DThomas96

It’s a parking lot, but the casino has dedicated it to RV’s, so at least it is mostly level and easy to get in/out.

We had to level just a bit. Used about an inch of block on one side of the trailer, then had to Jack up the front an inch or so. Easy to do.

Casino is nice looking, but very very smoky (a bit more than most). There is a small “snack” stand that is open until 1AM. They have pizza, Penni sandwiches, etc. made to order, so at least it has not been sitting in a case all day.

About 15 minutes off of Interstate 8, so it takes 30 minutes total. Not bad for a decent place to park for the night. Great dog area!

There is a two-lane highway not far from the parking lot, but our unit has pretty good sound insulation so it did not bother us.

We stayed in the older “premium” area and loved it. As others have said it is a nice park with everything you need nearby (bathroom/showers, gas and propane, even a few restaurants on base). Of course you will need an active or retired military or civilian ID to access the area. This is a short review, as I completely agree with the other reviews posted here.

Nice place. Easy to drive in and park. You go inside and ask where to register for one of their Casino Cards if you do not have one already. Once you have that all you have to do is call Security (their number is posted on signs in the RV parking area) and they will come by and register you. 3 days max stay and first come first served, so no advance reservations. People were nice and non-smoking casino! The restaurant looked good and will try it the next time through. Felt safe in the parking area and other rigs were quiet and people nice.

This is an RV camp located at Port Hueneme Naval Base and requires proper military ID to enter. Access to Port Hueneme Naval Base is harder than it should be as GPS tries to take you to a closed gate. There are two gates in operation, one is only during regular operating hours M-F. The staff is okay when you can find them. We had to extend our stay for a couple of days and it took me 4 trips to the office to finally find someone.

There are two bath/shower/laundry buildings and only one near the office is properly maintained. The other, which we were near, had a fire alarm continually beep during our stay because it needed a new battery. The showers in the second building quickly ran out of hot water, at times where you could actually get hot water. Another guest told me it was probably because most guests are parked near the second building and do their laundry there and likely use up the hot water. I find that hard to believe, unless they have a garbage hot water heater, which they probably do. The hand dryer does not work in the mens room, nor the shower heaters (they did work in the main building).

There is no kids playground, nor a decent place for kids to play safely. The dog runs are a joke (tiny) and it seems few people pick up after their pets so we stayed away from them. You really need a decent size dog run that gets watered down every few days or at least once a week otherwise they begin to smell like an alley behind a bar. They also did not provide any doggie dodo bags but they had lots of dispensers around the camp.

The spaces are pull through and roughly level. By that each driveway seems to be made of about three sections with the front and back sections slightly sloped for drainage. We did not need leveling blocks.

Landscaping is fine, but minimal. Spaces are decorated with crushed rock which is appropriate for a more desert climate like they have. Hookups worked fine and did not have any issues. Some of the machines in the laundry room were not working, but enough to get laundry done.

Finally, my biggest gripe is the price. You might think after reading the above that I'm complaining a lot about a little. Fair enough, but when you charge $65 a night (I pay $5 more as a retired DOD civilian) I at least, expect everything to work. A lot of military RV campgrounds are also using the RV revenue as a "bill payer" for other MWR activities which I personally think is inappropriate. I worked acquisition in the Pentagon for 20 years and I can guarantee you there is some loose change that could be found to properly fund MWR without placing that burden on RV campers. So It is one thing to charge $65/night when you are sold out most of the time or at least mostly full, but this place was 80 percent EMPTY!

Most military campgrounds charge between $15 and $40 a night, so if you are going to charge at lest 50-percent more, you better have a pristine sight where everything works. As an example, the California National Guard Camp at San Luis Obispo charged us $30 a night, had decent sites, a pristine bath house, and is 10 minutes from Morro Bay and beaches. Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson is $15 a night or less for dry camping, and (I think) it is about $30 to $35 a night for hookups (I'll update once we stay there next week).

Individual ratings: Access/Location is mostly straightforward but I dinged the sight location as it is a long drive from the freeway to the base and sometimes the gates are not opened as scheduled if they are having an exercise or drill. If that happens (which they did while we were there) and you have to drive all the way around the other side of the base and find the open gate to get in. Also, the RV park is not anywhere near the water/beach. Cleanliness is more about the dog runs, but the second bath house could use some maintenance and better water drainage in the showers. Also the showers need to update the soap holders. None of the holders have drains so you are essentially placing your soap, razor, etc. in a cup of water. Site Quality refers to the individual campsite only, not the overall park. Noise - It's a military base, so you just deal with it.

My overall feel for this place is poor leadership and management, disconnected staff, and a general "could care less" vibe permeates everywhere.

We are now staying at Camp Pendleton San Onofre Beach RV park and the rate is the same, the showers are actually worse than Port Hueneme (despite outward appearances, the bathhouse is actually open to the elements with clever privacy walls but it is cold as heck in the winter), BUT we have a direct view of the ocean, the staff is always on-hand if you have a question, and the place is about 75 to 80 percent full if not more.

Unfortunately camping or even overnight RV parking is difficult to find in the Port Hueneme area, so this may be your only option. There is another RV park / Navy Lodge in nearby Point Mugu NAS, we drove by and will likely try that next time as it is located directly on the beach.