Sunset State Beach

The location is somewhat secluded which makes it nice for relaxing and clearing your head. The camp sites are satisfactory with some shade. The bathrooms and showers are old but kept clean for the most part. The beach is really nice but can get cold when the breeze kicks up. Dogs are allowed in campgrounds and some parts of the beach. Beware of the skunks… one of the dogs here got skunked last night. Poor dog was just trying to make friends.

As far as campsites go, this campground is the least private I’ve ever seen. There is virtually no privacy from your neighbors to the point that you can hear every word of everyone else’s conversation. We stayed in loop B and there weren’t nearly enough bathrooms for the number of campers in the loop, particularly given that there were a ton of people in the group sites who all came over (at the same time) to use the bathrooms/​sinks/​showers.
We decided to walk down to the beach in the late afternoon and I’m not sure if there is a better way to go than the route we took, but the path down there was a bit treacherous. There was an attempt to create stairs with the sand except the sand had eroded so it was more like jumping over logs — probably not a good idea for small children to have them walk down this path. We got to the beach around 6−7pm and it was almost entirely empty, which was surprising given how nice it was and how gorgeous the view of the sun setting.

Absolutely breathtaking… gorgeous beach with treasures in every wave. Sand dollars and beautiful shells. Not overly crowded and absolutely worth the $ 10.00 parking fee. Would recommend definitely! Oh and I would have given five stars but the parking attendant was rude. had a real funky attitude telling us to go to another park because the lot was full… it wasn’t though… we found a spot right away. so THERE you meanie! HAHA!

Decent service, the food seemed a bit expensive. Honestly think they shouldn’t automatically charge tip, oh well. Infinite sea food and drink. It seems to be crab season as well.

The hike-​bike campsite is located at a 3-​way intersection and fits roughly three groups with 1 – 3 person each group. The back of the site faces a large strawberry farm. You will hear people talking and machines running during the day. The trail to the beach is right across the road from the hike-​bike campsite. t takes about 15 minutes’ walk to reach the beach.
There’s running water, storage box, and shower. As of 5÷9÷2016, the shower in the larger stall in the women’s bathroom next the hike-​bike campsite does not work, don’t waste money on it. And the other shower in the same bathroom takes about 30 – 60 seconds to warm up, so bring enough quarters. $ 0.5 for 2 minutes to start the shower, from there it costs $ 0.25 per minute. Bikers, you need to bike two more hills from the entrance to the campsite.

Beach was pretty. Little crowded in the day… less so in the morning. Strawberry fields outside of the beach area.

Went on a whim to start the kids’ spring break. Reservations recommend which I something we didn’t do. Pulled in and found a site open for the night which wasn’t reserved per the note on the kiosk window. Since it was closed, I couldn’t pay up for the night.
Having camped at state parks, I know staff make their rounds and stop to check campers in. I figured that would happen. Guess they do things differently on the central coast. I was prepared to move sites if necessary. Nobody ever checked with me at all!
As the sun fell on night 2, the camp host suddenly shows up and tells me to beat it. This spot was reserved and the other group was waiting. I had it out with the guy and his lack of doing his job. He told me he made his rounds at 7am and saw us there. Well… he didn’t stop to inform me at all. Even the Ranger drove through and never said anything about not having a permit.
I end up packing the little bit of stuff I had set out and headed home.
I learned that it’s my fault for not giving the state money to camp and I’m the one responsible for keeping track of open sites. Maybe I’ll be the camp host. They don’t seem to do much!
This state already sucks you dry for money, so I can’t totally complain. A free trip was fun for the time we were there!
As for the campsite itself, pretty cool. I can believe the nearby farms could disturb you depending on the time of year, but we need food, so have at it Mr. Farmer!
The beach itself it pretty sweet. It’s just a pretty long walk to get to it if you’re set up with an RV and no second vehicle (which you’d pay extra $ for).
I won’t necessarily go back unless I planned to reserve a spot. They don’t keep any first come sites to accommodate those who show up on a whim.

Sunset Beach is my favorite park along the California coast. My family has been visiting here for more than 15 years and we always enjoy the walks on the beach, beautiful sunsets and evening campfires. Weather can change quickly so bring layers and be ready for the fog and mist to roll in.
Keep in mind that this campground is super popular so you’ll need to call ahead to reserve a site. Our favorites are closest to the paths down to the beach. Be ready for a walk no matter what site you reserve.

This review is for the campground. The beach itself, IMO is a 5 star rating. I had camped here quite a bit years ago and have recently returned for another trip. Basically, if you’re «camping» in a fully contained RV (motorhome or trailer, etc) …and won’t need to use the campground restroom or showers… the place is pretty solid. However… if you are tent camping or out of a pickup, etc… be aware that the restroom in the dunes (north) campground is neglected and in bad shape. I was sorry to see that nothing had been updated in the least over the years and the same faucets, showers, were there. Lots of rust, in need of paint and kind of Blah… I’m also not so sure they get cleaned much or if the campground hosts are supposed to maintain them. So, heads up there if you will be relying on those facilities.

Nice quiet campground. Water faucets everywhere. Good restrooms and showers. The showers are coin operated so bring your quarters. Large campsites that include table and fire ring. It is so quiet you can hear every bird chatter… very nice.

We camped here for the first time this weekend with another family.
PROS:
–The 2 sites that we had were really spacious and great for camping next to each other. Left lots of room for the kids to run around
–most sites were pretty big, which is great for us since our tent is quite large
–beach was nice~ cold due to the fog that rolled in and didn’t leave
–most of the noise had died down once quiet hrs came.
CONS:
–site had absolutely no coverage/​privacy from the other sites nearby. We did walk around and see that not all the sites were like this, so next time we’ll plan to stay in a different one.
–When we arrived our fire pit was littered with garbage and recycling from the previous campers and was unusable.
–seeing as there is only 1 bathroom per loop they got pretty gross and smelly pretty quickly.
— I’d read that the park patrol was really diligent here driving around throughout the day, however we only saw them once in the morning to evict a renter that had shown up in the middle of the night and set up in a non-​spot
–our last morning the garbage/​recycling truck was by at like 5:30am-rude awakening when the bins are literally behind your tent
Might camp here again, but would be more strategic in our choice of sites. Was a little disappointed for a state park seeing as how high it was rated.

Came here middle of August, Sat-​Mon
PROS– the beach next to the campsite is huge and very spacious and can even do bonfires on the beach. When we came here it was clear with very visible stars. They sell wood at the camp host RV in case you forgot or run out. BBQ areas next to the beach. The ranger always patrols around a lot in their car and it makes you feel pretty safe which is good for camping.
CONS– 3 BATHROOM STALLS AND 2 SHOWERS PER CAMP GROUND?! Mind you, there’s hundreds of people per campsite but you’re expected to share only 2 showers (1 quarter for 2 mins to shower!) and 3 toilets! Almost always a line waiting to use them in the bathroom. FREEZING at night, even in the middle of summer. We’re talking needing 3 jackets kind of freezing. Also raccoons are crazy at night. If you don’t put your food in a heavy container and without a lock they WILL find a way to get in. Also, it can unexpectedly rain even in August apparently, even when the weather doesn’t say so. Beach is not walking distance.

Campground:
We camped here as a base to explore Moss Landing, Monterey, Carmel, Point Lobos.
Stayed during the week: clean, quiet.
Our site in the South Camp loop had trees, and was semi-​private. There were lots of sites though that did not have trees in between them and the next site.
Some of the sites on the eastern side of the South loop back up right to the strawberry fields, which meant that those campers had unobstructed views of ag fields and ag workers, and that kids were wandering into strawberry fields to pick berries (bad idea!). Depending on the weather, you’re gonna get the smell of strawberries, fertilizer, or a heaping helping of pesticides
It looked to me that was that most of the Dunes Camping sites do not have privacy (few mature trees or shrubs between sites, so you’re in full view of your neighbors).
No camp store, but the Chevron on Lee Road right near Highway 1 is 10 minutes away and had lots of camping supplies, including firewood, marshmallows, graham crackers, beer, etc., and grocery stores in Watsonville are just another 10 minutes from there.
Beach: gorgeous. Wind can be fierce.

I would NOT recommend this campsite. The proximity to the beach was the only positive thing, however the beach was littered with trash.
Our campsite was also filthy from previous campers’ trash, including a white sticky substance on the table that attracted ants. The trash on site was overflowing with huge trash bags, and dirty diapers on the ground, and was swarming with bugs.
Someone had put their muddy shoes in one of the bathroom sinks, and one toilet seat was covered in what I hope was mud.
Quiet hours supposedly began at 10pm, but we could hear loud music, car alarms, and people leaving/​coming via car well into the middle of the night. If we hadn’t had a toddler, we would have left.
I can only assume the number of people allowed at each spot (unlimited??) led to the above problems. Our neighbors had 7 cars are their spot, overflowing into our campsite. One «spot» had 12 tents that I counted. Wow. Never coming here again.

I’ve been coming here over the past few years, this place never upsets me or my kids. Love it here. It’s wide so you can spread out. There’s sand dollars, my favorite! ! If you get lucky, you’ll spot dolphins passing by. Most of the time this place gets more over cast compare to Santa Cruz. But don’t let it fool you, you’ll still get a bad sunburn.

My friends and I threw a Sunday Funday BBQ here at Sunset Beach. We came here to reserve a spot around 12pm. I highly advise everyone to come as early as possible to save your party a spot because it does get busy during the weekends! It was my first time here and I was so astonished by the true beauty of nature. The beach view was gorgeous and breath taking! The park also accommodated our every need, with benches, shades, grills and tables. The park also has zero tolerance of alcohol so be careful because there are park rangers and polices that randomly roam each site.
We also strolled along the beach to take a break from all the grubbing and eating. We found tons of seashells and sand dollars along the shore. It was so much fun and I had a blast spending it with my loved ones. I will come here again and throw another BBQ with my family and friends!

This the place i would recommend for everyone to visit, to camp, to pick strawberries, to take wedding pic at flower field
I have a friend who has 10 siblings and they camp here every year as family reunion. best place for that.

My family’s very favorite beach! Perfect for taking the kids for a day at the water. Although parking gets sparse during the summer on the weekends, if you show up early enough you will find something. One of the cleanest beaches in Santa Cruz. I have not tried out the camping here, but we plan to in the next year.

This is the very first beach I have ever been to here in California, and I absolutely love it! I first went to this beach several years ago when I was younger with a group of friends to have a bonfire, and I came back to it recently, and it is still beautiful!
It is a nice hidden gem right off the PCH (Highway 1). The trek to it isn’t as ellaborate like Pfeiffer beach in Big Sur, which is nice for unsure drivers.
There is a $ 10.00 fee to get in, but I personally think it is worth it. The beach is failrly clean for the most part, and they have sand dollars up along the shore! I have also seen pods of dolphins swim up near the waterline! It is a spectacular beach! The water, like most beaches in California is very chilly, but nice on a hot day! They also do provide fire pits for bonfires, and the parking isn’t too bad for the most part. I believe they also have campgrounds here as well!
Overall; money well spent on a beautiful beach. I forgot to mention, they don’t just call it Sunset Beach for funsies. A nice place to photograph and observe the sun set!

Sunset Beach is a hidden gem. It’s less crowded than going to Santa Cruz.
The beach is long and wide and covered in soft sand. The water is your typical Northern California cold freezing water. Bbq pit and picnic tables available.
There is a $ 10 parking fee. Well worth paying. Once you pay, make a left and follow the road and it will lead you to the beach. You can also camp here. Not sure the price for camping. I couldn’t imagine how cold it would get at night.
If your looking to cool down from the hot inland weather, drive down to Sunset Beach and enjoy a day at the beach.