug in a coffee machine or toaster, there are two 240v double-pole outlets on the offside kitchen bench and one on the nearside bench. The wall next to the nearside bench also offers a USB port, TV mount and TV aerial port, while the locker above the bench houses the circuit breakers, hot water switches and Trek power/water management system.

Great bathroom

The centre bathroom is one of those features you either love or hate. If your partner needs the loo and you want to get to or from the bedroom... well, you’ll just have to wait. Aside from this disadvantage, it’s all good news with this set-up because it typically provides the most spacious bathroom you’ll get in a caravan.

The Diamantina's is a good example: for starters, on the nearside there’s a four-tier cupboard below which you have four drawers and a small hatch. Then there's the large shower recess, with height-adjustable shower rose and ceiling hatch/extractor fan.

Even with caravan shower cubicles that are big enough to shower in comfortably, there's often another problem: access to them. One key advantage of this layout is that the shower door doesn't have to be a concertina door or be restricted in how far it can open (often the case with rear ensuites) -- there's plenty of room in the Diamantina's centre aisle to open the door wide.

The bathroom’s offside features the toilet and vanity unit, which includes the porcelain sink, single mixer tap and some generous bench space. This bench also opens to reveal the top-loader washing machine.

There’s a large ceiling hatch here that like those located in the bedroom and lounge area offers a shut-out blind or insect mesh. With a lack of windows in the bathroom area (which makes sense, given you want privacy most of the time!) the ceiling hatch is an excellent alternative for not only delivering some extra light but also ventilation.

There’s also a sliding door at each end of the bathroom -- great if you're partner wants a nap while you watch some TV down the other end...

Master bedroom

The bedroom up front is quite conventional, with the north-south queen bed with wardrobe storage each side, lockers above and storage underneath (with the bed base supported by gas struts).

Large windows on the near and offside, plus the ceiling hatch and front window make this area of the caravan another airy, bright and well ventilated space, if required.

There’s another Sirocco fan here to generate a breeze on hot nights when you’re free-camping or don’t want to fire up the 240v reverse-cycle, roof-monted air-conditioner.

More plug-in points include a two-pole 240v outlet at each side of the bed, as well as a USB port. The bedroom’s rear nearside wall also features a mount and power/aerial port for the 12v 24in LED TV.

Outdoor living

Outside, there are the sort of features you’d expect on any Aussie caravan priced above $80,000: a roll-out awning, TV/audio entertainment box, a picnic table, gas bayonet, 12v port and two LED coach lights.

Beyond that there are some extra niceties such as an aluminium toolbox, generator slide and reversing camera, plus an outdoor shower in a compartment on the offside rear.

The Diamantina’s best external feature is undoubtedly the impressive storage options -- there’s not just a tunnel boot up front but also one at the rear, both accessible on each side of the van. With 462kg of payload to play with (once the two 9kg gas bottles and two 95L water tanks are filled) you have a plenty of payload to load them up too.

Also on the Diamantina’s A-frame is the checkerplate aluminium toolbox/ gennie slide, two 9kg gas bottles, 50mm coupling and centre-mount jockey wheel with double clamps, which allows plenty of room for weight distribution hitch clamps.

A WDH is likely to be necessary as the River has a towball download of 330kg with its 95L water tanks filled (we towed with them empty, with a measured 260kg towball mass as per the compliance plate figure).

With all three water tanks (two fresh, one grey) ahead of the axle set, it’s going to make for a very heavy TBM if all three are close to full. It’s a scenario most will avoid when towing anyway -- why drag grey water around when if not at camp it can be drained on the roadside before you head off?

Well protected underbody

While not an off roader as such, the River has good underbody protection with water tanks covered in gal steel and the two 100A/h batteries encased in steel enclosures on the offside chassis frame.

If the going's not too tough to the campsite, it would work well for off-the-grid camping, with 190 litres of water, 18kg of gas and two 150watt solar panels feeding the two 100A/h batteries

The chassis looks very strong, with the 150mm x 50mm A-frame beams extending back to the wheelset and the body also supported by 150mm x 50mm rails. Suspension is via the traditional leaf-spring roller-rocker design.

Summing up

While it has an old-school ‘stick and tin’ construction, the 22ft 10in Diamantina Club Lounge is actually no heavier than some more contemporary composite construction luxury vans.

While not exactly cheap, it has a load of premium features for the price, and even better it has the luxury of space -- both in living areas and for storage.

River Diamantina 22ft 10in Club Lounge

Travel length: 9390mm (30ft 9in)
Body length (open length): 7000mm (22ft 11in)
External body width: 2390mm (7ft 10in)
Travel height: 2912mm (9ft 7in)
Interior height: 1950mm (6ft 5in)
Tare weight: 2680kg
ATM: 3350kg
Ball weight: 260kg
Body: Meranti timber frame, insulation, aluminium cladding
Chassis: 150 x 50mm RHS galvanised steel
Suspension: Roller-rocker leaf springs
Brakes: 12-inch electric drum
Stability Control: Dexter DSC
Wheels: 16-inch alloy on LT245/75R16 tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 95L
Battery: 2 x 100Ah
Solar: 2 x 150 watts
Air-conditioner: AirCommand Ibis 3
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: Swift 28 litre gas/electric
Cooking: Swift 500 Series 3 gas/1 elec burners/grill/oven
Fridge: Dometc CoolMatic 218L fridge/freezer
Microwave: Swift Dluxx 800watt
Toilet: Thetford cassette
Shower: Seperate cubicle
Lighting: 12v LED
TV: 24in LED TV/DVD
Price: $85,900
Supplied by: Parravans Caravan World, Windsor, NSW 
More info: River Caravans, Somerton, Victoria