Santa Barbara Point | Wild Camping

United States

WARNING: THIS PLACE IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED!

Details

Verified:
over 1 year ago
Altitude:
17.0 masl
Website:
None
Contributor:
zed

Amenities

Electricity:
No
Wifi:
No
Kitchen:
No
Restaurant:
No
Showers:
No
Water:
No
Toilets:
No
Big Rig Friendly:
No
Tent Friendly:
No
Pet Friendly:
No

Something not right?

Description

ADMIN NOTE: Place removed because City Ordinance Prohibits camping within city limits. Signs posted and enforced

resolution was adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on June 7, 2022,

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Latest Check-Ins

Have stayed here in the past, but confirming that there are new “No Stopping 12am-4am” signs with tow away. So looks like this is no longer an option.

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As others described, you can find parking at the gps location and you’ll see some vans parked there already. Right next to a park in a bougie neighborhood overlooking the ocean. If parking in the lot, leave by sundown. Saw a person locking up the bathrooms around 8:40pm. LOTS of people walking their dogs and jogging, as early as 6am, and there’s always cars going by ya. Gets fairly quiet after 10pm though.

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Follow up to my last post.. including pictures of the signs posted all along the street.

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Beautiful spot, but signage coming indicating no parking 12-4am coming soon…

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Stayed here 5/31-6/3 with no problems! It’s a lovely spot in a safe cute beach town. View of the ocean and many other van lifers around. Unfortunately there are new notice signs saying they’re are going to enforce “No Parking Overnight from 12am-4am” the notice is pending so you can still park here until it is passed!

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Lovely! Stayed 2 nights, visiting from Santa Cruz. Felt very safe, slept well. Sun streaming in my windows in the morning was gorgeous. Nice walk to downtown & harbor. Vegan lemon olive-oil cake from 'Satelite' downtown SB :) Recommend Saturday Farmer's market State & Cota. Leave the place better than you found it and enjoy Happy Trails!

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Stayed here 2 nights. Beautiful spot and easy walk to the cafe, beach, and showers. Definitely would stay again

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About a city block’s worth of legal street parking on the beach side of the street next to Shoreline Park, between the parking lot and the stop sign. Flat, quiet, and a great sunrise walk. The only down side was the walk back to the van from downtown after dinner—sidewalks run along some of the route but not all, so for about ten minutes I had to walk through the dark parking lots for the marina. I felt safe (the whole city feels safe) but was aware of the lack of other pedestrians.

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Got here at 2:30 pm on a Thursday and had to circle a few times for an opening. By 5pm all the spots were taken by vans. The guy in front of me said that was his 2nd night there and no cops no knocks. The street was a little noisy all evening but after 10 or so it went silent and I slept well. The park there was nice and I walked the beach a few times and played fetch with the dog and watched the surfers. It’s a great spot but I doubt it will be here forever. Be aware that there is a city ordinance that states “no oversized vehicles” on any city streets so finding any parking anywhere was a f-ing nightmare just to run errands. SB is not rv or van friendly at all and the parking lots are tight too. @beinghumanrv

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i have been here just about 24 hours and all though the view is great from the cliff and van, i am very tired of the street noise. it finally gets quiet around 10:30-11 PM, then there are constant cars driving by all day.

Not a favorite

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Got here just after sunset and was able to get the last spot on the ocean side of the street, looks great to me.

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As advertised. Safe, quiet, no knocks, spoke to a few van lifers staying at this spot. They all said the same thing that the OP said. Slept a few nights here. Felt safe. (Edit: spent a month here | there is legislation on the books to close this spot)

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Great and quiet so far. Maybe just 1 spot left. Seems super relaxed.

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Nice spot! No prohibit signs. Fantastic view and sunrise in the am. I’m really surprised this is available (million dollar homes across the street- we’re blocking their view) so please do your part in being respectful- show up later, leave early, be quiet. The parking lot right there is free from sunrise to sunset so just move over there as soon as you wake up (but don’t park in the lot overnight). Don’t wear out the Welcome mat… that said, enjoy!

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Stayed here for one night. The grassy park is nice and you’re walking distance to bathrooms and to a beach next door. Lots of surfers and other vans. We slept here along with 5 or so others. Many of the other campers didn’t seem to meet the size requirements stated in other comments, but they were still there in the morning. We even saw a cop car earlier in the night that didn’t stop or bother any of the campers. Lots of car noise before 11pm but it was very quiet the rest of night. Some loud teenagers waxing their surfboards in the park around 6:45am but they didn’t stay long. Overall a nice place to stay for a night.
With all that being said, still park at your own risk. It seems like no one’s logged any problems within the last year, but we definitely were careful not to draw too much attention; example, not having lights on in the van after dark.

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Easy overnight stay, pretty quite at night during the winter.

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Stayed one night. Park on the beach side like others have said. There were 6 other vans when I woke up and no one bothered us all night/day.

This is the best free parking spot in Santa Barbara with its gorgeous views, waking paths, and numerous trash cans. Indifferent locals/foot traffic (just the way I like it) despite the doors being open for like 10 minutes in the morning. I’ll come back next time for sure!

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Stayed here for one night. Parking by the street next to waterfront and small park with a few benches.
Nice place to wake up seeing the sunrise.
Public toilets walkable from this spot open at 7 am.

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Us and 3-6 other vans over the course of two nights! Felt super safe and slept like a baby, woke up to an ocean view. Great grassy park if you have a dog and check out the 1000 steps beach, leadbetter beach, and state st and funk zone restaurants and shops just down then road. You’re close to everything at this spot!

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Very nice spot we stayed for one night
No one bothered us
Some car noise because it is right on the street but ok for one night

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Very nice spot in front of the ocean. Fire other RVs were there with us. Best spot in Santa Barbara

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Perfect spot to overlook the surf, just be respectful and quiet and this spot is great. About 8 sprinters were here all at once. Quiet, bathrooms, nice grassy overlook a block away from the beach.

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Great spot we stayed two nights in the parking lot along the road. The day we left, the police put a piece of paper on the vehicle that our truck camper was too big to park here. No fine

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This was a great spot. You can hang on the beach up the road before you park or park and walk to the beach. I felt safe there as there were several other obvious overnighters. Just happened to get the last spot. I would stay again for sure. I would say to just be as discreet as possible... you are right across from some very wealthy residences.

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Stayed one night. Great spot. No issue at all.

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I stayed at this spot 2 nights mid July and had no issues. I am in a small suv with out of state plates, so during the day I parked in the parking lot near here (free sunrise-sunset, no overnight) to avoid drawing attention and would move back to the street spot when other day parkers cleared out. Bathrooms nearby close by sunset, and I believe open around sunrise.

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I spent one night here and it was perfect. No one came and bothered me and I got to wake up to ocean views the next morning. Both bathrooms and the beach are only steps away!

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22 ft van. Slept here for one night - there were two other vans. For street parking, pretty quiet at night and morning. Beautiful park nearby with views of ocean and public bathroom.

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Cop knocked on my window around 8pm and told me to get out by 10, even though I was in a low top Chevy express. Kind of a bummer because it seemed like an awesome spot :/

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Got here late on a rainy night and spent two nights. Was not expecting what we got when we woke up in the middle of such a beautiful park! Always people around, most that talked to us were curious rather than upset that we were ‘travelling’ wear your masks and be discreet. Great surfing at the point too!

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it's beautiful and has good facilities nearby. good kick off point for runs or bikes.

I DID get a ticket for staying overnight though (on the street, not even in the parking lot). I even contested and lost. it's only $12 though, so absolutely worth the risk!

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YEAHHH dude! been here 2 days and its pretty cool! The moon looks amazing out here and waking up to people walking there dogs and minding there own business is sweet. No issues so far :)

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This spot is incredible. I’ve been here for 3 days and haven’t had any problems. A beautiful look out, fresh air, plenty of room in the park to lay down, a bathroom nearby. Honestly one of the best spots I’ve street camped. Wouldn’t recommend for anything large though!

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I’ve been at this spot for almost a month and it’s such a killer spot, if your van is too high (82”) then you can’t park here. But after talking with the cop who was sweeping the road for sprinters confirmed that a fan and other “projecting devices” don’t count towards the height. So my economics is perfect for here.

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Street parking by the park/beach. Do NOT park in the parking lot (will get towed) but you CAN park on the street right at where I’ve pinned a spot. Been here 3 days. Has a bathroom nearby. Short walk to Leadbetter beach (which also has showers).

I suggest you park on the beach side, not the side that has houses. Both are legal parking spots, but it’s illegal to sleep in your van in Santa Barbara County. If you’re in front of a house they’ll prob call the cops. Other side of the street tho and your golden.

Park is busy every day that you’re next to, but no one seemed to mind when I got out of the van, lots of people live in their van in this city so as long as you’re not a nuisance you’re good.

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