Oceanside Harbor

Harbor camping isn’t for everyone. Often you’re limited to a tightly restricted parking lot with a lot of activity around you with little to no privacy. All things considered, we have had great experiences harbor camping in other locations (i.e. Santa Cruz and Great Salt Lake). Oceanside Harbor embodies all that we love about harbor camping. It’s an excellent location with great views, beach access, a pier, water sports, harbor seals, shops, and restaurants. While it did have all the perks we love, ultimately it was not worth the hassle for us. Here's why.
There's a steep learning curve to this parking situation. If you get it wrong then be prepared to get a citation because the city's parking enforcement is very active here. We expected tight parking regulations, but even so the rules here are just too unreasonable for RV trailers. The spots that are long enough to accommodate RVs have signs that say DO NOT BACK IN. You're screwed if you have a trailer because you cannot unhitch if you go in forward and therefore you will not fit (unless you have a short Casita or Bambi style trailer). If you have a Class A,B or C you'll be fine as long as your under about 35 feet. If you have a trailer, you're expected to pull into the center area of the lot and pay for two spots that accommodate your length. That roughly amounts $70/night as apposed to the normal $36 (see the convoluted pricing schedule at the bottom of this review).

Conclusion: if you have an RV trailer, find a different campground.
If you have a Class A, B or C under 35 feet this is a great location to camp for a night or two.

If you still want to camp here, these are the exact coordinates to the camping area 33.206638, -117.394421. There aren’t any camping signs to help guide you from the entrance. Try and find the beach area. Just beyond the boat ramp and boat trailer parking you'll see about a dozen slots facing inland that are long enough to accommodate RVs. I only spotted them because there were a couple Class As already parked there. The first couple spots are the longest and therefore get taken first.

Parking tolls:
4AM - 8PM = $8
8PM - 4AM = $20
(That means if you don't want to leave at 4AM, the price is $36 per day. Although, the parking cop told me there's a 4 hour grace period. So if you feel like pushing your luck to could checkout before 8AM and be okay.)

This Oceanside lot was my first experience harbor camping. We were in Oceanside for a rare rainy day, so decided to stay an additional night to take care of laundry and such things (side note: the Oceana laundromat in Oceanside is incredible! Impeccably clean, attentive staff, all digital payment, fast free wifi, and 20% off all machines on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays).

As the previous reviewer mentioned parking is strict and enforced. No backing in. If you need two spots to fit comfortably without backing, you pay for two spots. $20 for overnight parking (8PM to 4AM, with a signed grace period until 8AM) and the parking enforcement is out right at 8AM to make sure you either pay the day rate ($8) or move on. Some locals we met our last morning there told us that the enforcers are so strict that a side mirror "over the white line" of your parking space will cost you $56 in fines.

That being said, in our little 16 foot rig, this place was perfect. It is RIGHT ON the water. Go to sleep and wake up to the serenade of sea lions barking. You'll hear waves crashing all night. Walk out your door with your morning coffee right onto the sand. It's a nice walk to the Oceanside Pier and downtown. For $20 a night in coastal California, this place is a steal.

Would I stay again? Yes. Would I be slightly reserved in recommending it to others? Yes. The reason: there was clearly illicit dealing happening throughout the night. They didn't bother us, and I didn't feel particularly unsafe, but for this out-of-the-way, dead end spot there's no other reason for so many passenger cars to be cruising through in the middle of the night. It looked like someone had set up shop of sorts in their vehicle on the other end of the lot. Again, I didn't feel unsafe, but others may. The lot doesn't appear to be patrolled by police at night, though I'm sure a phone call would have brought them in.

Weekends at California beach campgrounds are booked up until the end of time, so it's great when you can just drive in on a Friday afternoon and get a spot for however long you're willing to pay. Surfers use the lot every day, usually before and after work. Moms and kids come during the day. Everyone shows up on weekends. There was a huge crowd of teens and 20-somethings Friday and Saturday nights, gathered around the fire rings and socializing in the parking lot. Loud music, of course. You don't come here to get away from it all. But the energy is a nice break from your typical campground or RV park. And the mix of people is more interesting than the WASPy middle-class retirees (like myself) I usually encounter as a full-time nomad.

Cell signals are strong but almost unuseable during normal waking hours because of jammed bandwidth.

I have camped here for 20yrs. The sites are very narrow and if you have a class A motorhome you cant open your doors. Center parking is for cars however you can park with truck and trailer but you pay for two spots which runs 35 a spot for overnight. The docks are dirty covered with bird dodo and has not been washed down. No alcohol allowed except in your camper. Noise at night is bad and goes until early hours. People are nice and polite.
Give it a try!

I paid $20 for 8 PM to 8 AM. There are two large lots the back one is flatter than the large closer one. They do check you have to pay. There are restrooms. There was plenty of when I stayed in February not sure about weekends all summer. There was some drama generator noise from larger RVs.

Correction - $20 per night, $15 per day and some reductions for longer stays. Nights are 8pm - 4am but grace period until 8am.

...there's always the harbor parking lot. As of March, construction has closed Lot 12 and the restrooms, so there's Lot 11 with a few porta-potties and a dump station. $20 from 8pm-8am and $10 days, pay and display, enforced often. If you have a trailer, you'll have to park in the center and pay for two spots, though the spots facing the docks are long enough for a Class A. You'll find teens partying here into the wee hours, and on a weekend morning, you'll wake up to surfers filling the parking lot to capacity. On the upside, the view and proximity to the beach are hard to beat.

Drove down from LA to find “ no overnight camping”. Sad.

This place was AWESOME! We planned to stay for 1 night and ended up staying 5!

We called the City of Oceanside’s Customer Care at 760-435-4500 to see if overnight parking was closed or allowed (the review below confused us). Right now lot 11B is OPEN for overnight parking. 11A and 12 are not, but 11B had plenty of spots when we arrived around 8:30p the first night.

We got an oceanfront spot. There’s a playground right next to the parking lot which was perfect for my niece.

A huge white sand beach on one side and seals in the harbor on the other. Both Verizon and AT&T signals were strong enough for zoom calls during the day.

There was some noise at night, but our sound machine tuned it out. Plenty of shops, coffee and eateries within walking distance.

$10 for day parking + $20 for overnight = $30 for a 24 hour period

From May 15-Sep 15 the day parking is $15 with overnight still at $20.

5 night maximum stay.

There was plenty of parking when we rolled in around 6:30 PM. Parking in front of the harbor made for a beautiful view. This spot had so much potential, but there was a lot of late night activity. The parking spots are tight. Are Minnie Winnie was from line to line and had a person parked in the spots in the middle I would have barely been able to back out. As the evening went on a truck parked directly next to us and began to play music loud enough the sound machine couldn’t block it out. Then they had the great idea of turning on their Jet ski and revving it up as loud as it could be. The antics continued and if our hearing loss wasn’t enough out smell was next. the odor of people smoking weed, ganga, herb and marijuana was coming from so many directions we couldn’t stay here with our kids through the night. Plus, as we were driving out the local PD was pulling someone over lights and sirens so I’m sure it would have been a fight to get some sleep with all the activity.