Silver Strand State Beach

Really enjoyed our stay. We were able to snag a spot right along the beach, with beautiful sunset views. Saw a bunch of birds and even some dolphins from our spot. Used this as our home base while visiting San Diego, and the proximity was perfect for us. In rush hour, took us ~30 min to get between SD and our site.

Things to Know
1. Dump station - cost is $10, near the bathroom area, or you can snag the poop vacuum truck that drives the loop for $20. We opted for the poop vacuum rather than our external tank.
2. Near active military base - there will be air traffic noice (planes, helicopters), for us this was limited to daytime hours
3. Sand - it’s everywhere. It will get in your camper. If you’re in a site along the beach, it may be necessary to shovel sand out of your site. We witnessed one instance of this during our week long stay.
4. 100 spots are the best - the view are epic, you don’t have immediately adjacent (front to back neighbors), and you’re further from the road.

For us, this was exactly what we expected from this site. Would visit again and recommend to others.

Came for 1 night after getting a spot that backs up to the beach. Place is full of zonies pulling 50ft toy haulers. Guy next to me came in with one and lined it right up to the white line. After getting all setup for an hour he runs his slides out 3 feet into my spot. Asks if this is OK.

Took an hour in line to check in and another hour to get from the checkin to my spot.

From the moment we arrived we were disappointed, frustrated and understood the reviews below. We arrived at 1:45p and though there were two people in the office and our site was available, we were rudely told that we needed to leave the campground immediately and not return until 2p for check-in.

The sites are VERY small and cramped. The folks in the site next to us played music loudly on an outdoor speaker until quiet hours began. Our neighbor came and stood next to our rig and stared at us for several minutes. He then went back to his chair and sat watching us until we went in for the evening.

Dump station is $10 for registered campers.

Gates close at 8p so you will need to be in by that time.

Verizon was weak = 1.6 mbps download & 12.4 mbps upload (unable to hold a zoom meeting)

AT&T was slightly better WITH our mimo antenna = 4.30 mbps download & 6.16 mbps upload (able to hold a zoom meeting)

Would not recommend unless you have no other option. We won’t return.

Nightly rate was $50 with a $7.99 reservation fee.

If you're into an hour wait to get registered and hooked up, tight parking lot spaces, loud neighbors, all night street noise, a strict no entry or exit after 8:00 pm policy, contaminated ocean water, $20.00 extra charge for off site tow vehicle parking, poor cell service (verizon), then this place is right up your alley. We cut a 2 night stay to 1, would have left earlier but were locked in

We were unknowingly three minutes early to check in and treated like we were not welcome. Roger, one of the staff members, went on a power trip and treated us like kindergarteners. He tried to ruin our day just because he thought he could.

You are locked in and out after 8 PM which really limits you for going out in San Diego.

We were left with with a bad taste in our mouth.

Ok so yes it’s a parking lot. But it’s right on the beach in San Diego. Don’t expect anything else and you will have a great time. The beach is amazing. Only place in SD to find sand dollars (local advice) .Do your best to avoid the middle rows as you will basically have 4 neighbors instead of 2. We had a beach front spot that they made us back in because “covid” they said,everyone backed it in. It was no big deal.

This is not really a campground but a destination. They lock the gates at night so no late night activities without a very long walk from the gate to the camp ground.

Surfboard, fishing pole and sunscreen and you should be enjoying yourself.

So we are just finishing up our stay here and gotta admit this was our least favorite so far. The only Pro to this location is the beach access. Cons: Spots are so tight, I also didn’t want to be facing the neighbors. If you do come we recommend spots 100s & 400’s. There were way too many people just hanging out in the street area and when your driving pretty much ignore that a car is right behind you or trying to get through. They also lock up the gates at night so you have to be back by a specific time and the worse one of all Quiet time is not taken seriously. I mean we enjoy staying up and talking but it was so loud and people still playing at around 11:30pm no Host were going around to check. If I wasn’t pregnant and so tired definitely would have made my way to the camp host. 😕

Yes we had a beach front spot however, that was the only plus thing about this "campground". There were numerous things that were minus in my opinion. #1--cost of site, $65/night (and b/c it was winter the sand berm was built up and we couldn't even see the water). #2--$15/night for extra car (has to be an attached "toad" or you're charged extra). #3--$8 for a friend to come visit a couple hrs. #4--$10 to dump you rig. #5--$8 reservation fee. Felt like they had a "fee" for everything and ended up costing almost $90/night!
Also, I'm 62 but forgot to get my discount when making resv so asked for it when we got there.....denied. Even Yosemite National Park credited my card immediately!! Adding insult to injury, the discount was only $2/night---shameful. We were not happy about all the rules and regulations (no dogs on beach, alcohol allowed in your rig only, bathrooms are for day-use only, gates closed @ 7 pm or you'd be locked out) yeah, we'll never go back. Don't need the headache to camp in a parking lot.

We enjoyed staying so close to the beach with easy access to downtown San Diego being just a few minute drive. Campsites we are clearly marked on the pavement with easy access to restrooms(very clean), dump station and trash. Electric and water was available on site. Campsite was well lit until quiet hours. Family-friendly. Keep in mind, park gates close early pending which season, you will not have a key to open gates. So plan to be back at your campsite prior to park closing. Some military helicopter noise throughout the evening as well as during the day. Overall we had a great stay and would recommend to anyone looking to be close to the beach!

If you like the beach, then this is a prime spot!

Pros:
Beachfront access to a beautiful state park beach!
Not far from downtown San Diego
Close to lots of restaurants, shopping, etc.
Beautiful sunsets
Water and electric
easy access

Cons:
Right off the highway, so highway noise combined with aircraft noise
basically a big parking lot, so you're nice and cozy with your neighbors
$10 fee to dump
They close the gates at night, as early as 7pm in the winter. This means you either have to be back by then (especially if you're in a class c!) or catch a cab ride and walk about 15 mins back to the campground from the gate. Not very conducive to being in a big city.

I use AT&T and my hotspot worked well enough for me to do my work and use video chats

I will definitely be back here!