Safeway - Overnight Parking

We spend two nights here because we were not able to find a good camping spot along the coast coming from San Francisco. Other camp spots are very pricy and offer similar facilities compared to this free parking spot. We visited Monterey from here and enjoyed shopping for groceries. There is also an Starbucks on site and a very clean rest room. Great phone connection.

We pulled in about 7pm, two other RVs were already there. Went in, bought a few sodas and asked the attendant if it was ok to stay overnight. They said yes, that a lot of ppl do it. We have a travel trailer, actually detached and went to walk around the city. Pretty quiet overnight left around 9am and there were still a few RVs/vans there.

There have been only good reviews so far. We stayed overnight but police was called in the early morning, right as we started to leave the shopping mall - because that is what it is and Safeway happens to be there as well but is treated as part of the shopping mall grounds/property. We were able to sleep through the night but I’m just advising if you have nowhere else to go for the night, stay far back next to the Safeway and stay there with caution. They will most likely have more police patrolling this lot, my guess would be that it might also have to do with the homeless people sleeping in their cars there as well.

A really nice, clean parking lot. Wasn’t bothered all night and was able to grab some food and a drink at the nearby stores before I slept. As others warn, be sure to park close to the Safeway (along the tree line area, picture shown) just because there are quite a few businesses in the area that might not be as cool as Safeway. There were probably ten other cars/vans parked, which made it feel a little safer. Warning: you will get woken up by motorcycles and cars blasting music if you’re trying to sleep outside the hours of 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, but I got a solid 9 hours.

Great spot! No issues, no bother, stayed the night and there wasn’t too much noise. It’s public enough so you don’t feel unsafe but enough space that it doesn’t feel crowded 👍 Plus bathrooms are always open and these have to be the cleanest public restrooms I’ve ever seen 0:

honestly never felt so safe sleeping in a parking lot before. the lot was flat, we got amazing sleep, no one bothered us, the safeway was open 24/7

If your facing the Safeway all the campers we saw parked in the last row to the right all along the trees. SW open all night & bathrooms available, nice to be able to restock the cooler & we had a fab cocktail at the Grill across the lot. Great for an overnight with necessities close.

Went here for a night stay, some other Campers as well. Great night, no one who knocked or asked anything. Just keep your distance to the retail stores as there might be no overnight parking

Absolutely great place to stay for one night for free; large parking; Safeway open 24/7 with restrooms; friendly store manager who allows to stay and no security guys waking up with birds ;)

Location is right next to Carmel and Monterey, stayed here two nights, felt safe all the time, Safeway is open 24/7 and you can use the bathrooms

Clean bathrooms open 24/7, Starbucks in the morning, no issue staying here overnight despite the street sweeper going around in the morning. Relatively quiet. Appeared to be at least two other cars doing the same.

24 hr Safeway open so you can use the toilets and there will be other rvs in the park too. I’d recommend staying further away from the motorway to reduce noise in the morning.

We stayed here for a few nights while day tripping to Big Sur. No issues, plenty of other RVs and vans parked overnight. The Safeway is 24 hrs so you can use the bathrooms freely.

I arrived to see other RVs/campers in the car park who all stayed the night. Convenient place to stay for free and it was comfortable not being the only camper there.

Quite a quiet place after 10. Plenty of space. The store has a toilet available around the clock from Monday to Sunday. Near other shops there are signs prohibiting parking at night.

No signage and at least 5 RV’s of various size and age. Spoke to one gentleman who said he stays here all the time.

Very quiet place to stop in and sleep, there were 2-3 other vans. It's in a parking lot of a safeway, cvs and other smaller stores. Restrooms are open 24/7

A quit parking lot in front of a big pharmacy. Many RVs here and no problems to stay the night.

Lots of other RVs stayed when I was there. Best thing is there's a small green area perfect for your dog to sniff around and do it's business away from traffic.

Checked with a couple of members of staff that it was okay to stay over night, both said it would be fine. There were a couple of other vans staying there too. Great location close to Carmel and Big Sur scenic drive

Arrived after 1030pm and a few vans and campers were settled in for the night. Safeway is 24 hours with restrooms inside.

Spent a quiet night towards the back of the lot. Avoid parking near the retail shops as some have gotten violations for overnight parking.