Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area — Attraction in Grover Beach

First time visiting Pismo.

Family wanted to check out the dunes. The state or park website is a bit confusing but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND making camping or day use reservations online. Not pricey at all too, especially for camping ON the beach.

Directions getting there were super simple to follow. We had two vehicles driving down to the beach & both were capable enough, one was a 2 wheel drive, & the other was a small Honda. Also another reason I highly recommend booking on the site is to include all vehicles in your party. Otherwise you'll have to park in the residential areas, because the parking at the entrance closes at 10pm I think.

Beach is BEAUTIFUL!! Omg the drive along it alone was amazing. Once you pass the atv rental sites whatever you see available is yours for the picking. Don't tear down the caution tapes, people put those up for multiple reasons; personal atv space, space for the littles to play safely & ward off atv riders from veering too close to their sites. Our truck did get stuck a few times, & they have officers patrolling up & down the beach for help. My suggestion, do not forget a shovel.

If you're not traveling with an RV that has a toilet, I suggest setting up camp near the porta-potties. There are no showers on the beach but there are some locations off the beach that I heard of that are coin operated for showers. Their porta-potties have been the cleanest we've ever used & for the 4days we camped there we've seen a sanitation truck come & empty & clean them. They were never out of toilet paper. Do however, take sanitizer cause they don't have the port-potty hand washing station.

Sand to walk on was nice & not pebbly or HOT where it hurts.

We also set up camp near the ATV rentals so that we didn't have a far walk.

The dunes were equally as amazing as the beach. So many dunes to explore & have fun. Even though it was packed, with everyone spread out all over the place it can easily look like you have the entire place to your party.

Sunset view & camping on the beach is DEFINITELY a...

Mood- OHV/Dunes/Work

Upon entering it is a madhouse. Everyone is lined up waiting for the rangers to open up so they can be paid and allow you on the beach. If you are just walking on, there is no fee. However if you are bringing all of your OHV's, Trucks, Camping - there are fees.

Have you ever went on an adventure in a CanAm but your view as you come up from a 40ft dune is the ocean? If not, get your toys and head on over there. This was not like any other place I have been too. Everyone was riding on their Atvs, OHV's, Trucks, and Jeeps. So many people and so much to see all while on the beach.

There are so many different sides and things to see while you are visiting these dunes. There is a part on the backside that has trees. The visuals you will see are amazing. SO many photo ops. This place is several acres huge, take a map and pay attention to your surroundings. It is very easy to get lost if you have never been here before.

However be smart. Dont go down into something if you cant get out, dont go extra fast up a hill if you dont know if there is a deep bowl on the other side. And most importantly I cant stress this one enough." PAY ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE KIDS" Have fun, ride hard, race, drive it like you stole it. But be smart. All it takes is one wrong move at the right moment.

Would most def recommend - pricing is beyond reasonable for a day pass. there are lines that go all the way back to PacHwy - so if you have reservations for one of the rental companies plan accordingly or you will be late. The lines on the weekend and holidays were starting at 6am while...

Ahh being right on the ocean with the waves breaking only 40 feet from your trailer and watching the sunset while having drinks around a roaring fire. Sounds very enticing and relaxing and it is during the week but on the weekends and during summer don't expect too much peace and quiet here. It never ceases to amaze me how rude people and stupid people can be when it comes to camping on the beach. The idiots start coming in late Thursday to set up camp for the weekend and it is a never ending line of traffic. BE SURE to rope out from your site at least 50 feet all the way around or you will have some idiot setting up camp right next to you with half a dozen quads that they run all during the night and will race within 10 feet of your camp if you are not roped off. These idiots will race up and down the beach at all hours of the night when there is hundreds of acres of open area to play in that is not right next to everyone parked on the beach. One night while sleeping blissfully to the lapping waves I was awoken by some idiot that had stopped in front of my trailer on is quad and was just revving his engine at around 2 am. I went out and asked him to move on as people were sleeping here. He rudely flipped me off and when I went to put that finger where the sun don't shine he took off. RUDE RUDE RUDE. Avoid the weekends at all costs if you are interested in...