Newport Dunes RV Resort

Well, there are a ton of activities here which is great. The issue is that it is very expensive and for the cost, you expect just a little more (like toilets that flush, showers that work, hot water, sinks with running water, bathrooms that aren't soaking wet and covered with toilet paper...) it's frustrating to find out that the water park is an additional $18 for every 0-2 hours (no day passes you pay for each 2 hours) a bag of ice is $10.71 and every piece of firewood- yes every PIECE is $2 each. In addition you will need to rent a fire ring if you wish to have a fire at your site. This is after you've paid $120+ a night to camp. The location is nice and you can easily walk to the beach even from the back spots. There is a bike path directly behind these spots and it gets tons of traffic so don't expect to sleep in. The campground is up and moving early and stays loud fairly late also. We have no issue with this but it is good info for light sleepers. There is also a lot of flight traffic overhead. The showers require pushing a button every 15 seconds or so to keep them running. One night I had hot water one night I had none. Absolutely none. It was ice cold. It was a Sunday late afternoon, the park was not full, I was the only person showering. I have no clue why. I am not sure why the automatic toilets only occasionally flush but they don't always flush, just sometimes. The pool is very nice, clean and warm but also usually very crowded. Over all there are tons of kids activities and if the issues with the hot water and bathrooms weren't there this place would be great. For the cost though, you should be able to take a hot shower!

Another mega-resort: $500 in the high-demand times for the best bay-view sites! Luckily we stayed with an Airstream group that had reserved New Years for three years in a row. We loved the luxury status of this resort (at group-rate prices) and the proximity to ultra-luxurious Newport Beach. It was a bike rider's dream for us: short distance to the Balboa Ferry and the endless boardwalk. Once arrived, one does not have to leave for anything: great restaurant, boating, swimming, and cycling rentals, a very convenient store that stays open until 10 pm . . .
Caveats: John Wayne Airport begins flights over the resort at 7am and the cable tv is capable of only 22 basic stations (not even "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!")
That said, we'll be back for the next New Year's gathering, that's for sure!

Note to self, try to book state parks well ahead of spring break in California.
As we checked Campendium for places to camp we called around and felt lucky to get a site at The Dunes of Newport. At over $100 per night for a third row site, this is an expensive place to stay - it’s also kind of perfect for a “city campground”. The resort has a good size pool and whirlpool, a marina, and a beach on the bay where folks can swim and rent canoes and other water toys. Another huge benefit is that it is a short bike ride to the ferry to Balboa Island which has a great bike path along the water’s edge. Newport Beach in general is a fantastic place for running and bike riding. There is a newly paved 10 mile loop path that winds through a nature preserve and the suburbs. There is a good supermarket nearby and a general store at the campground that frankly feels overpriced but certainly is convenient. One of the most surprising aspects of this park is that although it is filled with families and small children folks seemed to be respectful of each other and it never felt too crazy even on a spring break weekend.

This park is awesome! We were stoked to sample this luxury camping resort. Started off rocky when they assigned us to a small site in the back, next to long-term residents and our neighbor had junk around their site. Thankfully they were quick to hear my complaint and moved us to a better location. The key is, reserve early to snag the really nice sites along the water or in the main section, that is closer to the office (rather than the western portion that is closer Pacific Coast Highway). The western portion of the park has long term parking and a different vibe. Now the great part...the bay is gorgeous! There are tons of fun activities for the kids and countless ways to enjoy the water. My husband and I absolutely loved the walking path that circles the entire bay, crossing the water over a bridge. We would take our coffee and circle it every morning at sunrise. The location is fabulous. You are close to all that Newport offers, Balboa Island, Fashion Island shopping and some amazing restaurants...not to mention beautiful beaches. If you have kids, we enjoyed the weekend water park, where they put massive floats in the water and you can play/bounce/slide off of them into the water. If you are staying in the park, they offer you a discount on enjoying this amenity, in 2 hour increments. This is a great place to bring your bikes. It is extremely expensive, but if you are staying around the park enough to enjoy the amenities, it is a real treat. There is also a lovely spa/pool. This is not a park with spacious sites...but an extremely fun place to enjoy the Newport life.

This place is great, but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO expensive. For good reason, and I can see why people would stay here long-term - you're getting a good deal on rent for Newport Beach. The sites are half concrete, half dirt, and tight but easy to back into. Everything seemed clean and the staff was helpful. It had a nice communal feeling with a lot of people puttering about at any given moment, bonfires on the beach, and a heated pool on location. I left my bike outside without a lock and didn't have to ever think about it.

You're about a 20 minute walk from Balboa Island and all it has to offer. It sounds like there are events that happen pretty frequently at the dunes in case you want something even closer to do. Planes fly overhead but you tune that out pretty quickly.

Overall we'd love to come back but it's hard to commit when there are other acceptable sites nearby for cheaper.

You cannot beat the location of this park. It is right in the middle of Newport Beach. It is on the back bay, minutes from Balboa Island, minutes from Fashion Island, minutes from major freeways, 30 minutes to Disneyland, and it goes on. We even met some friends at Legoland (north side of San Diego) in less than an hour. The sites are pretty tight but you can still open awnings, put out chairs, etc. If you want to splurge, reserve a waterfront site. Those give you great views and wider spots. However, it will cost you upwards of $150-$200, depending on the season.

Newport Dunes RV park is the best place to stay in SoCal. The park’s location is amazing. You are walking distance from Balboa Island (you must get a Balboa Bar - yummy!), there are great walking/running/biking trails outside your door at the Back Bay or Beach to Mountains trails, and you are close to Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Corona Del Mar (check out their Beach - it’s gorgeous).

The park has a great pool and hot tub, laundry room is clean and takes credit cards (a huge plus in my mind) and the fitness room is small, but as good as you will find at an RV park.

If you do a short-term stay, you will most likely be up towards the front of the park. Permanent residents (and there are a lot of them) and long stays (like us) are placed in the back of the park. The downside of this is that parking your vehicle is a pain. Cars are parked on the side of the road in front of people’s rigs because there are not enough parking spots. It makes the place seem messy, but there is no other choice. We were lucky when we arrived that people were at work and many of the vehicles were not in their normal spaces in front of their rigs as it would have been hard to get our rig into our spot. The spots are small (we have a 39 foot rig) and moderately close together. If you want to pay for it -you can get a great spot with a view of the Back Bay - but you will definitely pay up for it.

The weekends get crazy busy. If you stay for several weeks you will learn to appreciate the week days and hate the weekend when the park is overrun with kids and families. The week days are quieter, fewer people using the pool and hot tub, and more parking spaces.

The WiFi at the park is pretty dependable. My husband works full-time and he was able to use the park WIFI most of the time for his job with no issues. You do have to log in to the WIFI each day and maybe several times during the day. I assume they boot you off after non-use to keep the WIFI available.

Overall, love this park despite the large number of permanent residents. You just cannot beat the location and amenities.

Note - the location is in the flight path for Santa Anna airport - so lots of plane noise during the day. Planes start at 7 am and stop at 10am. And you can hear traffic noise as well - but where can’t you hear that?

The best thing about this park is the location!! It's located on the back bay of Newport Beach, California where the climate is cool and there is a lot to do!! We stayed here for one month from July 15 - August 15 to be close to our grandkids but it was during peak rate time for the RV spots, the rates go down after Labor Day and stay reasonable until Memorial Day. The spots are close together but do have full hookups. We opted for a 25' x 40' spot.

There are lots of activities within the resort but, you pay extra for everything. The beach is nice and is on the bay so, there are no waves which is great for kids and nice for paddle boarding and kayaking. They offer WiFi, unfortunately, it's terrible and we weren't really able to use it much.

The pads are DG so, bring your own rugs, etc. for a patio to keep your rig clean. Pets are allowed so, we found that having an end spot on any row would expose you to the constant smell of urine as those areas are used for dog potty spots.

If you don't like crowds, this isn't the place for you. There are lots of people packed together with cars and kids riding bikes/scooters/skateboards everywhere!!!

Best Advice: Get a spot in the back (4000 or 5000 rows) if you want quiet. The front rows seem to be host to more families and weekend party people.

Overall, we had a great stay!!! The parks have a 10pm curfew which everyone seems to follow so, it's nice and quiet at night. The facilities are clean and the staff very friendly!! It's located smack dab in the middle of the City so, there are many shopping and dining opportunities.

We stayed here on a Saturday and it was a madhouse. LOTS of BIG parties everywhere. Not a mask in sight. Soooo loud. This is just a big party lot - one group was 125 people. Site was freshly racked and really clean.

I’ve been conflicted about how to review this campground. We were very unhappy with the experience (cramped, noisy, neighbors respecting NO boundaries, junky), whereas others clearly thought the campground was terrific. But it honestly felt like a ghetto to us. The campsites in the back rows are literally small dirt lots surrounded by chain link. We paid almost $400/night for our beachfront site - which did have a reasonably large back lawn - but the lawn was completely overtaken by families treating it as common ground (dogs chasing balls, kids playing games, giant assemblages of chairs, tables, toys, bikes, even outdoor TVs) Dueling sound systems made being outdoors intolerable. There was ZERO privacy. We hung out at the campground as little as possible, and enjoyed it not at all.

On the upside, equipped with an e-bike, we LOVED the proximity to Balboa Island, the beaches and the PCH. We biked around the back bay on a great wilderness bike trail. Whole Foods is about 5 minutes away at Fashion Island. Since we were not happy at the campground, we discovered outstanding restaurant options (Farmhouse, Tavern Kitchen, Royal Hen, Nick’s Laguna Beach) and were grateful for SoCal’s abundance.

Can’t say that we’d ever return, nor would we recommend Newport Dunes. But for some families, it might have the party energy that some enjoy.