Monterey Bay Campgrounds
Monterey Beach Camping
The Monterey Bay of California is located south of the San Francisco peninsula, and north of the rugged Big Sur Central Coast. This is a popular region for tourism, coastal villages w/ shops and restaurants, parks and beaches, farms and farm stands. With Santa Cruz mountains and redwoods as the backdrop, this coastline is also highly residential.
Camping along this coast is limited mostly to State Parks and few private RV park campgrounds. No primitive beach camping is allowed on State Beaches, no hike-in camp sites, no hidden cove tent sites, nor secret dirt roads with views over the Pacific. This is a very developed beach and bay, with the 4-lane freeway, main artery US Highway 101, bordering the entire shore.
If you are looking for free and a more rugged, scenic camp – head south to the Big Sur Coast, to find a dirt road camp on the ridge. The sweetest ocean view hike-in camp sites can be found to the north, in the Marin Headlands of Point Reyes, which can be found under Marin Camping.
blue links lead to State Park pages w/ camp reservations.
Monterey Area Campgrounds
(listed from south to north)
Monterey Pines RV Campground (Navy)
Monterey County Fairgrounds RV Park
Sunset State Beach 
South Campground
Manresa State Beach
Uplands Campground
Seacliff State Beach Campground
Santa Vida RV Park, Santa Cruz, California
Costanoa Coastal Lodge & Campground, Pescadero
Pelican Point RV Park, Half Moon Bay
Half Moon State Beach
Francis Beach Campground
seaside towns along coast at
Monterey Bay up to San Francisco –
(listed from south to north)
