Sunset Campground — Hotel in Watsonville Water Treatment Plant

We visited for an overnight stay mid-week during May. The three campgrounds here are all quite different. We stayed at the Dunes, which has sparse vegetation and experienced a strong cold wind in the afternoon. The more sheltered Pines section to the south looked much more comfortable.

It's a lengthy walk to the beach from the Dunes campground--down a long stretch of eroded steps. For those with limited mobility, there's parking at beach level at the very south end of the campground.

There are a lot of rules here! Dogs on leash are prohibited on the beach for environmental reasons, though it's hard to see how a dog walking on the beach is any more damaging than allowing people down there. Picking up sticks is also against the rules (to avoid disturbing insects). I'm all for preserving nature, but being super-strict about it seems a little disingenuous with a strawberry farm stretching as far as the eye can see literally 20 yards from the campsite.

The park employee at the gate when we checked in was rude to the point of hostility, which set a negative tone...

It is a quiet place,The staff is super friendly ♡, the bathrooms are very clean, and the view at sunset is wonderful. , 🫠🫠but it has a lot of ticks, be careful with your pets,I stayed two nights, and my pets were full of ticks, I have a Yorkie and a Yorkie terrier,one was 12 and the other 10, the other problem was that they brought them to our trailer,My husband had one in his sweater, and we found two more in our blankets. PLEASE BE...

I’m extremely disappointed with my stay here and would never stay here again. Zero noise regulation or quiet hours enforced. Music playing loudly all day. Loud rap music playing until after 10 pm. A large group of people were talking and yelling well past midnight. Disappointing how unaware people are of others today. Knocked on the camp hosts door for help but he didn’t answer....