Refugio State Beach — Attraction in Isla Vista

We loved camping here on our week long expedition of central California! The campground was great! We stayed 2 nights, and had 2 different spots. Both great, easily accessible for the 22 ft RV we were in, and both spots were in a great location. Aside from maybe seeing difficulties parking your rig if it is very large, every camp spot seemed easily accessible, clean and maintained, and easily accessible to the beach... Really just a short walk from any camp site! There are bathrooms, and showers, so bring quarters! There is not any electrical hook up for RVs, and they have guidelines on when you can run generators. (Why can people enter the park at 8 am, but we can't run out generator to make coffee until 10 am??? .... My only complaint. But not enough to lose a star here since we were camping after all...) To anyone concerned about the tar, or oil, I think you need to understand that it has been happening for a very long time, (the indigenous people here used it too seal holes in their homes, baskets, etc... Look it up people) and it's really not a big deal to get it off your skin. Here's a tip, baby oil and a scrubby pad/brillo pad work miracles, and don't hurt your skin if you don't scrub too hard! Just be mindful where you walk, and you'll be fine! Lots of fun tide pools and rocks to explore at low tide. Beautiful picturesque beach. And the waves looked great for surfing... We saw a mom taking her 1.5 year old daughter for a ride on her surf board! Such a fun place! I highly recommend this beach...

Refugio's little bay is a beautiful beach and a nice place to camp. This is a great spot to Swim, paddle board, kayaking, fishing, spearfishing, free diving and scuba diving. The water is normally calm up until noon and will kick up if the wind does. There are lots of wooden picnic tables and outside BBQs at the day use area which is on the right side of the bay. The cost for day use is $10 dollars. There are 4 well maintained bathrooms that are very large to help people change in. Also have 2 outdoor showers with feet and full body spray nozzles to wash the sand off. We've done a lot of scuba diving here and it's a great place for beginners because the deepest part is only 22' feet and there is a kelp bed 100 yards straight out or underwater rock formations to the left. Both have tons of underwater life to see. Storms have taken out a number of the palm trees that separated the beach and parking lot, You can see the stumps that remain, but there's still enough palm trees to give you shade. Refugio is one of my favorite beaches which checks off so many nice...

Likely the worst experience I’ve ever had.

The beach itself is gorgeous. Restrooms are fairly clean (for a campground) and there is a store for any you might need which is why this place gets 2 stars instead of the 0 that I would give if I could.

The camps themselves are very close together without any kind of barrier (no trees or anything separating camps) which is great for people camping with multiple groups like the people in the 2 camps behind ours who got louder and louder as the night progressed. I had already fallen asleep around 10 (inside my van) and I was awaken by the sounds of one woman’s witch-like laughter. (Not even kidding, she was cackling). I stayed up for a while after unable to sleep with their soundtrack of chatter. Once they all finally “went to bed” they were in and out of their RV’s slamming doors shut and still making noise.

Overall, the view of the beach is nice from the campground and it’s really easy to get to but if you’re looking for a bit more of a peaceful/private retreat, this place probably...