Oceano County Campground — Pismo State Beach

Probably just due to the time of year but this campground was way too rowdy for my taste, all the sites are close together and it seemed almost every site was a very large group, generators running after 10pm, amplified music and tv! If that’s your jam you’ll love it. I took off after 1 night.

We stayed here a few years ago, but on the primitive / non-hookup side. We stayed on the E/W hookup side this time and liked it as well, though it does have the more typical RV/parking lot feel as compared to the other side.  There's a nice walking trail that connects the two sides. It's $50 for an E/W site, plus an $8.25 reservation fee.

There's a cool lagoon that you can walk all the way around on, with lots of birds, and much of it accessible as well which is nice. There's a cool visitor center, open 12-4. The beach is a short walk away. There's a great Mexican restaurant down the road also, Old Juan's, it's so good and has great vegan options.

The showers here are nice and clean, and $1 gets you 4 minutes.  The showers are individual, private, and non-gendered. There was no host on site when we were there, but the rangers were very present.  This campground, like all California State campgrounds we've been to recently, has trash, recycling, and a food compost bin which I love.

There's a fun game for kids where you download an app and go on a scavenger hunt and complete other challenges.

No dump station here, but there's one just 2 miles north at North Beach Campground, and it's $10 for dump and water fill there.

This campground is awesome. It’s very beautiful, with lots of wildflowers, trees, trails, beach dunes…and squirrels. Lots of them. But we also saw and heard hawks, turkey vultures, owls, and many other birds. We also saw a cute little weasel. There’s also lots of rangers, which makes for very well-mannered campers. Loved it!! You can walk to the beach or drive on the beach. Driving in the beach was fun, but it was so windy and so cold! This was the end of May. Not sure what the weather is over months. The actual campground was not as cold or windy, since it’s behind the dunes. The bathrooms have hot water and Flush toilets. Showers are huge and are self-contained and not in the bathrooms. Tokens needed. Starting in May there’s a market night at the main pier, small but fun to visit. Lots to do, from renting dune buggies to playing at the main pier. Loved it and can’t wait to go back. Oh, and about the squirrels. They’re not afraid. They ate through my little pantry that’s canvas that’s connected under my table. Also, mosquitoes! How could I forget. Bring bug spray and citronella or thermacills. They’re out and about and it’s not fun if you’re not prepared. There’s a Walmart not too far away. After the citronella incense weren’t working, we went to Walmart and it was war! Another note, campsite 68 does not look like the photo. Tree is gone and the ice plant has invaded the site and made it smaller. One tent will fit, not another.

I’ve been coming to this campground for years with friends. It’s an awesome spot. Bathrooms are generally clean however you do need tokens for the showers and the machine only accepts cash so make sure you have some dollars. You get two tokens for a dollar and each token gets you 2 min of shower time. They have garbage and recycling too. The camp hosts are a bit militant about the rules so don’t break them. They have zero tolerance and don’t put up with anything. Also keep your dog on a leash. Someone’s dog attacked another dog this morning and the State Park LEO were on site.

Very nice SP campground. Don't try to check in early, you will get suggestions to park until check in time of 2pm. Once in, the sites with hook ups sans sewer, will actually be pull through sites, which was nice. From there, you can walk. ride or drive on to the beach. There are paths around the camp that go around the estuary type lagoon. Dune trails are nice for hiking although some thick sand in places. We rode our bikes on the beach. Low tide makes it very easy with wet packed sand. The sites are spaced pretty well. We will be back for sure.

Green, grassy campground with well separated spaces. Most pull thru and level. All surrounded by grass for nice tent camping. Surf sound is continuous. Masks other sounds except noisy generator in next site. Nice restrooms

Ocean front, off road sand dune recreation if you have a capable vehicle. It’s great. Best with an off-road capable vehicle. Bathrooms are a bit rough without running water.

Fish, drive off-road, camp, bonfire or hunt for seashells.

Bring a good jacket in April.

I have a truck canopy / rooftop tent, and everything is nicely accessible. I think it was around $35 so it's a great stopping point to shower and freahen up before continuing on. I arrived after new years weekend and walked in to check the available sites that I wanted. Lots of short hike trails and walking distance to the ocean.

I wish I could say this is the worst campgrounds I’ve been to, just to keep people away. Very nice, clean and spacious park. Maybe 100 feet to the beach. The town of Pismo is very nice to walk around. I must say one of the best parks I’ve been to.

Beautiful campground in a great location, but sadly it's filled with thieves. We had over$500 worth of stuff stolen, and the things stolen were too big and heavy to be taken by foot. So the ranger station at the front isn't bothering to stop random cars from entering the campground and taking your things. We told the rangers and they didn't care. The camp host said she's never seen so much stealing at a campground and would never be coming back. If you stay here, don't leave anything of value out in the open or it won't be there when you come back.

We rolled through on a Friday night in May with no reservations and got absolutely lucky to snag the very last site.  Would not recommend chancing it on weekends in the high season.  We only were able to get a site because the ADA sites are released at 5pm and we happened to be there right at the right time to get one.

Very nice campground - one side is hookups at $40 (electric and water only), and this side is kind of boring with RVs all lined up in a row. FYI there are no sewer hookups here and no dump station. You can drive two miles up the road to North Beach and use their dump station and water fill for $10.  We stayed on the tent side for $25, no hookups and much more pleasant and green and beautiful.

There's a lagoon and a boardwalk to walk around it, but the boardwalk ends and the trail turns to mud and it was pretty much impassible when we were there - thick black muck that will suck your shoes off and get your dog's belly all dirty. Watch for mosquitoes, especially the sites along the lagoon.

Beautiful walking trails to the beach - we saw a coyote here!  We heard them yipping all night as well.  Interesting experience for us to see and hear them right on the beach. 

As with all state parks now, there are recycling and food waste bins available, thank you California!

The visitor center is right at the entrance of the campground and there's a good Mexican restaurant within easy walking distance as well.

Overall a great place, amazingly cheap, and we're happy we got lucky and snagged a spot!

I would have given this review five stars if the sites had more privacy. The sites are a reasonable distance apart, though. That said, there is so much to do and see nearby, even within walking distance.  The campground is right next to several paths, a boardwalk, a marsh with lots of ducks, and a monarch butterfly habitat. I don’t know if we were just  a lucky, but the campers all seemed very friendly as well. The bathrooms and showers were very clean and private. There were plenty of hosts/rangers so we felt safe. We would love to go back again.

Camped here late February, many sites were available and we drove around looking for a good site then registered online.

Easy check in, lots of things nearby & close to the beach.

Lots of space between neighbors as well

My experience was a wee bit different than anticipated... I arrived just prior to the forcasted “Pineapple Express”. Check in was painless, campground was not packed. Once parked the doggos and I enjoyed a few hours on the beach before sundown. It started raining cats and dogs during the night, 7am the rangers advised that evacuations could be in store....3pm we had to leave the campground and we were directed further down the coast to Oceana. The new campground was also flooded, but I was able to find a spot with a small patch for the dogs to do their thing without having to wade through water. The next day broke to a beautiful sunrise. The rangers and the park police were awesome, I felt completely at ease knowing that they were vigilant for our safety. Both campgrounds are beautiful in each their own way.

A very well laid out campground that was hosted by a wonderful couple. Was kept very clean and was a joy to stay there.

It was past midnight. Spent an hour trying to look for the campground and even asked a gas station attendant for directions and still couldn’t find it. Apple Maps and can’t seem to properly locate it for some reason.

If there were properly visible signs to direct tired travelers on where to go, that would be so much better.

Pros: Close to the beach. Affordable, especially considering each spot has power and water.

Cons: Lots of homeless day camps near by, watch for needles. Bathroom was in disrepair. Dumpster was overflowing all 4 days. Coin operated showers, but no change machine. Also, kinda noisy.

Check in is between 3-4pm at a different campground. If you miss it, they expect you to check in the following day. So don’t set up camp.

Decent, very quiet.. lots of dirt. Wood fire pits

Excellent visit we stayed 2 days and two nights. We loved it.

Overall campground was safe and chill. Easy walk to the dunes that lead to the beach. Site 72 had no shade and was not pleasant during the day with the sun making it feel much hotter than it was. Retreated to the butterfly grove for awhile to get cool. Found out the butterfly action ends in February.

Shower are 1$/4minutes, there are sinks for washing dishes which is awesome! Right behind pour campsite was a small beach access so we could eat right on the Beach!

This campground came to my rescue on a Sunday night when most everything else in the area was full. Coastal Dunes RV Park down the road handles the check-ins for Oceano. This is a small campground with just a single loop, but all the amenities: full hookups at every site and a central bathroom. My site was neat and clean, and there were bushes that provided some privacy.

The bathrooms at Oceano have high-flow faucets, but that's about all they have going for them. The men's room was in dire need of a cleaning and general tune up when I visited. The bathrooms at the nearby Oceano Memorial Park were marginally cleaner, but a superior alternative is the clean, modern, single occupancy bathrooms at Pismo State Beach campground, a minute's walk down the road. I would have preferred a porta potty to the bathrooms at Oceano.

Well kept campground, surrounded by eucalyptus grove and adjacent to the beach and also a monarch buttefly conservation area, less Than a mile to downtown. No hookups but tap drinking water on site

This is a great campground. Sites far apart, easy access to garbage disposal, flush toilets, showers and nice grassy sites. It is a short walk to the beach. You can walk along the beach to Pismo Pier or you can take with paved walking path into town. The Monarch Butterfly Grove is right next to the campground. You can walk along a boardwalk to Pismo Dunes. The only two negative things were the luke warm shower and someone stole my collapsible water container (why would someone do that?).

Stopped here for two night, clean, well maintained. Very close to the beach, hike through the dune or get down with your car and drive in the beach. The campground entrance included the fee to access the beach with your car.

Close to beach, clean bathrooms (no hand soap or hand dryers), park rangers routinely available. I stayed in an RV slot with E/W. Next time I’d stay without - better sites, spaces farther apart with grass (no electric but water available).

This is next to the only place you can drive your truck on the beach.

I think there is a HUGE difference between the RV section and the tent section of this campground. We are tent campers and were in the back area. It was a reasonable walk from our campsite to the beach. The beach was nice. Showers take tokens but machines that take dollar bills are outside restroom/shower building. Showers were hot. The campground was clean (surprisingly, considering my following comments). 

Now for the negatives. It's a bit noisy (you can hear road traffic). Sites have a bit of space between them but virtually no privacy. My biggest issue with the campground are the homeless people. I highly doubt that many of them squat in the RV section and I think they hang out in the back in the tent section. Sadly, many of them had obvious mental health illnesses. Several of them go into the bathrooms and lock the doors to sleep overnight with a roof over their head. They mostly kept to themselves but it made me a little uneasy. We left our stuff to go into town for dinner and our tent, sleeping bags, etc. were not messed with (stolen) while we were gone.

Large camp sites, beach access is directly from the site, cheap rates, clean bathrooms. Great experience all around!!

People walking & talking. Up and over the Dunes to the ocean. Parents spending time with their children. Family volley ball from 4-7 ish down the way with lots of laughter. Geese heading out in formation over the central camp-plane. Butterflies butterflies butterflies 😯