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User reviews
Nov. 1-14, 2025
Overall rating
2.9
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
2.0
Amenities/Facilities
2.0
Value
3.0
Overall Experience
3.0
1. Park Quality - I give the park a grade of fair for a number of reasons. First off, the entire park is open to anyone with base access, meaning, people (mainly surfers) can come and drive though/park wherever they want. I understand that there are day use areas and the beach is public but if I’m paying (and a high daily rate for a military park) I should have some sort of “exclusivity”. Showers, bathrooms and laundry were the worst I’d experienced. Anyone that comes to surf or otherwise hang out, has access. (seems that everyone knows the codes to access the showers) The laundry was always open and most machines were broken. (signs claiming they would be replaced in Nov 25 but someone said the signs were there a long time and doubted replacement). Chances are I would not return to this park. 2. Sites - I stayed at two different sites, #41 which was in the lower area directly across from the beach. Most of these sites are narrow and back up to a hill that is infested with ground squirrels. I say this because it drove my dog nuts and I could keep my shades open. The office was very accommodating after about a week and let me move to sites #103. This is on the cliff overlooking the ocean and was a much better option for my dog's sanity. Most of these sites are much deeper and wider and felt more private. Also, it is away from the main access road, so much quieter. I would stay at these sites again if I were to return. 3. Location - Just down I-5 from San Juan Capistrano which gives you lots of options for restaurants, walking trails, and shopping. (Amazon locker is very close for shipping). 4. Noise - The ocean is loud and masks almost all noise on the lower sites. The upper sites will experience train noise, as freight and passenger trains run just outside the park to the east. Only once was I jarred awake by the trains. (it does often feel like a low-level earthquake). 5. Cell Service - Verizon was two bars of 5G. 6. Wifi - Park WiFi does exist but you’ll need to rent a box from the office. My T-Mobile 5G Gateway and it was 70 Mbps down and 43 Mbps up. 7. Rates - $79 a day plus $3 a day for a dog. 8. Access - Of course you need to be a qualified person to make a reservation and utilize the park. Follow the directions in the confirmation email as Google will lead you on a boondoggle. 9. Dog Friendliness - The walkability is great for dog but as mentioned, if your dog chases things you can expect it to be a constant battle while walking the park. - Wrapping it up. If I were to return, as mentioned I would stay up on the upper level.
July 9, 2025
Overall rating
4.9
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Great spot, particularly if you like getting into the water. I've stayed here a lot; the place is magical. If you like water sports, enjoy sunbathing, and some quite time at the beach this is the place for you. The site has RV, group tent campsites, and cottages - so, there's many ways to get out and enjoy San O!
06 Feb - 23 Apr 2024
Overall rating
4.7
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Wonderful place to spend some time at the beach. Full hook-ups are $76 a night, W/E $71. Office staff great and accommodating to a couple of changes I needed to make with our reservations, as my mom was on hospice care at this time and the reason we stayed so long. Great views of the beach to watch the surfers, dolphins and brown pelicans! Just remember there are little critter's running around at night, so if you leave a bag of trash outside, you will be welcomed to a mess you will have to clean up in the morning. Also, besides the little ground squirrels and rabbits, there is a family of skunks that live nearby. Witnessed a new neighbor hooking up his 5th wheel, when his German shepherd spotted a running skunk. The dog lost the battle and came back with skunk snot all over him! What an enjoyable smell while sitting around the campfire :) Will come by again here and also the campground at Pt. Mugu in Ventura County.
JANUARY 2022
Overall rating
3.4
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
1.0
Amenities/Facilities
1.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
4.0
Five Stars for location One Star for Cleanliness. I would give five stars for Hospitality and Super Staff but it was not separate. Amenities: Bathrooms are the pits, dirty. Washer and dryer rooms are also dirty. A guy comes, but he does not clean...civil service at it's worst. There are no other amenities, other than going in water, or walking, at the campground, Value: Four Stars Experience: Four Stars ********************************************************* Very nice staff in the office. Especially Missy, she was very helpful. Maintenance staff is way understaffed as evidenced by the the "deferred maintenance". Broken Electrical Pillars, most of night street lighting is out on the upper side. Maintenance workers at the campground do what they can and are unfailingly pleasant. **This is a good size campground, with seasonal maintenance needed due to storms. ***I have even seen the Manager out there doing maintenance, they are that short. Bathroom and Shower Rooms: Dirty, but hot water is unlimited. The are redoing the bathrooms, bathroom on Bluff / Upper Side first, then lower side. ***That will take awhile...Camp Pendleton facility crew works from 0830 to noon, lunches, then cuts off work at 1pm. They leave a truck there with a guy sitting inside, but no Camp Pendleton Facilities personal is working after 1PM. I want that job! 8:30 to Noon, Lunch, then work stops at 1PM. Really. On Fridays they stop at noon, have a barbecue, and then get in trucks in drive back to base facilities office. Dogs, supposed to be on leash, but folks do not and that is problem. One dog on dog attack while we were there. Dogs off leash on the Beach - no staff to enforce the "no dogs on beach". $2.00 charge for each dog you bring, each night you are there. The good, the beach, nice staff.
Jan 11 - 15, 2021
Overall rating
4.0
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
2.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
5.0
So grateful to have gotten in here, would go back for sure. Realize my ratings seem odd...hospitality was fine, cleanliness of restroom/showers/laundry not so much. The biggest overall negative is SO MUCH deferred maintenance, it's everywhere you look. However, they had us on "the bluff" which are the best sites in our opinion even though they're not full hook-up. LOVED watching the ocean and the sunsets! We had to move back one row for our final night but no complaints because at least they had space for us and was time to dump our tanks anyway. During our stay, we enjoyed watching the surfers and also saw dolphins and pelicans in the water. And did I mention the sunsets? Campground is great for walking on the beach and services are an easy drive away. By the way, no one enforces, "no dogs on beach."
Sept 7-11, 2020
Overall rating
4.0
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
Stayed here starting on the tail end of the Labor Day holiday weekend. No full hook up (FHU) spaces available on the holiday night (Monday the 7th) so we stayed in the "dry camp" section (no water, power or sewer). Since we do not have an on-board generator we "roughed" it. But it was very quiet. We were the only RV in the Dry Camp section. The next 4 nights were in the FHU section up above the beach. Level spot, easy hookups (no cable TV). The entire RV park, and the surround CA State Beaches, are surfer destinations. They pour into the area at 5 am and hit the waves. But the military FamCamp is very quiet at night, no parties or loud groups. Lots of families but very quiet after 10 pm. Each space has a big concrete fire pit and it was nice to sit out in the evening and watch the sunset over a wood fire. Easy walk down to the beach. The base Commissary and Exchange are a 5 minute drive from the Park, with a gas station (Diesel was 30 cents cheaper than the neighboring Orange County). There is also a Sonic Drive-In there for food and ice cream. The Park shower/restroom building needs some work, but the shower water was hot and no timers. Odd, but the pull-through spaces are not FHU, they only have water and power (no sewer). And the back in spaces on the bluff overlooking the ocean are also only water and power, but they have the best view. The FHU spaces are all back in (some are down directly on the beach, we stayed in Space #100, in another section up above the bluff). Office staff is nice and very accommodating. Some public areas closed due to the Covid-19. The California and Amtrak trains run North/South right next to the Park (and adjacent to the Interstate 5). But since there are no stops or crossings nearby they do not blow the train horn. You just hear a quick "swoosh" as the train goes by. You can get on the commuter train in Orange County or Oceanside and travel to downtown San Diego for a reasonable ticket price. In summary, it's a nice park if you like being on the beach, and at $45 it was MUCH cheaper than the private RV parks in Oceanside and Orange County that were charging $125+ per night.
May 1-5, 2019
Overall rating
5.0
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Our all time favorite campground. On the beach. Close to an exchange store and gas station.
5-10 March 2019
(Updated: March 15, 2019)
Overall rating
4.3
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Our site (#35) was just across the road from the surf. The views and ocean surf sounds were phenomenal. The regular entrance was closed, consequentially the entry into the park was a bit of a mess, however is was workable with our 65' motorhome and TOAD. We seen seals, dolphins and a daily groups of surfers. We very much enjoyed our stay, wish had stayed longer. There is a good bit of renovation and construction on-going while we were there, they are replacing some of the "cottages" and working on some of the beach-front sites, removing old trees, etc. The showers were a bit of a mess, (although we never use them) all-in-all the location makes up for the other short-comings. A Marine Exchange, commissary and gas station (with diesel) is a short trip to the east-side of Interstate 5. We took a day-trip to San Diego via the rail system from Oceanside, economical @ $12 regional day pass, which allowed use of virtually all the public transportation for 24 hours. We'd certainly return.
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