Manresa State Beach Campground California
1445 San Andreas RoadWatsonville, California 95076
831 724-3750
Lat / Long:
Manresa State Beach campground has over 60 walk-to (tent only) campsites and is located on a bluff with spectacular views of the ocean, Santa Cruz Mountains and hills of Monterey. The campground has three loops: Willow (sites 1-26), Bay (sites 27-43) and Lupine (sites 44-64). Click on the Campground Map button for specific locations.
Campground amenities include vault toilets and showers($). There’s also a campfire center and day use area (with parking). Trails also go from the campground to the beach.
Campsites are primitive and for tents only. All gear, food and trash must be packed in/out. Campers can park their vehicle (regular sized autos only) for overnight parking in the Upper Lot, but there is also a Lower parking lot you can use for loading/unloading of gear (20 minute limit). One vehicle is included in camping fee and needs to be parked in the overnight lot. An additional vehicle is also permitted for an extra fee.
Manresa State Beach – Area Recreation & Info
Outdoor recreation in the area includes hiking, biking, surf fishing, beach coming, sunbathing, swimming, picnicking and wildlife viewing. There is also a glider port at Sunset State Beach for remote-controlled glider enthusiasts.
You may also like Mt. Madonna County Park (Campground).
Make a Reservation for Manresa State Beach
Manresa State Beach Availability Alerts
Manresa State Beach sold out? Get an alert when a campsite becomes available at Manresa State Beach!
Create Campsite Availability AlertRegions
Campsite Types
- Tent
- Walk-To
Season:
Mid May – September 30
Elevation:
44
# of Campsites:
60+ (walk-to tent only)
Amenities
- Amphitheater
- Campfire Center
- Drinking Water
- Hike/Bike Campsites
- Pets OK
- Picnic Tables
- Restrooms (Vault Toilets)
- Showers
Activities
- Beach
- Beach Access
- Beach Combing
- Biking
- Bird Watching
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Mountain Biking
- Nature Trails
- Ocean
- Photography
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Surf Fish
- Surfing
- Swimming
- Walking Trails
- Wildlife Viewing
Manresa State Beach Photos
Manresa State Beach Comments & Reviews
Visited Manresa State Beach Campground lately? We'd love to hear about your adventure. Did you find us useful? Did we forget something? Anything our community should know before heading out to Manresa State Beach?
4 Replies to “Manresa State Beach”
Visit full-site to leave a comment
is there anytime when there is availability? seems like it’s always unavailable for any dates!
Hi Melinda,
Manresa State Beach does have midweek availability (several campsites), but availability for weekends doesn’t start happening till October. You can always use our Campsite Assist service to get an alert if someone cancels a campsite on a date you’d like to stay. It beats having to constantly check for cancellations each day.
Reservations usually open 7 months in advance and you gotta be quick to log on the exactly 7 months in advance because they do fill up quick, especially the good location sites
Hi Jessie,
Manresa State Beach campsite reservations actually open 6 months (prior to arrival date) in advance at 8am. For example, on June 23 (at 8am Pacific Time) is when you can first try and reserve a site for an arrival on December 23. And you’re right about having to be super quick to try and snag a campsite especially in the summer. Our Campsite Assist service will scan for availability and send you a text and email alert if/when a campsite becomes available on the dates you want to camp. The alert includes a link directly to ReserveCalifornia so you can try and reserve he available site. Just be quick as many others are monitoring for availability. Campsite Assist has helped many people get a reservation at Manresa State Beach.