Refugio State Beach Campground

Spot # 60 close to the good toilets & showers. A few feet to the water. Bring hand sanitizer for tar removal. Bring kids to learn how to surf & Get Up!

Wanted to use the restroom. The warden wanted me to park a quarter mile from them and walk to them. I reminded her I have a handicapped plate and a blister on my toe. All this to use the restroom. I was going south on the 101 and nothing until Goleta. She finally let me through with a” hurry up” from her. Our parks have become a dictatorship?

I don’t camp, but my parents come here a couple of times a year in their RV. I bring my daughter and we come visit for a few days.
Full disclosure: I stay at a nearby hotel Bacara to sleep. That said, I am usually here from 9 AM until 9 PM for at least four or five days each October.
I could not imagine trying to sleep in this place. The noise from the freeway and the trains and semi trucks is insane. Bathrooms are disgusting. Those of the downsides… Here are the upside: showers, for campgrounds showers, are OK. The beach is close, although it’s rocky. If you walk north around the cliffs, you can find some tidepools. It’s only 10 bucks for a day pass.
Bottom line… I wish my parents would find some other place to go that has a beach view but there are worse places to hang for a few days.
My best tip is to hang out here during the day and get a hotel at night! Particularly if you like to sleep noise free.

This is the most amazing place in California. I have been coming here for 25 years and will never stop. This brings me ultimate happiness. I was proposed to here, this beach is a part of my soul.

I was there three weeks ago with two friends (a couple.) It’s a special place and we all enjoyed it very much. The campground is clean and the bathrooms are looked after daily. Clean showers for 25 cents a minute. All sites are close to the beach.
A few observations:
1) There is traffic noise from cars and trains. Sometimes I noticed it and most times I didn’t. I’m a light sleeper and it did not keep me awake. Most beach campgrounds in central & south California are right next to the 1 highway or 101 freeway and some vehicle noise is just part of the deal. It’s never been a problem for me & if it were I’d use earplugs at night.
2) The beach is beautiful. It’s also rocky with no or very little sand during high tide. During low tide there is plenty of sand and some tidal pools. Just consult a tidal chart on-​line before you leave, then enjoy the beach.
3) The hostess was very friendly, easy to get along with and helpful. Just follow the rules even if they don’t seem to be relevant at the moment your caught up in. We party and enjoy ourselves and were able to to do so without any problems. Just be cool… your in a very public place.
4) There are resident vermin. Squirrels, raccoons and skunks. The skunks are the most problematic. If one sprays (and one did) it will totally jack-​up your vibe. At night you have to lock either enclose your garbage bags or throw them in the dumpster and don’t leave any people or dog food out, even if in containers.

It’s a beautiful beach. Shame what’s just happened.

Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. Went here recently with an awesome group of people so I think that tipped it from 2 to 3 stars.
Pros:
Lots of stuff to do — playground, basketball court, small hikes, bike trail (haven’t actually gone on this for myself) beach picnic (only during low tide, when more sand is present), drive to Goleta or Santa Barbara, hot water showers and decently clean bathrooms (i.e., not truly «roughing it»), lots of fire pits and no fire restrictions
Cons:
Train and freeway traffic at night (and even during the day) can be deafening, the campground is packed and there are a zillion cars/​trailers/​tents/​loud children everywhere, not particularly relaxing, beach is narrow and not conducive to laying out or swimming.

We stopped off here to shower around 8 in the morning. It was a nice place with a lovely view. Warm water, good water pressure, and clean.
Shower was 25¢ per 2 min. I definitely would return!

I’m giving it a two only because I enjoyed the sunset and the walk on the beach with my wife. If I could, I would give it no stars because the old camp hostess lady is so annoying! What a nazi! Everything she could hassle us on she did. The place was frigin empty and she got on us within a minute for pulling in to the campground next to ours to unload because my bro was already parked in the spot. And that was just the beginning. Peak season, I get it. But come on, really? I can’t see myself coming back here because I go camping to relax and not get hassled. Nope, the old hostess lady killed it for me.

Beautiful campground!!! Jan the campground host was a sweetheart. Thank you Jan for the great spot! See you next time.

Best place in the so cal for camping. UNLESS you get other than camp site then 34,35,36,60 beach front property! These are the only camp sights I will stay at. All the other ones kinda blow. Beach is small and beautiful

We stayed at campsite #12 which was well shaded and in close proximity to bathrooms (but not too close). We originally had our reservation for site #11 but there was absolutely no shade so we switched at the last minute.
There are a few reasons why this wasn’t the most pleasant camping experience.
1. The noise from the freeway is fine during the day, but at night it is deafening and kept me up for a good portion of the night. There is a slight incline of the 101 right above the campsite so you hear a lot of J Brake action from semi-​trucks. And the occasional Amtrack and freight trains don’t help either. The whole purpose for our trip was to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city…
2. The hostess is unreasonably strict. She came over to our site on 4 separate occasions: the first was because we had 1 vehicle temporarily parked in the neighboring site (my husband and I were sharing our site with another couple and they were unloading) and she came over to tell us to move the car. Keep in mind that it is the end of October so the entire campsite was practically empty. Then she came over later to make sure we moved it. Then she came over again to tell us that we couldn’t use the neighboring site table (we had a few things on it). And then lastly she came over again to tell us we couldn’t use the neighboring fire pit (ours was rotting away and had large holes in it, very unsafe around dogs). I would totally understand if it was peak season, but why is it such a big deal when no one else is around?
3. The beach isn’t much of a beach at all, no room to lay out and hang… it’s full of large rocks and decaying seaweed and with that comes a ton of flies… keep your mouth closed!
4. The site is covered in eucalyptus trees which are beautiful but also poisonous to dogs. We had a 5 month old puppy with us who was constantly trying to eat bark… no bueno.
There is a nice basketball court and grassy area for frisbee, etc and the bathrooms aren’t completely unpleasant all things considered. If you want to catch a beautiful sunset, take the trail to the north of the site and it will take you up a cliff with wonderful views.

Love this beach!

Refugio beach in Goleta California has long been a very favorite camping spot right on the beach for us for years. We just returned from a trip there 2 days ago. We left early this year. We were miserable. The hottest summer in the history of the area was horrible. But not the beach“s fault. Soo hot Couldn’t sleep at all. Most people were outside all night long trying to sleep. Ok again not the beach fault. But we arrived to find the short pristine sandy beach leading to the water was covered in large rocks that had washed up during a storm they had in March. Again not the beach fault. So the first day me and some great kids physically lifted and cleared a path to the water. By 3 pm I was floating in the lukewarm water of the Pacific Ocean Next day after sleeping all night outside went to the edge of the beach. Covered in rocks rocks rocks again. That tide thing. Ok I get it. Let’s just say the clientele has changed. Gigantic families that included every member from the past 3 generations plus all their kids about 20 per group, bikes, skateboards balls and loud drunk parents from morning to night Kids don’t talk anymore. They scream everything all day long. And the parents scream everything at their wives and kids all day too. So I understand why the kids are the way they are. Rude, cutting thru my site, yelling at the top of their lungs about everything. Bathrooms and showers were not working well. I know it’s the end of the season and maintenance is long overdue. Which usually happens in winter Lets just say this girl probably won’t go back Life changes people and places. I’m really flexible. But this trip made me lose faith in the younger generation who are our future and my powerful majestic ocean was not even strong enough to mask the flaws.

Clean campground that has showers, restrooms, basketball court, bike trail, hiking, surf, scuba diving etc. Good fireplaces, and day area use as well. Train is a bit loud but who has time to listen when youre having fun. Bike path could use a renovation. Thank you to the older camphost lady that found us a campsite, greatly appreciated!

Perfect beach for kids and the palms along the shore makes the area great for pictures and give a warm tropical vibe. There are tons of sand flies though, so wear plenty of bug spray before heading to the beach! Also, unfortunately there is oil in the water, so be aware that playing on the ocean here could lead to patches of hard to remove oil spots on your feet and body. The campground is clean, they have showers that give you 2 minutes per quarter, and a bundle of wood is $ 6.00, so not too expensive. But one night here runs you $ 35 — $ 45 a night, so total you could easily be spending upwards to $ 70 a night if you buy 2 bundles of wood and each of the family members get a short shower. Either way, it is a very nice campground, and my kids had a blast! Great memories!

Didn’t have reservations and could only stay one night (unless we wanted to stay surrounded by the rvs in the back middle) we had amazing luck and managed to get (in my opinion) the best site, campsite #61, right on the beach only one neighbor and it was in front of the playground. We stayed on a Monday night so it wasn’t too crowded. The next two nights we stayed at El Capitan and I think i prefer it over there more since there seemed to be more space between the neighboring sites and just overall space of campground, but i still stay here again it was a brief but great stay. Oh and yea there is tar but there’s tar on almost all southern California beaches so it’s really no big deal to me at least.

This place is a very small beachside campground. I came here with my family for a cousins’ campout (we’ve done one every year since ’04 so we’re closing in on almost a decade of this tradition!) and we had a great time tent camping on the beach. Coming from the city, being able to hear the waves crashing is honestly a pretty cool experience.
You’re only about a 15 – 30 minute drive from Goleta (which has a Costco in case you need any extra camping supplies) or Downtown Santa Barbara if you want to see the city. I guess in that sense, you’re not truly «roughing it» but I’m a very strong proponent of glamping.
Just be forewarned — there’s a lot of natural tar on the beach, so if you’re going into the sand barefoot be careful or you’ll end up with plenty of oil stains on your feet that won’t go away very easily.

If you are coming here to play in the sand of get into the water, you will end up with oil spots on your skin (especially your feet), your bathing suit, and your boogie board.
We found 6 inch diameter chunks of dried up oil in the water. I am not so sure about whether this oil occurs «naturally» but I did see two always-​present oil rigs in the distance. Regardless if it’s natural or not, I would never return.
Campground wasn’t very rustic, spots are close together, and you’re surrounded by RVs.
I’ve had a decent time here otherwise. If it wasn’t for the oil, this would be 3.5 stars.

Best California beach to camp out. Couldn’t ask for a better place to camp or just spend the day on the beach. The showers take quarters but I think it’s worth paying to get hot water.
Beach is clean and flat… I even got to see some dolphins while we were there, they came about 30 feet from the shore.
If u want to camp on the beach then I highly recommend coming here!