We've seemed to run into a bit of trouble in San Diego...we can't find overnight RV parking anywhere. Normally, we boondock. If you follow our journey regularly, you know this. But in San Diego, we're finding it hard to do just that.
Apparently, there's been a few laws passed which prohibit RVs from camping anywhere other than registered parks, overnight. These laws were up for debate for seven years before officially being set into motion. Why? Because campers were abusing their power and parked wherever they pleased for up to months at a time. Now, you can't even stay at a Walmart in San Diego without catching some flack. So, we decided to suck it up and get a campsite for the night through Passport. Except, San Diego RV sites are expensive, even with the discount! I was shocked to find most campsites coming in an $50-75 a night. Who the heck can afford those rates?! The next option was to check out state parks, which usually come to $10-12 a clip for a dry, safe spot. Yet, we couldn't find anything under $20 a night, and even those had gates that locked after 7-8pm. So, we are kinda sunk. The only other option we have is to check out the neighboring casinos around the outskirts of the city, which are known to have security-approved blacktop parking. Yet, it won't help us much as we were planning on staying in the city for nearly a week to work. Anybody out there have a similar experience in San Diego, or maybe can recommend some inexpensive RV parking?! Any and all recommendations welcome! :)
15 Comments
Leonard Zuzchik
4/5/2016 23:10:52
Suck it up and pay the money. You say you want to stay in San Diego for a week to work, and you want o do this for free. How much different is this then what you published in the article where other RV's were staying for long times, and screwed it up for everybody else. YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT Most parks have a weekly rate. Try to do some labor in the park for a reduced rate.
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The Roamans
4/5/2016 23:29:44
Hi Leonard,
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Ephraim Travers
4/22/2020 14:31:34
Nice reply, that guy was a jerk. 4/11/2016 20:06:56
Hello girls, those rates are terrible!! SO much cheaper here. My husband and I are considered seniors but even so, try $30, $35...you'll find higher in the high falutin' areas but the state or national parks are cheap as is the corp of engineer parks.
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The Roamans
4/20/2016 10:34:09
Hi Donna,
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Dan
5/4/2016 16:47:00
Our experiences in San Diego were exactly the same as yours. There is nowhere to stay overnight outside of a paid park, and most of them are extremely expensive. On top of that, many are closed to the public for large parts of the year meaning inventory of available spaces is tight. We have, however, found a great spot in San Diego that we've now stayed on several different trips through the city. If you are down that way again, check out Guajome County Park. It's about 10-15 minute drive inland from Oceanside, CA, right on a lake, has a dump station, water, restrooms and large green park areas and trails, and is very affordable.
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The Roamans
5/9/2016 22:33:01
Hi Dan! Thank you so much for your reply. I had no idea that many of the RV parks in SD are closed for certain parts of the year. I appreciate the info on Guajome County Park, too. I wish we had known about that sooner! Hopefully next time we trek back through we'll have better luck with your suggestion. Happy travels to you! :)
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$50-$70 is too much for a hotel! If all we are doing is parking and plugging in a 110, no need for the high cost. The cost of living there is extremely high no matter havel to highrise. We feel for you, we boondock as much as possible, it helps to offset the times we have to pay a high rate, and we keep those to an absolute minimum. We will be in San Diego ourselves next week for a week and were searching for exactly the same as you. Good luck, if we'll solve it, we'll share it.
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Polly Rose
12/31/2017 16:35:24
Local secret: http://www.californiasbestbeaches.com/oceanside/oceanside_parking.html
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Polly Rose
1/10/2018 22:12:43
Heed!
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The Roamans
1/7/2018 16:42:13
Thank you so much, Polly! We appreciate the tip :)
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Sandy
1/26/2018 22:29:54
Well, we rolled into Bonito on the outskirts of San Diego with a reservation to Sweetwater Regional Park because of your info BUT found that the route to the park is limited to no truck and nothing over 3000 or so pounds (big problem for our 39 ft home on wheels). As it was fast approaching dusk when the park gates are supposed to close, we paniced. We’re now trying to stealth camp (how we usually do anyway in cities) in a mega church parking lot (near the garbage dumpsters away from the parking lot lights) Hopefully, we won’t get woken up in the middle of the night but we’ll see. Drank a bottle of wine so if they do try wake us, maybe we won’t hear!!!!🤭😜 One more adventure to horrify the grandkids with!!! Love your blog, BTW. Sandy
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The Roamans
1/27/2018 12:41:57
Hi Sandy!
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Alexis
4/1/2018 20:31:54
The police intentionally targets RV’s they want to run them out. I live in Coronado San Diego county and even there things are to ridiculously picky with RV’s. I got harassed by military police they even served me orders for no reason to run me out from enjoying the beach in base. Then I open an investigation for false accusations and removed the order but I never trusted military police again. So I got a storage unit for it to park it over night and avoid the stupidity that comes with parking my RV overnight. I only take it out on weekends but I don’t longer take it into the base beach to avoid the drama with shady cops.
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Sterling
6/26/2018 03:51:25
Here are some reasonably priced places in SD County for RV camping. It isn't boondocking, but the rates are about as reasonable as they get, at around $40 a night.
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