Hello, I am following up your question in regards to publicly
accessible California beaches. As a native Californian, I have camped
at many California beaches and regulations require you to camp at
designated campsites only, even if tent camping.
Here are further rules regarding camping gleaned from this site:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21300
The closest possiblity of allowed camping actually on the beach sand
is to make use of an "environmental" campsite which are only found on
certain state park areas. You can see which ones on this chart:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/730/files/chart.pdf
Here is a closer detail of an area with "evironmental camping", note
that the description still designates an area for camping, it does not
indicate that you can camp anywhere you like.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=451
This being said, many of the campsites at beach location California
State Parks I have been to are quite close to the ocean and you can
hear the waves as you go to sleep at night.
I have also snuck off with just a sleeping bag to sleep on the sand at
some of the smaller beaches, Gaviota, for instance. However; the
weather was not the best (it was quite windy at the shore) and we
retreated back to the official campsite. Tidal considerations should
also be born in mind if you plan on spending time at the shoreline,
you wouldn't want to wake up with a wet bag.
For a map showing California State beaches, or to reserve a campsite, visit:
http://www.reserveamerica.com/client/client_ca.jsp
For more information about California State Parks in general, their
official website is: http://www.parks.ca.gov
Happy camping!
Nancy |
