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3.8
508 votes

Doheny State Beach

25300 Dana Point Harbor Dr., Dana Point, California 92629 USA

Open Now
Thu 6a-10p
  • Independent
  • Credit Cards
    Accepted
  • Pet Friendly
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
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“on Dana Point Harbor”

Created on land donated by oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny in 1931, Doheny State Beach is California's first state beach. Located in Dana Point California this very popular beach draws visitors seeking a great surf and surf fishing spot and volley ball courts. A 5 acre lawn provides plenty of space for picnics! The visitors center provides information on the marine environment and aquarium displays. Camping is available at the southern end of the beach.

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Reviews of Doheny State Beach

19 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

4.4 Access
4.5 Location
3.8 Cleanliness
3.6 Site Quality
2.9 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G

Confirmed by 11 users | Last reported on October 22, 2020

AT&T 4G

Confirmed by 1 users | Last reported on February 12, 2020
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Reviewed by
EmilyFatale

  • 5 Reviews
  • 2 Helpful
June 13, 2014
Rated

this beach offers a great camping experience but is not very clean its large and does get busy during the summer months. But is close to the town right across the street with burger places

1 person found this review helpful
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Reviewed by
Campendium

January 15, 2016
Rated

$60 for beach front sites, however due to the giant sand berm (unless you are in a Class A and able to see over it) We would recommend saving your money and going with the $35 site 1 row back. We walked our beach chairs across the street and were easily able to enjoy the beach. Note there are no hookups here, you are boondocking in a campsite. There is a dump station and portable water on site. We enjoyed a campfire on the beach. We also took a pleasant walk through town and the waterfront shops. The area is very walkable and bike friendly. We walked through a great dog park on the side of a cliff, with great views of the water. Dogs are not permitted on the beach and must be kept on a leash. I should also mention that the campground backs up to a busy road and a train, that along with the generators made it a little loud.

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Nightly Rate: $35.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 80

4 Access
5 Location
3 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
2 Noise
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Reviewed by
Campendium

October 17, 2016
Rated

Easy to find and park. Beach was not as pretty as some, but was good overall. Agree that paying extra for beach front might be a little steep, however, it would lessen the number of campsite surrounding you, so that's a plus. These sites are small and it feels a little crowded and rowdy.

No hookups.

Pros:
• So close to the water which was great with little kids

Cons:
• A little close to neighbors who may or may not be loud, drunk, or very annoying
• Train runs (loudly) right by the park multiple times a day, starting early until about 9pm
• Beach not as clean as some, but nice

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: -

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: -

4 Access
4 Location
3 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
- Noise
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Reviewed by
Campendium

January 31, 2017
Rated

The location of this campground is hard to beat. It's right on the beach and walking distance to Dana Point and its harbor. If I was just coming for a weekend, or with a group of friends I would stump up the extra cash for the sites that are directly on the beach. We were staying longer so decided to save a little by staying in one of the beachfront sites. We could still access the beach for a sunset drink.

The only reason I wouldn't give the campground 5 stars are how small the sites are and how close they are together. By the time we parked our truck we hardly had any room to sit outside. We also found it difficult to get into our site it was so tight.

All sites here are dry but for a buck you can get a 4 minute warm shower and there is a dump station on site.

There is a train track that is quite noisy that passes right by the campground, but that is easy to overlook when you consider the great location.

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Nightly Rate: $40.00

Days Stayed: 8

Site Number: 109

4 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
2 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

May 17, 2017
Rated

We really enjoyed our stay here because of it's proximity to the beach. We were steps away, but they even have some spots that back right up to the beach. Many of California's state beaches require reservations about 7 months in advance in order to get a spot on the weekends. Since we are fine staying during weekdays, we were able to get a reservation here with only a few weeks notice.

Doheny, unlike many other California state beaches, has no hookups at all. The park is also pretty strict with its generator rules (you can only use them between 10:00 am - 8:00 pm) and the facilities were below average. So this was a bit of a bummer for us.The spots were pretty tight as well, but all the campers were so friendly, we didn't mind being close to them!

We loved the convenient location. We took day trips to both San Diego and Laguna Beach and also loved the Dana Point area. During the summer months, especially, this would be a great spot because of the beach activities and water sports you could enjoy just steps from your campsite.

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Nightly Rate: $40.00

Days Stayed: 5

Site Number: -

4 Access
5 Location
2 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

December 25, 2017
Rated

Mixed thoughts here. No power means GENERATORS 😩 loud obnoxious and used by some clueless people. It’s pot luck. Got off lightly as not next to us but could be a true nightmare. The beach front sites are AMAZING!! We’re at the back and sure can hear the trains and PCH but not that bad. Everything very clean and tidy. Expect to meet all types here, RV’s to a few tents and did I️ mention GENERATORS ?😩😩

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Nightly Rate: $3.00

Days Stayed: -

Site Number: 114

4 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
2 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

January 05, 2018
Rated

If you are on a roadtrip between San Diego and Los Angeles this might be a good Campspot to spend a night. We arrived there in the afternoon and went to see Laguna Beach (20min North) which was nice. The spot itself is comfortable with a firepit and picknick table. The table though was very dirty. Walk to the beach is just a few feet. Toilets are not good equipped and maintained (no soap, no bin) and you have to pay for the showers. In summary you pay to have a secure spot at the beach in a rural area close to LA. For a night it is OK but I wouldn’t spent many days there for holiday

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Nightly Rate: $40.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: 113

5 Access
5 Location
2 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
1 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Reviewed by
SimplyMarsee

  • 20 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
January 09, 2018
Rated

We have really enjoyed our stay at Doheny.
We stayed in campsites 4, 60, 52
Getting a reservation was challenging but not impossible. I find that people make reservations 6 months out and then end up canceling a few days before their arrival date or a no-show. After our arrival we learned that there is a daily 'lottery' for camp sites that open up. The lottery for open campsites happens at 12 noon at the entrance.
$40 for non-beach sites
$60 for beach sites
No hookups. Free dump station.
Campsites furthest from the beach are less desirable. A good bit of road noise, sirens, train, and occasional loud drunk person on the other side of the fence.
Beach sites are really awesome. Hear the ocean all night and enjoy each morning right on the beach. Downside to beach sites... when it rains they all flood! Experienced this today. Lucky for us we had already moved to site 52 a row over from the beach.
Showers are on a token system. $1 gets you 4 minutes of hot water. The showers and bathrooms are cleaned daily. Flushing toilets. No hand soap?! What's up with that?
Firewood is $7 from the campsite host. Logs had a good weight and came with a couple pieces of kindling wrapped in newspaper. Nice touch ;)
Fire pits are clean and have removable grates.
Picnic tables were cleaner than other campgrounds I have visited recently.
Privacy is acceptable. There are tall shrubs separating your campsite from your neighbors.
Activities: The beach is steps away making it great for young families. The surf is great for beginners. Awesome surfing spot and recreational area just up the beach. SUP is good as well.
Convenience: Ralphs and Trader Joes for groceries right up the road. Good cell service as well.
Coffee! Coffee Importers along the marina has great outdoor seating, bagels, and good coffee in a relaxed setting. Walk or drive a little further up and check out the Tall Ships at the Ocean Institute and 'baby beach'.

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SimplyMarsee would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $40.00

Days Stayed: 7

Site Number: 60

5 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

January 24, 2018
Rated

I was lucky enough to book a beach front site for the weekend. I've done about 20 days of next to water camping (lake, river, ocean) in the last year alone and this has been our favorite. Previous water sites: Seacliff SB, Yosemite NP right on Merced River, lakeside sites at Millerton SRA, Carpinteria SB.

January weather was amazingly warm with 60 degrees and sunny all weekend, so had enough solar input that I didn't need to run the generator.

For our site, we are right on the beach. There's is a little sand bluff so you couldn't see the ocean from the pavement. Large bench is nice. 6-7 ft shrubs gave some privacy. Plenty of kids so our boys had fun with the neighbors all weekend.

We did not use the bathroom facilities since we're dry camping pros and live without a shower for 2 days. There's only one dump station and we had to wait a good 15 min cause the guy in front of us decided he wanted to rinse his black tank.

Pros are the strict enforcement of campground rules including generator use (10-8pm), parking, space (about 8000 sf including the beach area), close to OC including 35 minutes from Disneyland (where we spent the Friday before check-in).

Main Cons are that it's quite a walk to the north beach area for restaurants, some sites are pretty small and mainly for car and tent campers.

Overall, it's 5 stars if you get a beach site, otherwise it's probably 3.5-4 stars.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $60.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 41

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

June 17, 2018
Rated

So much fun. Any beach is good for me.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: -

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: -

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

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Doheny State Beach

25300 Dana Point Harbor Dr.
Dana Point, California
92629 USA
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Hours

Open now until 10:00 pm
  • Sun - Sat: 6:00 am - 10:00 pm

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  • Unavailable
    Parking
  • Check
    Pets Allowed
  • Check
    Restrooms
  • Unavailable
    Wifi
  • Unavailable
    Wheelchair Accessible
  • Check
    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
State park or forest
Back In RV Sites Count
20
Last Nightly Rate
35.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
32.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
3.0
Max Length
35 ft
Max Stay
15
Sites Count
122
  • Check
    Paved Sites
  • Unavailable
    Full Hookup
  • Check
    Rec Facilities
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through
  • Check
    Tent Sites
  • Check
    Dump Station
  • Unavailable
    Big Rigs
  • Unavailable
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
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    Back In RV Sites
  • Check
    Boondock
  • Unavailable
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Unavailable
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Unavailable
    Group Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Check
    Potable Water
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Check
    Public Water
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through RV Sites
  • Check
    Reservations
  • Unavailable
    Sewer Hookup
  • Check
    Showers
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    Sites
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    Standard Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Vehicle Wash Permitted
  • Unavailable
    Water Hookup
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