Pismo State Beach Oceano Campgrounds

No stars but had to give one to do this review. If you are planning on camping at the beach and enjoy the ocean this is not your place. There are tons of loud idiots with their loud motorcycles and ATVs riding around like maniacs. We were trying to sleep in our camper and people were shooting fireworks and riding their ATVs at midnight. Don’t get me wrong, the beach is beautiful and the waves are amazing but it’s just filled with careless idiots that throw glass bottles in the sand and ride their loud assvehicles everywhere.

We went back, and the homeless problem seems to be improved. Watch your stuff though. I love the birds.

Nice enough campground BUT don’t make a group reservation because if you end up parking and camping in a site that doesn’t match the arbitrary number they write on your parking slip at the gate, they harass you all weekend and write you expensive tickets.
One of the female night rangers initials H.R., badge number 1544 in particular, deliberately waits until about 11:45 pm after people are asleep to drive around looking for minor petty petty parking infractions to write expensive tickets for you to wake up to. If youre fortunate enough to catch her in the act, expect a face full of hostility from her. Badges really go to some peoples heads I guess.
Pull up alongside your site to unload wood and some gear before parking properly? That’s a ticket if she happens along, complete with a mean spirited high handed lecture. She’s better than you and you’re going to know it!
The rules don’t apply to her either as she rolls through at about 25 mph as often as humanly possible, scowling the entire time, looking for reasons to write tickets.
They tell overflow to park out front but here’s the catch; park there between 2 –5 am? That’s a ticket from the city police. So park there but then wake up and cruise aimlessly around Pismo for a few hours before returning to your tent if you don’t want another ticket.
By the way they charge for parking for the extra cars that aren’t allowed to actually park without being ticketed with wild abandon by friendly ranger H.R. and/​or the city.
If you call because you need them for something legitimate, forget about it because you’ll get no response. Phone a friend or something instead.
Basically If you have a small to medium truck and trailer only, it’s safe to camp here. You can sit back and enjoy watching others being harassed all evening if that’s your thing. Any more vehicles than that, and DON’T BOTHER unless you enjoy being harassed and petty fines. I’d sell every bit of camping gear we own before I’d ever camp here again.

Great park, electrical and water hookups. Quiet during week, in the fall. Sketchy people around. Neighbor had his bike stolen. Would stay here again but u have to be aware of your surroundings. Don’t leave anything out you don’t want to disappear.

We had a great time here. We have a trailer. I would recommend staying where the hookups are in SP 1 – 42. It’s closer to the beach. It’s easier to walk out of the campground and onto the sidewalk to get to the beach, especially if you are hauling stuff to the beach. The beach trail is nice for a hike. The trails are nice too. Otherwise, you can park your car on the beach. I didn’t encounter any problems with homeless camps like some others reported. Great place to camp.

my brother in law planned this trip months and months in advanced, he wanted to make it memorable and decided to execute this trip for my sisters bday.
i would be lying if i said i wasnt nervous: two and a half days of sleeping in the wilderness and the scary thoughts of going to the restroom in the woods and not showering for days kept running through my mind.
it took us three and a half hours behind the wheel to get to this beautiful destination. Breathtaking views, warm sun, and a slight calmness that you normally dont get in the city. the good news didnt stop there… i was pleasantly surprised to find a restroom area and even showers.
Bathrooms were as tidy as can be when i first got there. Do be warned that they do not have toilet sheet protectors and because of that, people are forced to use toilet paper to line the seat. By the end of the night, there are wads of toilet paper hanging off the seats, stuffed in each and every corner of the stalls, and toilet paper runs out a whole lot quicker too. BRING YOUR OWN JUST IN CASE.
Showers are good early early in the morning but as the day gets older, the benches and shower area gets more and more wet and dirty. Luckily im an early bird so i didnt have to deal with too much of the grimey_​ness.
Showers are pretty amazing, it actually provides hot water. BUT this is provided with a slight fee! 25 cents for a measly 2 minutes… so dont forget your rolls of quarters.
each camping rental area is quite substantial. we easily fit two good sized tents (one fit for ²⁄₃ people and the other fitting ⁵⁄₆ people) and had plenty of extra room that wasnt even touched. each site has its own garbage area equipped with two recycling bins, a large bench, and a pit to cook over or to have campfires.
only complaint was the annoying neighbors who were busy getting wasted and being super loud at night. Their kids were left unsupervised, running around and screaming their heads off. camping sites are quite close to one another so even if you arent yelling, you can hear everyones’ business.
Park rangers should make their rounds more often at night to enforce the rules and regulations. And above all else, there was a poor duck with a broken leg/​foot. it could barely move. They should definitely do something to help it out, the mere sight was a tear jerker.
fyi– there is a parking fee that they charge you with

Wow! We just wrapped up a fantastic weekend camping trip at this campground. The weather was great. We headed out to the beach with the kids before noon and everyone had a good time. It was a short walk away from our campsite. The bathrooms were clean.
All the rangers were very helpful. I cannot wait to come to this campground again.

Awesome campground with direct beach access by foot, or an ¹⁄₈^th of a mile by car.
Head to the back for the sites by the water. The old dogs with the RV take the front half.
Lots of restroom and shower

This place is sad. I’ve been going here since I was a little girl. Stopped going about 6 years ago. I don’t know what happen to it. They’ve cut down a lot of trees. The place is very bare. I understand they may need to cut some stuff down, but they need to replant! During our stay we watched the homeless camp across from us with 5 tents and about 6 guys stealing bikes, taking them apart right in front of everyone. Not even trying to hide they are working a bike stealing ring. But the rangers in the camp ground are more concerned about normal families trying to get in and drop stuff off stuff at camp sites then to watch the losers stealing and I MUST add they were stealing from this campground too. We caught them trying to steal our friends bikes. They were fighting every night. and of course the rangers don’t do patrol. They only drive through to see who paid for the spots and that is all they care about. We had to call 911 while we were trying to vacation due to the homeless guys fighting and one saying he was stabbed. UGH! I will go else where to relax next time. We had one ranger lady that was just mad at everything. When you talk to her she talked down to you. I think she should find another job if she’s that unhappy with her job. I’ve been to a lot of camping places and this one has gotten really bad. We just felt really unsafe. The great news is since our 911 call we did notice the rangers finally noticed all the bikes in tents and actually arrested them. I understand they can’t control who stays there. But I do think they could watch those camps more when they know their having problems with them. I hope they do some changes. Don’t think I’ll be back there anytime soon.

Cool campground! Best thing about it… you get a pass to take your car onto the beach! Clean showers ($.50) and bathrooms

I’ve stayed here a couple times, summer months. Pretty cool campground as its close, I mean REALLY CLOSE to Oceano Lagoon. This is important if you have kids because it gives them something to do. Beavers busy working to build dens are a favorite! The other pro, or con to some, are the raccoon’s who will show up each night to steal whatever they can. I found it amusing as did the kids.
Good idea to stop by or get a good map to plan your space in advance. This way, you’ll end up with a couple trees over you and your stuff.
Overall, I’d do it again. After-​all, it’s camping!

First of all, don’t get site 59. There are no trees around that site. It was our first time there, so I picked it because it looked like there would be enough space between sites, but the map is deceiving. We had people all around us with no trees or shrubbery. So, don’t expect any privacy. But the campers around us were very nice. There are only two stalls in the bathrooms, but they do have outlets if you need them. The showers will cost you 25 cents, and the water is unbelievably hot, too hot for me. Weather was perfect. We walked around the lagoon and there is a playground across the street on Pier Ave, so that was great for the kids. I expected more beach, but I guess since it is the dunes, there were a lot of trucks on the beach and I didn’t feel too much to hanging out with cars all over the sand.
Overall, I’d go again, different site though.

Book early if you want a spot.

To those this might offend, I’M SORRY but this campground has NOTHING on North Beach. My aunt mistakenly reserved our families campsites here one year. We decided to take a look around and see if we could manage. First of all it’s too damn far from the beach! It’s a mission to hike your way over there, especially with children. The site was also very small & felt crammed. We all agreed that camping in a park NEAR the beach wasn’t the way we wanted to go. But hey if you like that kind of thing, more power to ya! But yea, we went to North beach, explained the confusion & basically begged for them to squeeze us in! Need I tell you it was memorial weekend so it took a while to come to an agreement with the groundskeeper. Bottom line, we got in… soo… I’m just gonna leave this right here…

Prior to my camping trip here, it had been 30 years since I’d gone camping.
Yeah you heard me. 30 FUCKING YEARS!
But I think I did well.
OK well, considering my boyfriend did everything from setting up the tent, to blowing up the air mattress and laying out our sleeping bags n all that shit, there wasn’t much for me to do except try to make the site cleaner. Which, is hard to do when you’re surrounded by dirt. So I just sat there. in nature’s living room. chillin.
The camp backed up to a big hill of sand. it made us believe that Pismo Beach was right there. Oh but no, there was a huge hike and I was glad when I wasn’t pressed to trek it.
The sites are pretty big. We just had a lil 2-​person tent, but there was room for like 4 big tents per site.
Bathrooms were always clean when I had to use em. plenty of TP even though I brought my own. There was an electrical outlet in the bathroom and my bangs sure were happy about that.
There’s a lil fire pit for a camp fire (we totally failed there) and I’m told you could even cook on it if you’re that brave (I’m not).
The rangers seem really relaxed and toured the grounds at least every few hours. They were pretty helpful too by telling us to drive out onto the sand and enjoy the beach.
Luckily there were no animal sightings or attacks. I feel pretty damned good about that.
I like to think that everything has a balance. and boredom is not exempt from this theory. Like, waiting in a doctor’s office for 30 mins is bad boredom. However, camping is good boredom. You sit around with nothing to do, so you accept it. and it’s nice. You’ve got trees n fresh air and butterflies… it was beautiful and kinda mellow, and in the end, when I think back on the whole experience, it was really a good time. I’d totally camp at this place again.

i’ve been camping at Oceano Dunes for the last 10 years. this place can be a bit difficult to book at times so it’s important to plan ahead and reserve a pass at least a month in advance. if you don’t get a pass you’re just asking for trouble! my beau and his cousin got a $ 300 fine for not having a pass one year and it’s no joke. it’s better to dish out the $ 20 bucks and not have to worry about rangers giving you a hefty ticket. for the most part the rangers are pretty chill. the last trip here, our group had about 20 people and we had the music on all night and we had alcohol all night, so yeah, we were pretty disruptive however the rangers were really cool about asking us to tone down.
if you’re worried about bathrooms, they don’t have showers available but you can bathe in the beach! there’s an out house if you need to do #1 or #2 AND they provide toilet paper. otherwise, you can bring a shovel and walk 10 or 15 feet away from your camp site, dig a small hole and do your duty then bury it of course.
–1 star for slapping vehicles with a hefty fine for not having a pass. a warning would be nice!
4 stars for the perfect combination of dunes and beach! when we’re not dirt biking or atv-​ing we’re running along the beach.

We’re relatively new to the Bay Area, so almost every trip carries the promise of novelty and fun. We’re also seasoned campers; mostly car camping. We have two young kids and we usually go with another family with children.
We spent 3 nights at PSBOC and left a day early. The kids had fun; they’re all 10 and under. However, the four adults in our party worked very hard to keep the trip upbeat.
Biggest downside of PSBOC — campsites are too close to each other with little to no tree cover. The south campsite, had only one bathroom for men and one for women — one toilet in each! This campground is basically a city park where people can sleep. The two campsites directly across the way from ours had 7 cars and 6 tents between them … isn’t their supposed to be a limit per site? They were loud and took over the bathrooms, even running extension cords from the single outlet in the women’s bathroom to their site. At the end of our row was even more colorful. At around 1:30am our first night, their chatter erupted when one woman yelled, «get your mother#$%*# outta my face or I will #*^# you up!» This led to more yelling by others with more colorful language. This wasn’t a campsite, this place was more like an overnight tailgate party.
On the positive side, the Campground Host, Junior, was very kind and responsible. He did tell the party across the street to quiet down the second night and it worked. He gave us options on a constructive course of action for those violating the 10pm quite hour.
Pismo Beach itself has many great aspects. The dunes are beautiful. Driving on the beach was fun and novel. However, we saw no fewer than a dozen Confederate flags being flown high from the back of pickup trucks along the beach; not something I expected to see on the central coast of California. I will say that none of the folks in these Dukes of Hazard pickups behaved badly in our observation, but the mere presence of the flags was … mystifying, if not outright offensive. I suppose everyone has a flag to fly.
Bottom line — if you’re a family with kids that likes camping in the woods for an escape from the city — don’t camp here. If you want to see Pismo, I suggest you go stay at an inexpensive motel (the Spyglass Inn is decent) and get a good night’s sleep.

Apparently this place is really hard to book. I got lucky this past summer and chanced upon a booking two weeks before the set date. I really liked how it’s clean and big and next to the nice Pismo Beach. But I expected more.
There are no real trails for hiking — the hike around the lagoon takes about 20 minutes and its not as nature-​y as you’d expect. The other trail leads to the beach and is short as well.
I liked the campgrounds, but there was just nothing to do. When you get to the beach, there’s a bunch of cars driving to get to the sand dunes. And you don’t get the full camping feel with civilization only a few blocks away. If you do go here, be sure to try ATVing at Oceano Dunes. The ATV rentals are right next to the campgrounds. Enjoy!

Been coming here since I was a baby. Family tradition!
So here is a review of 25+ trips to this campground.
What I like: Well maintained campgrounds, camps shaded by some scattered trees (less trees as of recently, however), close to the beach, next to a small lake, lots of small paths to roam and dunes to climb, lots of animal sightings, friendly fellow campers. My family (35+ people) always has a great time.
My only gripe (takes away 1 star): Overly strict camping regulations regarding parking and # of campers per site. In one week we got talked to by rangers about 10 – 15 times about how many people were in each site (limit is 8) and what cars belonged where (3 cars per site with tags). They made errors up front not checking who had left and continuously kept thinking we had too many people. Kind of annoying.
Overall, it’s a great campground. Will be going back in August per our annual family vacation.
Random tip: Showers and bathrooms are much nicer, cleaner, and spacious in the facilities up front where the RVs are. Woot!

I’m not too much of a camper, but when I do, I like the clean, quiet, peaceful lake type. I came here to camp for a friend’s bachelor party weekend. Good times! We can’t here, I guess it’s one of the few places where you can camp literally on the beach (right next to the ocean) on sand. Personally, I hate the beach because it is dirty and sand gets all over the place! Anyways, it’s pretty cheap, about $ 40 to camp and 2 vehicles. You pretty much drive on the beach and find a spot and camp. No rules!!! It’s totally chaos! Bring your own firepit or you can just dig a hole in the sand. It’s fun, but since there are no rules, it gets loud at night. We went to bed around 12, and I didn’t have restful sleep throughout the night, I even woke up at 4 in the morning to twitter my complaints! During the night, I heard a couple having an argument, and some people next to us playing loud reggaeton (which I can’t stand) all night long! No one stopping them! No rules = bad! But also good, because you can drink and smoke all you want and no one bothers you! Although, you can hear the calming ocean all night, which is the nice part. It’s right next to the sand dunes, so if you have your off-​road vehicles or ATV, it’s perfect! Beach camping just isn’t for me!
I REALLY HATE THE BEACH, AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHY!!!