Pismo Sands RV Park

Great RV park with a pool, Jacuzzi, game room, a nice little library and clean restrooms and laundry facility. The only downside to this place is most sites are buddy sites, facing the door of another RV, so you have to share a common area (grass fire pit and picnic tables) with another camper and if you don’t know them it can be a little awkward. Other than that, great place to stay with the family. Also they have a nice fenced in place for dogs to let loose and do their business.

I had huge apprehensions about staying here after I received a call from the front desk a week before our trip down to Pismo Beach from Washington state. The woman informed me that they were canceling our reservation because our trailer would not fit. It turned out that their system did not have the same site parameters that I selected in my online reservation. Once I was able to show them that they had the wrong information my reservation was confirmed for a 40’ site with a slide out. I was informed that I would not be able to park my truck onsite. Since the rest of our trip was already planned and nothing else was available I just said a prayer and hoped for the best, but I after that experience I was not expecting much. Well, fast forward a couple of weeks and we arrived and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. We ended up being assigned a back in site, with a smaller adjacent site included for parking our truck. It was a really nice setup and IF I could reserve a specific site (you can’t, you can only reserve a type of site) I would come back. However, most of the other sites did not include the adjacent site for parking and the result was that many had to park outside of the resort on the street, and let’s just say I wouldn’t feel very safe leaving my truck parked overnight on the streets of Oceano. Besides that the other main downsides to this park are that the sites are all extremely close together and the roads are narrow and tight. Backing into our site required surgical precision to avoid hitting other adjacent vehicles. Also, be forewarned as others have noted, many of the pull through sites are alternated so that the entrances of coaches are facing each other. If you want a shred of privacy those sites have none. On the positive side, the park was clean and the pool and hot tube are nice. Staff was friendly. If you don’t need privacy and have a tiny trailer I would recommend this place, but anything approaching or exceeding our medium sized 30 foot trailer I would avoid staying here.

We live nearby and this is our favorite RV park for a staycation. We have stayed here countless times since management changed. The pool is heated to 82° and the jacuzzi/spa is 101°.

We prefer to stay near the pool in sites 18-21 so we can easily see the kids at the playground and game room.

Across the way is a one-of-a-kind playground that is shaped like a ship; good for all ages.

New management changed the underutilized community room to an amazing game room with air hockey, shuffleboard, Pac-Man, basketball throwing arcade game, TV with a fire stick, karaoke, ping pong, puzzles and a toddler/preschooler play area. One room over is a free lending library.

Nearby is a good-sized laundromat where the machines reliably work or if one breaks it is fixed quickly.

Every campsite has grass, and not just a 2’x4’ patch, but a substantially larger area.

While the campground requires a drive to the beach or town, the payoff is better weather—less wind and dust than campgrounds closer to the ocean.

The sites are on the road to the only exit so there is traffic, yet the speed bumps slow down folks so that we do not have concern for traffic safety and the kids on bikes. The sites on the western perimeter are along a road that leads to another RV park and that area is the loudest area of the park.

There are cottages to rent for friends and family that want to “camp,” but do not have their own trailer. No tents allowed anywhere.

The new management has started holiday festivities: For Easter, the campground hides thousands of Easter eggs! For Halloween, they create a map of all RVs that are participating in trick-or-treating and they have a campsite decorating contest where you can win up to three nights of camping!

There are no site-hold fees. Thank goodness! Some local RV parks have site-hold fees that are $50 PER NIGHT. The nightly rate is the same year-round; no rate increases for holidays.

The RV park added good Wi-Fi recently. There is no fee for Wi-Fi.

For the reviews written before October of 2020, the management WAS horrible. New management is flexible, attentive and uses common sense—something the previous manager lacked, and she had set a low standard of customer service for the office gals.

For the double review from one renter (double!): You can see in the campground map that the sites are interchanging in their drive-thru direction. So, their slide is 18 inches from their neighbor with the hook-ups between the campers.
Solution: They could have moved forwards or backwards in the long sites so they were no longer closely aligned to their neighbor’s slide(s). They failed to mention the large grass area for their campsite. A creative layout to hide hook-ups, instead of the usual layout which puts your neighbor’s hook-ups in your site.

Instead of stewing about the dog they should have told management who is good about tending to these types of issues.

Do not leave your yapping dog in your camper while you are away or you will be kicked out. Rightfully so. An RV is not a babysitter. The rules state their dog policies and disturbing the peace and quiet of other campers while you are sunbathing at the beach is rude. There are several dog-friendly beaches in the area for on- and off-leash dogs.

We have two Lances, pictured.

Stayed here because it was the only one available for a trip to see our son. We do have a 45' so we are used to tight turns. Utility side we can touch the rig next to us. Patio side meets another rig so no privacy for space. They let their neighbor dog stay out unattended all day and night so we couldn't stay out anyway. We just came from Moab so we had our ATV. They wouldn't let us park it next to our rig locked up. We aren't using it. We have to leave it in our truck for the week. Won't come back here.

My wife and I travel full time across the country and stay at multiple RV parks every year. We are out here visiting our son and limited on places to stay, so we booked this place. What a mistake. I'm not sure, but I think common sense in America is a thing of the past. This place is crowded, cars parked all over the place and hard to navigate. Dog run is 5 feet by 5 feet. Seriously? You call that a dog run. With slides out I'm literally 18 inches from my neighbor. My other neighbor left is dog out all night and when I went to let my dogs out in the morning his dog was standing there growling at me and my dogs. Then he had the audacity to come out and yell at me for making his dog growl and said he almost "dropped" me because he thought I might be stealing something. Then to top it off I have my atv with me and I parked it alongside my RV on my site and they said it has to stay in the back of my jeep and can't be parked there. But any other form of vehicle can be parked all across the place and not on sites. Unbelievable....

The park itself could use some work. It feels so crammed because of the layout. Many sites are unlevel and not much room in between. There is very little parking, so on busy weekends, some people had to park outside the park on side streets. Most sites are buddy sites which I would imagine would be quite awkward since you’re then sharing an outdoor living space with strangers, but many people seemed to travel together so in that case, would be fun. The park has a pool, hot tub, and a game room, but could get quite crowded. The office staff is the only redeeming factor. They were so accommodating and kind. 5 stars for them! If I were to return to the area, I would try to find a different park.

I called a couple of days ahead, and was repeatedly assured, that we would not get a side-by-side. Upon arrival, my wife was told that nothing else was available. After she reminded them of their verbal commitment, we were given a second choice, but one that the office likely knew we would not find acceptable. Not only was it too short for our 37' Class A, there was no parking anywhere near for our toad. After setting up, we did a quick recon thru the park and identified 3 open sites that fit our specific requests. I presumed the park, largely vacant on our early Friday afternoon arrival, would fill overnight. It did not. The next morning, all 3 sites, and now another, were vacant. By our departure Monday, it seemed highly probable that we had not been honestly dealt with. Multiple sites of the nature I requested sat vacant our entire stay. Since their website clearly states they cannot guarantee specific sites, I find it unlikely that these sites were reserved, but 'no shows'. Especially in light of the following. First, note my previous review of the park. Second. Turns out we had a great neighbor less than 2' from us. They, too, had had been promised, by email, one of two end sites. (One of these was as I requested. It sat vacant the entire weekend we were there.) Upon the neighbor's arrival, they were told that specific sites were not reservable, and that they could not have either site promised. Both were empty. Producing the written confirmation, the wife, absolutely insisted. 'After all, if we can't reserve a site, though you tell us in writing here we have, how can you deny us the site by telling us it is reserved for someone else?' They got the site. After said experience, their intent is to use Pismo Coast Village next time. As for my wife and I . . . I could live with the side by side hook-ups when the park was at capacity & no other sites were available. This was far from the case. With a daughter that recently took a teaching job in the area, our intent is to visit a couple of times a year with stays of about two weeks at a time. We are in the area this trip for 17 days. Had I been assigned a site of the nature I was assured we would get, I would have extended for the remainder. Instead, I simply moved down the road. I will simply not do business with a facility that operates I such a manipulative manner.

This close to the beach on the California central coast, it was cool and damp - which is exactly what we were looking for to escape the Las Vegas heat. Yes, the sites can be a little close together, but really only on the service sides of your rig. The front yards are plenty spacious enough to give everyone plenty of elbow room.

The grounds are well maintained; trees are trimmed way up and back; the pool was gorgeous and warm enough even in this weather. It's not the most luxurious park, but it's a nice place to get away for a few days. Admittedly, it was a little tight maneuvering my 42' rig through the small-ish streets - I literally had to go all the way around the park in order to be able to make the turns - but very doable, even for the 45' Monaco parked a few spots down from mine.

We didn't have any issues with noise or other complaints, so I can't speak to how management might have handled them, but every interaction I had with park personnel was friendly and helpful.

The park's WiFi was very good - often 4 bars - but it occasionally disconnected and reset. But it was consistent enough to accomplish everything we wanted to do online.

This park boasts that it has been recognized as the, ". . . best medium sized park in California . . ." numerous times. It might well have been 30 years ago when I first visited. Since this is coastal Cal, the sites are very close together. It is predominantly the dreaded side-by-side hookup. This is where the bigger rigs are going fit. When reserving our site, I clearly explained exactly what I wanted, letting it be known that we would postpone our visit if what I wanted wasn't available. Upon arrival, the site they had identified for us was neither long enough nor wide enough. (This also happened to a couple that arrived in the site next to us.) They did find us another site. Multiple times my wife & I expressed our appreciation, but we should never have been assigned that first site to start with. While there, I read a review criticizing the lack of enforcement of noise violations. I also read management's response. Basically it was that the violation occurred after office hours & that if you complain we'll do something about it. Neither of those attitudes sit well with me. On the plus side, the park is attractive. The office & grounds people are just great. I found it very reasonably priced given its location. Only on 2 of our 10 evenings was it 'lively' enough that I couldn't sit outside & read wearing noise canceling headphones. For what I'm looking for - safe and quiet - it is the best choice in the immediate Pismo area.