Gaviota State Park

I would give 0 stars if I could. I would like to give an actual rating for this place, but didn’t stay because the woman at the booth wouldn’t let us through to look at sites. My bf and I were looking to stay at a future date and were driving up north and decided to stop in to check the sites out.
The lady wanted to charge is $ 10 to drive through! And she wasn’t even nice about it. She treated us like we were attempting to break the law and looked at us like we were stupid.
I hate when state park workers get that fake plastic badge and think they’re so high and mighty. This lady was rude and totally put a damper on the day. We will not be coming to camp here!

We must have stopped here at just the right time of day (low tide) to enjoy the very scenic walk along the water away from the main beach/​campground. This state park — $ 10/​vehicle entrance fee — seems like a quaint little spot for local families to spend their holiday weekends. There are shower facilities, picnic tables and BBQs, and a small general store. Apparently, there is also boat fishing nearby as well as a hike to a cave. The Amtrak rail overhead completes the picture of childhood nostalgia.

TOO WINDY. Enough said. New tent was damaged and we got dust in our mouths sleeping every night. The staff was nice but when we asked to switch to a less windy campground, they told us «reservations can’t switch their campsites». This effectively means that if you do NOT have reservations you are at an advantage (counterintuitive) because you can come in and pick the least windy site you can find. Otherwise you’re picking a site blindly over the Internet (as we did) before ever going there, and it may be exposed. All sites are windy though — non are totally protected. The beach is lovely and has nice swimming in the summer, but it was extremely hot for hiking. We got lost because trails were unmarked and we had to hitchhike back. Better to go further up the coast if you can.

We had reservations to go there today for a 3 night camping trip, and we didn’t even stay for 1 hour. 40mph winds we’re blowing down people’s tents. The sites are too close together, so close that you can hear your neighbor fart! Not a site for people with young kids. Looks like a really ghetto trailer park.
Wouldn’t go back there again, sorry.

We were there for 3 days. The beach was a very short distance from the campground which was perfect. There is also an awesome lifeguard on duty for those campers who refuse to listen to instructions and find themselves adrift in the ocean! The bathrooms weren’t too bad and you can take a 2 min shower for $.25. or longer for more quarters. Its your basic little campsite nothing spectacular and it’s cool in a pinch. Gopher holes and frogs are present, but we are camping on their turf so. The ONLY thing that’s a total bummer is the WIND! Definitely not recommended for tent camping.

The wind won! We booked three nights and made it through all three but the last night the «infamous» wind came in and trapped us in our RV. At least we weren’t in a tent! Watching all those people scurry for shelter was horrible! We loved the beach but the wind killed the other three stars!

Beach, rocks and mountains are nice to look at but not the best area to camp at. Very dirty, trash bins are full and smell like something died in them, bathrooms are so dirty, and the camping areas are rocky and dirty to sleep on. Do not recommended.

We spent 3 nights here over the Fourth of July and overall it was great. The wind was only bad 1 of the three nights but in a trailer, it was hardly an issue. The campsites are on top of each other but we made friends with our neighbors so we all migrated together. The beach was clean and small and great for kids. The park itself is a little run down but not to bad. The campground itself is really small which we liked. Overall we had a great time and will be coming back.

Plus’s: Pretty scenery, rock formations, pond and birds are beautiful, lovely beach. Clean restrooms & showers, typical campground type. THAT’s IT!
Minus’s: Worst managed campground I have ever experienced in the 20 years of California camping. Camp Hosts were surly, nosy, rude and constantly complaining about the California Parks Employees «not knowing what they are doing», «he’s gonna get his butt fired» and so on. Host had the barkiest dog that never shut up. We are an older couple in our 60’s, but very active, and were totally prepared for camping in a windy spot with our tent.
Trouble started when we arrived and our reserved spot was so tiny that the surrounding campers had used it to add to their own camp sites. The only place to set-​up was directly in front of the two large dumpsters that also shared the site. The Calif Park employee cheerfully agreed to let us choose another site and gave us four to choose from that did not have 3 day reservations (our length of stay).
We chose one that had two parking spots (unfortunately next to the camp hosts spot) and set up our large 14×9 tent in the RV parking spot and parked our car in the spot next to it so that we could stake it on one side in the dirt and anchor it to the car on the other side to protect it from the wind. Overall the site was so unlevel and pockmarked with ground squirrel/​gopher holes that there was no level area to place a tent of any size, but they are all like that.
After we were set up, two ladies came and started bitching about our tent being set up in the RV space (we did not stick into the drive area, (we were not next to anyone else, and clearly visible, protected by our car). We found out later they were Camp Hosts, but they never identified themselves, nor did they approach us in a friendly way. We refused to move because according to policies on the website we were in compliance. This went on for two days, they escalated it to the Park Rangers who agreed with us and told them to leave us alone. We then found out that they were mad because we were in a site next to them that is usually reserved for late night «party» groups that come in after dark and leave in the morning.
There was a different complaint every day about us from the Camp Hosts, they were mad at the Park Employees for letting us move, we reported in at the kiosk every day to confirm that we were staying in that spot (#33), and everyday the Camp Host harassed us to try and move us back to our original spot next to the garbage dumpsters,
Worst camp trip ever! Park Employees get an AAA+++, Camp Hosts acted like TYRANTS for no reason except they think it is their private property.

Ok so I really hope that I can make you reconsider camping here. I always use a queen size air mattress in my tent, but even so, the rocks in all the campgrounds are huge. They are very tiny camp sites so you are only a few feet from the people next to you. The ground is hard as concrete so it is very difficult to stake down your tent. And that will bring me to the biggest problem, the wind is so insane that your tent will fly away and any other belongings in your site.
THIS PLACE IS NOT FOR TENT CAMPING
They have warning signs at the entrance that you won’t get a refund no matter how harsh the wind is blowing. That should have been enough for me to turn around
Please do not support this park until they put some trees or something that protects the visitors from the crazy winds at night. For $ 45-​$ 50 a night there are much better places to camp

Forgive me Unilocalers for I have faulted, I failed to follow your advice and suffered through a night in a parking lot.
I did appreciate, no sarcasm here, that you can take a shower with only a few quarters. Many state parks require at least 4 quarters but here you can take a shower with only one.
This is a great site if you like being nestled next to a freeway and under an train track. If you memorize the train schedule, you will never need a watch.
If you are looking for quiet you might want to skip this park, we camped next to a horde of teenagers who partied, puked, and screeched throughout the night. Additionally, the sites are so close together you can hear your neighbor crack open each beer can and then get shamed for hiding his drinking from his spouse. The noise might be attributed to a lack of a camp host or ranger. Not to fear about running out of wood there is a small bait store to pick up some forgotten items.
I can’t really recommend this place for anything other than a teenage drinking spot, it seemed to be safer than drinking in a Wall Mart or super market parking lot.

Beautiful scenery and the beach is only a short walk away. The camp sites are filled with holes from gophers but I still slept good. You can hear the ocean at night, it’ll lull you right to sleep! There is an train track over the beach so when an Amtrak rolls thru you feel it. Especially when you are about to fall asleep. The bathrooms aren’t fancy but clean. I saw the state park workers come thru and clean them and stock them. I didn’t use the showers but they looked coin operated. The beach was nice but there were too many flies to really relax.

Everyone knows this place is as peaceful as a wind tunnel, so it was no surprise that the wind screamed through the campground most of the night.
But this park is said to have water, so we were very disappointed that «water» is dribbled out of a threadless tap 1 – 2 gallons at a time. Connecting a hose to fill an RV tank is impossible. Need a shower? Tough, unless you brought enough quarters to feed the lukewarm pay showers like a slot machine in Vegas. We took shelter in the RV and watched the endless drama of tent campers struggling to erect their tents in 30-​mph winds and keep their shelters nailed down.
This place might be OK for day use, but don’t commit to an overnight stay, and certainly never in a tent. The beach is nice, and the trestle provides a pleasant ambience. The pier is closed indefinitely. We had reservations for 2 nights, but left after the first to relocate at Cachuma.

Wayyy too windy. Unless you have a camper or mobile home, do not try to camp here. I thought I was in a middle of a tornado as our tent kept swaying in all different directions. Also, the pier was fenced offdue to the storm several months ago.

Nice campground clean bathrooms clean occasional wind but kids had fun close beach we loved it and we were in number one no trees

We had another great weekend here! The weather was great, beach was nice. It was little bit windy, but thanks to our favorite site, bushes blocked us from strong gust of wind.
The day time felt like 85 degrees. It was pretty hot. We saw some people going to the water. The night time, it dropped around 60 – 65 degrees, but it was not as bad as we thought. We never really had to use the winter jackets we brought.
First night, some campers were playing really loud music. I was worried that the noise will disturb my son’s sleep, but ranger came and took care of it. The second night was totally peaceful and quiet.
We love this place! We will definitely come back.

Yep, this review is for the beach which I enjoyed greatly.
I just wanted to get the f off of PCH and relax, but unfortunately in this neck of the woods free roadside parking is non-​existent, as far as I can tell. So I payed my $ 10 and found out, on this overcast January day, that I was one of the few people at the park. I luck out like that often in the off-​season.
I didn’t get a chance to take any trails, but I did walk down the beach a half-​mile or so and took many pics of various sealife. You have to walk underneath the Amtrak bridge to get to the beach. The pier is cool for fisherman and people who are crazy enough to launch a boat into the Pacific. I took some pics underneath the pier and liked hangiing out there. Since the tide was out, I also had a chance to tidepool to my heart’s content.
All in all, I thought the beach was nice. I understand your view out to sea contains a bunch of oil derricks, and oil has seeped into the beach over the years. I also understand it can get very windy here. I experienced neither problem, and had a great time until Mother Nature, the bitch, decided to rain on my ass.
The campground was atrocious. If your idea of ‘camping’ is to pitch a tent within a fenced area with absolutely no privacy from the other sites 2 inches away, then you’ll have a hell of a time. There may have been a tree there. For drunk surfers and other chumps, maybe it’s fine. Me? I avoid most campgrounds like Ellen Degeneres avoids penis.
Maybe in the future I will come back and hike some trails. But I’ll hit this beach again if it’s empty.

Driving from LA to Morro Bay, I wanted a scenic stop.
All of a sudden, saw a turnoff for a tiny place called Gaviota.
What a nice hidden gem!

If this had been my first time camping, I’d think all of you campers were absolutely nuts for putting yourself through this misery.
It’s my own damn fault. I read all of the one– and two-​star reviews, but we decided to go ahead with our camping trip this weekend anyway, knowing the risks, but somehow thinking they were overblown. Maybe Unilocalers are all a bunch of wind babies or something. I can’t be defeated that easily!
No, you’re not kidding. People, if you’re reading this and wondering whether you should go here, make it a day trip, because the beach and pier are the only things worth seeing here and the weather is far more calm during the day. This is not anywhere anyone should be tent camping if they want any chance of a meal that doesn’t consist of at least half sand or crunchy teeth or, hell, a good night’s sleep. And I can sleep through anything.
Our tent stood up to the wind like a brave soldier, but the rest of us just huddled inside, trying in vain to sleep and stay warm.
I’m just grateful that we weren’t there a few nights ago. A worker told our friend that there had been 40 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts. So, think about that.
Still, if there were no wind, the other misery here is that you’re nut to butt with the other campers. My husband swears he heard breathing all night. And they’re not a quiet group. Although quiet time officially ends at 6 a.m., I don’t think that means it’s officially time to whoop it up.
Go somewhere that couldn’t double as a NASA wind tunnel if you’re going to stay overnight, okay? Trust me. Otherwise, you just might find yourself home a day early from vacation writing on Unilocal about how you should have listened to me.

This place is a rare jewel, small and quiet. Perfect place to really camp out, enjoy the beach, and go fishing!
Coming here literally brought me back to when I was a little girl going fishing with family, especially my daddy. Times have changed, but not me. I still enjoy the little things in life, and the nature it brings.
I never even heard of this place, and my fiancée’s parents told us about it, because they still spend quality time with their family and I truly love that! They told us about ALL the fishes they catch here, and we didn’t believe them until we went! we literally caught a lot of fish! We start fishing from 6am until 8p!
I have never had so much fun actually catching fish, and seeing a school of fish just right of the bottom of the pier! Fishing is one of my favorite hobbies ever but coming here literally brought out the fun of it all! and also the second time we were there, on halloween, noone was there except a few people of about 5, and we had the best fishing spot (which is the end of the pier!)
Hopefully, one day we will come here to go camping also! I haven’t camped in ages, but fishing is always a must! I wish people can still enjoy nature like this. I also wish that there was a beach like this where hardly anyone goes to, and is FILLED with fishes! wooohooo!
I wish I didn’t live 4hours away, otherwise I would definitely be fishing here ²⁴⁄₇! The weather is also great, I learned my lesson the first time though, bring a blanket, umbrella (for the heat, because in the morning it gets cold. but when the sun shines, it will bring you warmth like no other!) and SUNSCREEN! LOL I had the worst sunburn ever, and I haven’t had those in a long time!
So, if you ever have time and really want to get away from all the smog and city life and stress from your daily life, come here!