Campers express disappointment as popular beachside Avila Beach campsites to soon close

AVILA BEACH, Calif. - Campers are expressing disappointment they will soon lose the ability to spend the night at beachside campsites located along Avila Beach Drive near the Port San Luis entrance.

According to the Port San Luis Harbor District, which operates the 19 campsites, the final day for overnight use is Nov. 16, 2024.

"It's really a disappointment," said Vincent Lombardi, a camper from Monterey County. "It's a great place to stay. It's affordable. It's fun and there's so much camaraderie just in in campers in general when we're out here."

The Monterey firefighter said he has been coming to the Avila Beach area for years to camp and just learned this week the popular sites will soon close.

"I was honestly shocked because we were here a month ago," said Lombardi. "I heard nothing about it, so to find out coming this time was a real big shock. It's a huge loss for us. It's going to restrict how much we would come down here."

Set to close are 19 campsites along the road in two different spots, called Nobi Point and Woodyard camping areas, both located on the cliff just above the beach below.

"We like to come to this one to camp one because it's so cool," said camper Don Truhitte, who lives near Morro Bay. "It's right by the ocean and very good for our kids and our grandkids. If you look around, there's not many more places that on the coast where you can do this. It's just a beautiful place to hang out for a week or a few days or whatever it is."

While some campers have surprised to find out the spots will be restricted for overnight camping, the closure has actually been in the works for many years.

According to California Coastal Commission public information officer Joshua Smith, the move is part of a longstanding Port San Luis Harbor District Master Plan to relocate the roadside campsites to the Flying Flags Avila Beach campsite located on the hillside across the street.

Flying Flags opened in late 2021 and includes several dozen campsites perched high above the harbor.

According to Smith, with Flying Flags now open, the Harbor District is moving forward to transition the old roadside campsites into new recreational purposes, including day-use parking, overlooks, picnic benches and beach access trails for the public.

"Flying Flags is a spectacular location for RV camping with sweeping ocean views and easy access to the beach," Smith said in a statement provided to News Channel 3-12. "The former RV parking spaces along Avila Beach Drive can now transition into free public access uses for everyone."

Campers at the Woodyard sites on Tuesday said Flying Flags is cost prohibitive to some people, pointing out the fees are typically much higher than the $78 per night it costs for dry-camping on the road.

"They're (Flying Flags) more in line with the cost of a hotel," said Lombardi. "A lot of people can't afford to do that, so not only is it a beautiful space to enjoy, but we're losing some of the ability to do that. Some of us just don't, you don't necessarily have the funds."

Smith added ending roadside camping, "has long been the Harbor District’s plan, approved by the county and the Coastal Commission roughly two decades ago."

While the oceanfront camping will soon come to an end, a handful of campsites located essentially in the Port San Luis parking lot will remain and not be impacted by the closure.

The Coastal Gateway Camping Area provides full-hookups, but has just eight locations and is not located above the beach.

"All of the campers that come here on a regular basis will have to fight over eight spots or go places," said Lombardi. "They maybe will not be able to come at all because of the cost of some of the other locations."

Lombardi noted that he and other campers help stimulate the local economy in the Avila Beach and Port San Luis areas, spending money at restaurants, shops, markets and other businesses, so the loss of the campsites could have negative repercussions.

"If you have less people every day of the week that are not able to come out here, whether they can't afford it or they're going to camp somewhere else, it's further away from here," said Lombardi. "That definitely will have an impact on the local economy for these shops and these specialty shops right here."

With just one month to go until the campsites close and transition into other uses, longtime campers are heartbroken a longtime tradition they have enjoyed will soon fade away.

"It's very sad," said Truhitte. "It's just a great place and we would all be very, very sorry to see it go."