Ideally, you want to take your beach safari camping adventure away from the population centers of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. The coasts of central California and northern California offer many isolated beach areas with campgrounds, including Jalama State Beach just north of Santa Barbara, Pfeiffer Beach in the Big Sur Area and Jug Handle State Reserve in Mendocino County. If you are determined to hold your beach safari in Southern California, San Onofre State Beach is the closest thing you are going to find to an isolated California beach with a campground.
Besides tents and sleeping bags, you should also bring warm clothes. Despite the stereotype of California always having warm weather and sunny skies, many of the beaches in central and northern California get quite cold, especially at night. Furthermore, grocery shopping before your camping adventure is a necessity since you will be miles away from any type of supermarket. If you are a surfer, this is the perfect excuse to catch uncrowded surf---many of the isolated beaches in California offer good surf that is devoid of the crowds and the localism that is found at other surf areas throughout the state. You should also consider bringing firewood for a campfire, a guitar and anything else you can think of to entertain you.
Usually, the campsites at each of the beaches have a front office where you can register and book your camp sites. However, keep in mind that there is the possibility that the campsites are booked. If this is the case, this means you drove all the way to the beach only to find out you can't stay there. The best way to prevent this problem is to make reservations with the campsites beforehand by calling ahead.
Besides the fact that they offer a nice break from the cosmopolitan atmosphere that exists in many of California's cities, tent camping on secluded California beaches also gives you the opportunity to reconnect with nature. Instead of seeing million-dollar houses and large crowds of people, you will see many different types of animals including sea lions, dolphins and wild deer. Furthermore, this style of camping will give you an idea of what much of the California coastline used to look like before it was developed for cities.
If you want the best weather, try to make your California beach safari tent camping adventure during the summer, when the weather is the nicest. However, this does not necessarily mean you are going to always get sunny skies; much of the central and northern California coast is foggy and cold during the summer. At the same time, however, if you choose to hold your camping adventure during the winter, spring or fall, you will not see any traces of snow, as it practically never snows on the California coast. To sum it up, try to go during the summer because this is the time of year with the least amount of rain.
