SAN ELIJO STATE BEACH
San Elijo—must be a magician to get a spot
In August we spent one night at one of the premium campsites (meaning it is closest to the water/unobstructed view) at San Elijo State Beach in Encinitas, Ca (near Cardiff-by-the Sea). Our dear friends Neal & Nikki live in Carlsbad and Neal surfs regularly just below this campground. 6 months prior to August, Neal jumped on reservecalifornia.com and was able to snag only one night mid-week. If you are wanting any of the sites in the summer and early fall, this is a campground you must book 6 months out the moment dates release at 8am PST— and even then your chances to secure a spot are not strong. The website system is not great and no matter how techie and/or determined you are (like setting daily alarms and having a clock set to the seconds on your computer to hit “book now” right at 8am), it is nearly impossible to book anything between April and October 31—there are just too many people vying for the spots.
During our so-enjoyable one night stay in August, I was able to book two nights mid-week for the first week of November. Even with mid-week in November there were not any premium sites available, but we were able to get the middle row (one row back from the water) and in the northern section of the campground. Looking to book dates for after October 31 we are discovering it gets a little easier to secure a spot. If you are trying for April - October, you need to be a magician to get something. The campsite is so lovely and so frustrating in how hard it is to book—this is for sure my white whale of campgrounds!
SOUTHERN, MIDDLE & NORTHERN CAMPING SECTIONS
At San Elijo there are three sections (southern, middle and northern) and in those sections there are three campsite rows (a row closest to the water/unobstructed ocean view, the middle row, and the row closest to the street/HWY 1). Having explored San Elijo thoroughly, we prefer the northern section. It is quieter & you are up higher providing great views for watching the surf and surfers.
The southern section provides easy and very close (walkable) access to the sand beach portion of the state beach and Cardiff Beach (walking from the northern section down to the sandy beach is also just as feasible—just takes a few minutes longer).
The middle section is closest to the clean water fill-up and dump station. I would not want to stay in any of the middle section sites (particularly sites 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 104, 106 & 108)—it feels like camping in the parking lot of a gas station. Several of the middle section sites do offer hookups if that is something you need/want.
In the northern section, we think sites 163, 162, 160 are the premium of the premium based on their location and size. Another great aspect of the northern section is how large each of the campsites are. The northern section doesn’t have a sand beachfront as the ocean butts up against the cliffs. However, when the tide is out, it is fun to play on the rocks and our girls loved exploring the little tide pools created when the tide is out.
The following photos below give a sense of the view from closest to the water (premium campsite) and the view from the middle row of the campground.
View—Northern Section Premium Site 165 at San Elijo State Beach (August, 2023)
View— Northern Section Site 157 (Middle Row) at San Elijo State Beach (November, 2023)
CAMPING—SITE 157, NORTHERN SECTION
We still thoroughly enjoyed camping in the middle row/non-premium site at San Elijo this time around. The ocean/ocean views are close enough even if we can’t open our van’s back doors and see the ocean unobstructed from our bed. San Elijo is right off HWY 1, but we never noticed car/traffic noise. The Surfliner and San Diego Coaster trains run parallel to HWY 1 and we heard those more than any cars, but never to a degree that was bothersome.
EXPLORING AROUND LIFE GUARD TOWER 18
As soon as we were up the first morning, we took the stairs down to the beach. The tide was out far enough so we could climb on the rocks closest to the cliff and watch the surfers.
GO-TO BREAKFAST
While camping we have some go-to meals, and breakfast egg sandwiches are one of them. The Costco croissants (1 dozen for $5.99) can’t be beat price-wise. Our family could never eat that many croissants before they go stale, so I bring 3 when camping (the girls can each only eat half) and freeze the rest for later trips. They thaw nicely and when warmed up in a pan on our camp stove you can’t tell they have been stored frozen. Add eggs, cheese, bacon & avocado and we are set.
BEACH PLAY—LIFE GUARD TOWER 16
After the breakfast dishes were cleaned up, Kyle headed to a nearby coffee shop to get some work done. Kyle can work out of the van, but when we are camping, we like to keep it available for the girls, and Kyle is much more productive if he is physically away from our campsite.
So while Kyle was working, the girls and I headed to the beach. It is pretty great to be able to run and play in the ocean in bathing suits at the beginning of November. From our campsite we walked down to the southern portion of San Elijo (through the middle and southern camping sections) and found a great beach spot in front of Life Guard Tower 16.
AFTERNOON EXPLORING—LIFE GUARD TOWER 18
In the late afternoon the tide just below our campsite had receded significantly revealing all sorts of little tide pools to explore. The girls had so much fun running along the rocks “hunting for treasure.”
CAMP COOKING
We have learned when cooking dinner in camp, to start much earlier than we think is necessary. Even with a simple meal while camping, the prep (making sure we have everything out we need before starting the fire or propane) and clean up take significantly more time than if we were at home. Our propane camp stove cooks food fast—sometimes so fast that if we don’t have everything else prepped (plates/bowls out, other food items ready that are going along with whatever is in the pan, etc.) we will have a burnt/overcooked/timing disaster on our hands.
The clean up also takes more time. We take advantage of access to hot water in our van (the diesel heats up the water) and do our best to soak pans that were used over the fire or with the propane. In all the years we have tent camped, one of the things I love most about our van is the ability to heat water effortlessly. Washing spaghetti dishes with hot water is a camping luxury I fully appreciate (and LOVE so much). Kyle and I often divide and conquer when it comes to the dishes. We have two Sea to Summit collapsable dish sinks. Kyle will often do a pre-soak with dishes in those and then I do the final washing and rinsing in our sink in the van. We then use the fold down outside table attached to the van as a dish drying area.
We typically back into when we want dinner finished and all dishes clean and put away to determine what time to start dinner—usually getting the dinner process underway before 5pm (earlier when it is day light savings). If we can avoid cooking and cleaning up dinner in the dark with headlamps and lanterns we will. In a perfect scenario, dinner will be wrapped up with plenty of time to enjoy the campfire and take a night walk before the girls’ bedtime.
For dinner after our first full day, I brought Chicken Tortilla Soup I had stored in the freezer at home—all it needed was a reheat on our camp stove. While the soup was reheating, we prepped the toppings (avocado, cheese, cilantro, etc.). We also roasted some broccoli to go along with the soup. Dinner prep was quick and easy.
FAMILY FOOD TRADITIONS
For dessert we made Banana Boats from Emily Vikre’s book, The Family Camp Cookbook. The girls enjoyed tucking marshmallows, strawberries and chocolate chips into their bananas and then sitting by the fire while they roasted. Growing up, my family did not have many food traditions, but the few we did have I remember with fondness. With camping we desire to create fun food traditions—things we only eat while camping as a way of grounding us and providing special associations to look forward to. We’re still determining what will stick as food traditions, but so far, Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches, S’mores and Banana Boats roasted over the fire are easy, fun and memorable.
On check-out day, we try and have as little breakfast dishes’ clean up as possible. San Elijo is right near the community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea and within walking distance of restaurants, coffee shops & a market. In the morning we walked over to VG Donut & Bakery to grab some donuts to go with scrambled eggs I made back at camp. Picking up donuts while at home is pretty rare for us, so this is another fun thing for the girls at San Elijo. There is also a coffee shop (Bump Coffee) in the same shopping center as the bakery. A win-win all around.
Last meal in camp before heading home—complimented by donuts from VG Donut & Bakery.
Had to get in one last trip down to the water before leaving. Thanks, San Elijo!
Update: since camping there last November, we have tried unsuccessfully to get another 2 night camp stay. We have tried just about every day for 6 month out dates (for September - October 2024) and still have not been able to secure anything in any of the three sections. Mid-week, weekend, non-premium site, southern, middle, northern sections—nothing has worked. I fight hard not have a spirit of scarcity, but whew…San freaking Elijo…continues to be my white whale.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Great meals in camp.
A beautiful day playing in the ocean in November!
Tide pool exploration in the late afternoon.
The campground—such a great location on the water in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
LOWLIGHTS:
Sand…sand…sand…in the van.
Having to go home…we all wanted to stay more than two nights.