Santa Cruz North-Costanoa KOA

We stayed in our Airstream here for 5 days in July. If you want to unplug and you don't mind spending the extra money then this is it! It's hard to beat the enjoyment of the beach and the California weather. Stay in spot 32 on Eucalyptus for the best view of the Pacific from your trailer (be aware that this row is back-in). Prepare to spend time getting level as most of the sites, including ours are rather uneven. This is a busy resort and it was full of campers for the holiday weekend. The wifi was terrible, and a cell phone signal was non-existent, but we could march up to the resort for better access to both- just don't expect to work from camp. The food at the restaurant is tasty but expensive, and the store at the resort has a good selection of organic snacks and upscale touristy items. No pool but you can walk to the beach in 15 min.
The negatives for me, if you can call them that, were that I would have loved to sleep with all of the RV windows open to enjoy the sounds and smells of the ocean breeze but almost everyone had a campfire going late so I had to keep them shut or the trailer was full of smoke, which was a shame in such beautiful weather.
Also, for a fancy resort, with these lovely comfort stations, each only had 2 showers! One in the ladies and one in the men's, and they were not very private. There are doors with locks on the toilets but only a flimsy curtain for the shower and the bathroom doors were always propped open so it wasn't very private. The fireplace and dry sauna were nice touches and the bathroom facilities were very clean.
We had mechanical difficulties and the staff was very accommodating and helpful regarding extending our stay, letting us bring in a mechanic to swap out our brake controller, and letting us have parts shipped via Amazon to the campground.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience and we would stay again.

This KOA RV site is located within the larger Costanoa resort, so you get to enjoy some of their amenities while staying there. They have lawns for kids to play on, some BBQ sites, a gourmet organic restaurant, a great spa, and some hiking trails. They also have "comfort stations" with bathrooms and a free sauna. Costanoa is located a short drive from Pescadero, a small town with cute shops and grocery stores. There are also a bunch of farms in the area with tours and farmstands where they sell fresh local produce. The only drawback was the bad cell and data reception, but Costanoa provides free wifi. But if you're in the Bay Area this is one of the more interesting and easier places to bring an RV.

Full details here: http://bit.ly/costanoaERV

This place is beautifully located along Highway 1, so that is completely amazing and certainly explains the price. We were here during school vacation week and every single site was full and then-some. Packed to the max.

The reason for the lower rating was the state of the bathrooms. They were not clean at all. No need to go into the details but even though it was Easter weekend, with that many people in the campground (read children) the staff ought to know what to expect and step up the attention to the facilities.

This is by far the most amazing KOA and RV park we have ever stayed. The staff is extremely kind and helpful. The KOA shares the space with the Costanoa Lodge. There is a really cute general store with a lot of local organic products. In the summer months there are kids camps on the weekends and horses in the stables. You can sign up to go on horseback rides, guided mountain bike rides and hikes.

The bathrooms are beautiful and very well kept. Next to the women's shower there is a lovely sauna. I was surprised and enjoyed sitting in there for a bit on a cold windy day. The laundry rooms seem to be an after thought and weren't the cleanest but I was able to do laundry and that is what matters. Our kids loved the playground and all the grass that surrounded our campsite.

We were in site number E24 but had zero AT&T signal or wifi so we asked to move. We ended up in E6 and had full bars of their wifi which I have to say is the best RV park wifi we have ever had. The reception and 4G is spotty throughout the campground but we have been able to make calls and with the wifi it worked out good. The lodge has a complimentary phone to use in case your phone doesn't work. We were glad we moved spots. Even though it was only a few spots different we went from nothing to full wifi and sometimes 1-2 bars.

The raging sea is visible from the campground with a lovely walking trail right down to the beach. You have to cross the highway but there is a crosswalk. When we walked down the beach was covered in jellyfish so beware. About 10 miles south there is a really amazing berry farm called Swanton Berry Farm. Everything is organic. You can pick the berries yourself or buy ones they have already picked. We went a few times because we just couldn't get enough.

We came here from the Oakland area and were completely shocked when we had to pay $20.00 cash to cross the San Mateo-Hayward bridge. We felt lucky we happened to have $20.00 cash because if we hadn't we learned they get your license plate number and bill you but also tack on a $25.00 fee. So if you plan on crossing the bridges in the East Bay Area make sure to have cash!

At $59.00 a night on weeknights and $75.00 on weekends it seems expensive. But everything is on the California coast. During the week we were one of the only ones here. It was completely full on the weekends.

This resort is really lovely. It is on the expensive end for campsites but with such an amazing location it is well worth it.
The facility
This facility is just beautiful. There is lots of grass, trees and lovely views of the ocean. There is a nice general store and a restaurant. My kids enjoyed the life size chess, playground, cornhole and ladder golf (no additional cost)
We stayed in the eucalyptus loop- this loop is furthest from main area and close to the horse stalls. I wasnt bothered by this but the woman at check in mentioned some people dont like the smell. This also seems to be the loop with a few full timers. The site had full hookups and are a bit narrow but behind the site are some nice platforms and space for a fire pit. If you dont bring your own fire bit youll need to pay extra to get one. Our loop was about 3/4 full and it was totally quiet by 10pm
Wifi- there is no cellular reception but there is some wifi
things to do- at the end of the eucalyptus loop there is a trail that crosses the highway and leads to ocean. We left in the morning and ended up taking about a 3 hour hike along the coast which was just beautiful.
If you head north from the park you can check out pigeon point light house and the little towns of pescadero and half moon bay. There is a lovely beach called bean hollow. It is a bit less windy than many of the other coastal beaches.

We stayed here in May for a couple nights and had a great time. It is probably the nicest KOA we've stayed in so far! The entrance driving into the park is really beautiful with lots of trees. The staff is nice, but they are a stickler for rules. This is a no-tents campground so when we put up a play tent for the kids someone immediately came over and asked us to take it down. The site was clean, well kept, and there is a really nice (and yummy) restaurant on site that we ate at a couple nights. Even the store is fully stocked with great local foods and gifts! There are also games to borrow and activities for kids (6+) to do.

This site is close to beaches, Pigeon Point Light House, farms (u-picks), Pescadero, and Highway 1 Brewery.

**There were tons of ticks when we were here, just fyi. Our dogs got infested while we walked along one trail**

Bathrooms: didn't use them
Hookups: full hookups
Dog Park: no
Kid Friendly: yes (playgrounds, games, activities)
Laundry: didn't use

What a great place. We had an amazing site with an unobstructed view of the ocean. Super close to great beaches, Santa Cruz or Halfmoon Bay. We had such an awesome time that we will definitely come back this summer. I highly recommend this place to anyone.

I knew we were in trouble when we got a phone call asking for a lot of details about our bus and what it looked like. The call ended in- I think you should be fine and we ended up being okay.

This place has saunas and a spa and group fire places and goats and ocean views and is walking distance to a brewery. It is definitely significantly more vacationers than full timers like us- so everyone was in full on party mode for the weekend, but the place cleared out on Sunday.

There aren’t really any cheaper options in the area so we enjoyed the splurge.

Verizon works fine, AT&T with booster goes in and out as does the park WiFi

To be clear, this was our our maiden voyage in our first travel trailer, and our first ever stay at any RV Park. So we really don’t have anything to compare it to. However, it is in a beautiful location overlooking the ocean, and the grounds were beautifully maintained. Our site, W18, had an unobstructed view of the ocean. The only problem I had was there seemed to be a broken water line under my site and the site next to us (W16). This created a little “creek” running right under our trailer.

There is plenty to do at the campground itself. There’s a playground for little kids, hiking trails, a footpath straight to the beach. There’s a rec center where you can rent bikes and games. During the summer months they keep goats and horses in the stables, and horseback rides are available.

The general store is full of essentials if you forget something, as well as beer and wine and some meats and cheese combos if you want to have a picnic. Firewood and propane are available for sale, though the wood was a bit expensive. We didn’t eat at the restaurant, but the menu looked very nice.

Plenty of great beaches in the area to visit. We went to Ano Nuevo State Beach, about 2.5 miles south. We spent a half day there, letting the kids play at the beach, then taking the tour of the adjacent preserve to see the elephant seals. Just a heads up, the tour is 2.5 hours and a 3 mile round trip.

Too many other activities and sights to mention here, but you won’t be bored. All in all, North Santa Cruz/Costanoa KOA was a great campground. And our first outing in the new trailer was a huge success. Would definitely stay there again.

Various levels of sites available -- we took something in the middle. The loop closest to the stables, perhaps unsurprisingly, smelled like stables and we asked to move to another loop. The staff was super accommodating. Sites are very close to one another, but immaculately maintained. The amenities are pretty impressive. Not one but two restaurants, both with a bar, and several games and playgrounds for the kids. Not particularly good coastal access despite its proximity to the same. You can pitch a tent at some -- but not all -- of the RV sites.