pismo sb

[chkster]

Looking to make reservations for April only thing available, not unexpected, is the oceana loop non reserved sites. Can anyone give me the heads up .. never been there...
thanx in advance

[zamboni]

Since I had the whole week off, we went down to Pismo 2 days before everyone else did this past summer.

Pismo only had availability the night before our group, so we spent the first night at Pismo State Beach.

We did not have a reserved site; just a non-specific reservation.  We got there early, just after check in, thus had many sites to choose from.

Many of them were great (all were "dry" - had nearby water, but no electricity).  We stayed in site "OC 70".  Despite the Campground Map, it was almost directly across from the bathrooms.

We walked to the ocean a couple times during our stay.  Very nice area.  Park was clean.  Some sites (59, 61, 66, 74, 76) were close together - unlike the map, they would make a good "group" area as they are quite close.

Since it was a State Park, staying there gave us "free" access to the beach.  We had to check out at Noon, and could not get into Pismo until 4...  So we drove the truck & camper out onto the beach, leveled, put out the awning, and spent the 4 hours playing in the surf.

We decided that if we were going to go back, we would NOT stay in the campground -- we would just camp on the beach ($10/night, access to about 5 miles of beach).  It was awesome with the surf "right at our door".  A "Honeywagon" comes around and sells water for like 20 cents/gallon (less?) and hauls off sewage for a similar price.  All you'd need is a good battery or a generator.  However, there is traffic -- we stayed quite close to the entrance as we were only there a few hours.  Campers drove past us, to go miles down the waterfront to much vaster areas to camp -- so there was traffic if we'd camped on the beach where we were for the day.  If you like quiet, then the campground is a good alternative to the hustle & bustle of the beach.


The view (on the beach) from inside our camper:
http://goglen.com/post/beach.jpg

The view from the water to our camper:
http://goglen.com/post/camper.jpg

We didn't take any pictures of the campground, but this is the beach the first night - about a 5 minute walk from our campsite (2 nieces with our baby daughter):
http://goglen.com/post/PismoSB.jpg

[Dee4j]

Since I had the whole week off, we went down to Pismo 2 days before everyone else did this past summer.

Pismo only had availability the night before our group, so we spent the first night at Pismo State Beach.

We did not have a reserved site; just a non-specific reservation.  We got there early, just after check in, thus had many sites to choose from.

Many of them were great (all were "dry" - had nearby water, but no electricity).  We stayed in site "OC 70".  Despite the Campground Map, it was almost directly across from the bathrooms.

We walked to the ocean a couple times during our stay.  Very nice area.  Park was clean.  Some sites (59, 61, 66, 74, 76) were close together - unlike the map, they would make a good "group" area as they are quite close.

Since it was a State Park, staying there gave us "free" access to the beach.  We had to check out at Noon, and could not get into Pismo until 4...  So we drove the truck & camper out onto the beach, leveled, put out the awning, and spent the 4 hours playing in the surf.

We decided that if we were going to go back, we would NOT stay in the campground -- we would just camp on the beach ($10/night, access to about 5 miles of beach).  It was awesome with the surf "right at our door".  A "Honeywagon" comes around and sells water for like 20 cents/gallon (less?) and hauls off sewage for a similar price.  All you'd need is a good battery or a generator.  However, there is traffic -- we stayed quite close to the entrance as we were only there a few hours.  Campers drove past us, to go miles down the waterfront to much vaster areas to camp -- so there was traffic if we'd camped on the beach where we were for the day.  If you like quiet, then the campground is a good alternative to the hustle & bustle of the beach.


The view (on the beach) from inside our camper:
http://goglen.com/post/beach.jpg

The view from the water to our camper:
http://goglen.com/post/camper.jpg

We didn't take any pictures of the campground, but this is the beach the first night - about a 5 minute walk from our campsite (2 nieces with our baby daughter):
http://goglen.com/post/PismoSB.jpg

wow how did you luck out and  get no wind and it actually looked looked warm?

I don't know if I could camp that close to the water..the ocean can be unpredicatble. and after the dream I had 2 days ago....just say I'm still freeked out about it


I think Lori is working on the Meet in the middle rally

[wavery]

Years ago (in the 70's) we used to camp on the beach at Pismo about 3-times a year. We had dune buggies and it was a pretty popular spot in the summer. I have no idea what is going on there now.

The one thing that I am sure hasn't changed is the salt water corrosion that you get from driving on the beach. IMO, it's worth it, if you manage it properly.

We soon learned to go straight from the beach to the car wash and do a thorough, under-carriage cleaning. We still got some rust but it was much less.

I LOVE beach camping but I HATE rust.

[zamboni]

wow how did you luck out and  get no wind and it actually looked looked warm?

You should know how it was -- we hooked up with YOU at Pismo Coast for the Rally the next day!  So, as you hopefully (cactus coolers...) remember, the weather was quite nice that time of year