Gaviota State Park Beach & Campground

Love this hidden gem. I had never heard of this spot before making reservations. I wasn't sure what to expect. So peaceful and beautiful. The beach is small, but you owe it to yourself to walk south on a low tide. You will be the only footprints for over 2 miles. The cliffs the cliffs are so cool to behold. The campground is small, but well run. Everyone was very friendly and really quiet at night. I can't wait to go back again. The restrooms and showers are well maintained and cleaned by a really hard working staff. There's a camp store that's open Friday to Monday for little goodies and trinkets.

Gaviota is a charming beach with very little traffic during the week. There is plenty of parking and clean restrooms. The half mile trail overlooking the beach has lots of picnic tables along the way. A variety of seabirds stop here in the morning. It's a quiet place to fish or just walk along the ocean. Ground squirrels are seen along the path. There is handicapped parking. No dogs are allowed.

It's a beautiful place BUT it's very windy! Extremely windy and the sand hurt because of the strong wind. Plus sand kept getting in my eyes. Most tent campers lost their tents because of the wind and my motorhome felt like it was going to tip over, considering it weigh over 15,000 pounds! The best time to go is from 10 am to 3 pm, when it's less windy. I felt unsafe at night because people put on bonfires and the sparks flew for hours because of the wind. I liked that there's a small store. One of the 2 host was very friendly. I loved that we had plenty of space and neighbors were not very close to us. Restrooms were clean.

The place is beautiful and the campground and facilities are very nice/well maintained. the beach is secluded and small, and it is very close to the Santa Ynez valley for wine tasting. I enjoyed our time here but cant say i would come back unfortunately. It was VERY windy, like 20-30mph winds, this is more of a RV camp to be honest because i guess the winds are very common and happen almost everyday. It was nice during the day but at night it picked up and was hard to cook/get things done. it left so much sand in the tent and it was not enjoyable to sit by fire. would rather camp at Refugio which is more protected from winds.

Wow. What a bizarre but awesome camp experience. Ms. Wind was present at 20 to 30 mph with 50-55 wind gusts from maybe six pm to six am, so bring non rotting tents and long gripped stakes and be sure to pitch your tent and stakes correctly. A hammer is a must cause the ground is hard in some places. It took a lot of energy and strength to hammer the stakes into the ground. The first day the wind was totally unexpected but the camp ranger warned us upon arrival telling us to be sure to pitch our tents well. No doubt as it had been windy in El Capitan during spring break but nothing like this. Day two we were prepared. Breakfast..fun games..head to the beach all day..with snacks for lunch. Fire on by four dinner by five. Bed time for kiddos by six…we’ll tent time..so I could wrap and pack up our bins and prepare for the wind. I also wanted the fire to be out by night fall for safety reasons. We basically had two tents. One for supplies chairs and quiet time if needed and one for sleeping. Four of us in the Coleman six person blackout and the six person lighted Coleman for supplies and retreat. The camp rangers hosts were so very nice and helpful the entire time we were there. They would circle the camp to check on all the guests on a regular basis all day. We ran out of wood and the store was closed so they offered us some of their wood. Same thing for ice. The hospitality was amazing. The bathrooms were clean in the camping area showers were :25 per two minutes and hot. The coin machine was out of order so bring your quarters. Or ask a neighbor. Which you could physically see as there are not too many trees and bushes separating the camp sites. We stayed in lot four which was very nice. Two tents fit perfectly. The ground was hard so be sure to bring your sleeping pads. But there is nothing like the Gaviota beach front. So gorgeous and quaint. And a little river on the opposite side parallel the beach that runs under the train tracks. We did not get a chance to hike cause my boys wanted to beach all day. We did s’mores the first night and could have the second..but I was a one woman camp crew so I had to prep everything for the wind. Some of the lots face the ocean which you can see. But we still loved our spot even though it faced the road and mountains. We will definitely visit camp Gaviota again. Don’t let the wind steer you away just be prepared and smart and pray for luck as this is Mother Nature in control. Definitely not us. . I put heavy objects on the perimeter of each tent to avoid the wind getting under. And I kept the doors closed at night to limit the amount of dust floating around. On the first night I visually checked our tents for places of weakness and adjusted as needed. And great waves for boogie boarding and surfing. I loved how we could simply walk to the beach without going down cliffs or it being to far. A plus for three boys. There was also a super nice lifeguard on deck watching over the beach guests. He even provided first aid materials when our friend cut his chest on the boogie board. Yes this is their job but I have been to tons of beaches where they may not be present visible or available. Secret…there is Wi-Fi in the ocean. You literally have to stand maybe five to ten feet into the ocean near the old fishing doc that is not accessible anymore . I was able to check my work emails. Handle a couple of work situations. And face time my partner. Without having to turn my car Wi-Fi. On. 😀

Ok, let's call out that it gets REALLY windy at night. If you camp in a tent, beware and suggest another location. Second, the dust when the wind blows... little to no shade. Now on to the awesome stuff, the beach is amazing...see the pics. That's what gets the four stars. The staff are awesome, and the general store has ice cream :) Reservations are recommend.