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San Mateo Campground – reviews, photos

3030 Del Presidente, San Clemente, CA 92672
Hotel amenities
San Mateo Campground
4.0 of 5 stars 15 Reviews
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15 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveller rating
    2
    10
    0
    1
    2
Date Rating
Chula Vista, California
1 review
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“Excellent choice for surf/camp road trip if you don't have time to go far”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 21 August 2011
5
people found this review helpful

Stayed here in mid-August and really enjoyed it. Better than the San Clemente campground, which is technically closer to the water but not a surfable beach. San Mateo had larger campsites with trees for privacy and shade in between sites. Closest drive to San Onofre State Beach for surfing, and the $30 you paid for a campsite waives the $15 parking fee at the beach! There are no grills, only firepits, so we brought a spare oven rack which made for a perfect grill. It's also a dog-friendly campground, so our pooch had plenty of company. (San O beach also allows dogs, on leash.) Other reviews complain about squirrels -- bring your dog! We never saw one in our site. The only complaints: they don't have separate areas for RVs and tents. We were lucky the campers near us did not have noisy ambience-destroying generators, but one was setting up just as we were leaving. And we heard some pretty loud artillery fire, and what sounded like bombs and helicopters both nights, up until midnight. I know it's next to Camp Pendleton, but geez... is this common at this campground? Also, people unlucky enough to have sites on the outside loop facing east had their view of what would otherwise be open space ruined by nighttime lights from the base.
Also, in response to some other posts here; we felt safe, like the other campers were good company. Regular families, lots of surfers. No creepy types. But there was one site with loud drunks which fortunately was far from us. Unfortunately, you can't choose your neighbors.

Stayed August 2011, travelled with family
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laguna niguel
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“great campsite but watch out for squirrels in vehicle”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 29 June 2011
1
person found this review helpful

We love this camp ground. Third time coming here.. love it love it.. This time.. squirrels chewed my hubby's engine wires. A cost we can't afford.. Be careful! Otherwise, enjoy the site.

Stayed June 2011, travelled with family
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Ask shneebop about San Mateo Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
California
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“Nice and Clean, but Cold and Noisy!”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 29 July 2010
2
people found this review helpful

My family of nine spent two days at space # 151. Very large site compared to most. The bathrooms were nice and clean. Lots of large bushes everywhere. Our neighbors on either side had loud music at night and a generator running most of the day that were very annoying. We slept peacefully, though, once the music was turned off. The weather was chilly! Would have enjoyed it more if it had been warmer.

  • Stayed July 2010, travelled with family
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask HisMineAndOurs14 about San Mateo Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Escondido,CA
Contributor
20 reviews 20 reviews
Reviews in 12 cities Reviews in 12 cities
19 helpful votes 19 helpful votes
“Nice campground but watch out for the squirrels”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 25 July 2010
6
people found this review helpful

My best friend and I took our families camping at this campground based on the great reviews and the location to the beach. The campground was very nice, it was clean. The restrooms were cleaned daily and we always had a hot shower. We got lucky with our site and had a decent sized site. Be careful when you choose your site because we walked around and looked at the sites and some were super small. Had we gotten one of those sites our family would not have fit.

We were unlucky enough to get next to a large family that had tons of kids from baby to teenagers and they were up at 6:00 am every morning talking like it was the middle of the day! You can't pick your neighbors, and I guess that's just part of camping.

The reason why I gave this such a low review was because the squirrels were over taking the campground. You could not leave your food on the picnic table for 5 minutes with out one of them jumping on the table looking for lunch! They were always in the trash, climbing on stuff, the tent, camp chairs, everything! We thought we had outsmarted them by keeping our food in plastic containers in the trailer. The worst thing was that they climbed under my friends truck and chewed some wires so badly that now its going to cost her 300-400 to get it fixed!

We will never camp there again! It's too bad too because it is a nice place but we can't take the chance of that happening to one of our cars again. What I wondered was how many other cars had been damaged by the squirrels?? No one mentioned it in the reviews but it has to have happened to others.

  • Stayed July 2010, travelled with family
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Long Beach, California
Senior Contributor
22 reviews 22 reviews
Reviews in 13 cities Reviews in 13 cities
16 helpful votes 16 helpful votes
“I love hot shower!”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 28 June 2010
1
person found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I camped out at San Mateo campground last weekend. We were lucky since our camp spot was big and right next to restroom/ shower. The campground were full at the time we were there. It was clean and organized.

It was a great experience for me. The campsite has indoor hot shower, love it. You will need to pay 50 cent for 2.20 minute (not bad). The restrooms were clean during our stay. I felt safe and was quiet after 10 pm. Each campsite comes with picnic table, firepit, and small bush/ tress for your privacy. It has beach trail about 1.5 miles to trestle beach.
I will definitely camp there again in the future.

  • Stayed June 2010, travelled as a couple
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
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Additional Information about San Mateo Campground

3030 Del Presidente, San Clemente, CA 92672
Price range (per night):* INR778 - 889

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