Oceano - Pismo State Beach

This place is definitely not what we are looking for in an rv spot, but it might be your thing. Somebody is leaving the positive reviews, but you need to be in to this kinda thing or you will hate it. Mostly all travel trailers with bubbling heaters all night. Dogs everywhere barking all the time, ATVs at every campsite, trash cans over flowing, pay showers with tokens only, pay dump, loud and noisy neighbors. Yuck.

Since Mar 14th we’ve traveled thru ID, UT, AZ & CA staying mostly in State campgrounds. Pismo-Oceano is my favorite so far! At least in spring, mid-week, the bathrooms & showers were very clean! I would recommend 2 tokens per shower. There’s a token machine that takes $1 bills for 4 tokens. Hoping to rendezvous here in future with OR & CA family. The front CG has Elec & Water & good spacing. The cement path led to a beautiful big grassy meadow with paved spots, bathrooms & showers also. No hookups. Great for family gatherings with mix of tents, big RV’s & everything in between! Lots of prairie dogs/ground squirrels back there! We’ve only been staying 1 night @ each & we had reservations at San Simeon Creek lower CG & Morrow Strand SBCG nearby, but loved its paved walking paths & beautiful sandy 5 min walk to the beach thru flowering shrubs & trees that we cancelled those 2 nights so we could stay here plus 2 more nights! It’s also just 5 min on road to Oceano Beach Access, ATV Rentals, a small beach store & BEST Fish & Chips we’ve ever had at Slappys Chowder house! It was $19 per plate but the 3 fish pieces were so big & fries so generous, we could have split an order. A little farther down the Road is Juan’s Mexican Cantina. Super popular & great food. And another Mexican restaurant called Rock n Roll nearby. It’s in an old Long Passebger train. We drove an hour Hearst Castle tour. Well worth it. And found the Sea Lion overlook nearby so fun! We drive thru San Simeon Creek CG & we’re glad we had switched to Oceano, but there are several Hearst Castle tours (too big to see in one trip) so that would be a very close spot to do that & it looked nice. We also drive thru Morrow Strand SBCG. It’s mostly a parking lot right on the beach. From our Oceano CG, We walked 3/4 mile N on Pismo Beach to bustling tourist town of Pismo beach. There’s a great looking Seafood restaurant right at the Beach Access! The weather was great, sunny 3/4 of our time in late Apr. It did rain a lot 1 night & the puddles in camp were big! But they had mostly burned off by the afternoon. There are beach cottages & motel right at beach access also. We’ll definitely be back!! We towed our 8’ 4 wheeler trailer behind sm 24’ Motorhome & won’t do that again. Lots of people drive their big rigs a mile down the beach, on the sand to beach camping, but we got stuck in sand at Quartzsite, AZ, so we know our rig won’t work. In CA you can’t drive ATV’s anywhere but in designated ORV areas….not even the mile down the beach to get there without towing them. Lots of people do it though!

Great location 5 min walk through the dunes to the beach. Level paved pads most all pull through, easy access. Facilities clean and well maintained. Adjacent visitor center was informative. Beach is great good surf, ATV rental nearby for exploring the dunes. Dump is nearby at North Campground and apparently costs money. Great winter spot for those of us seeking sun and warmth. Just like the monarch butterflies which come here to winter also.

Wonderful park when we stayed it was not full. Was able to watch the Super Bowl on OTA tv. Easy walk to the beach. One bar of 5G on T-Mobile. Would come here again

love this campground. right near the beach, close to services in Grover Beach, and price is right.