In April, we took a road trip up to Trinidad, Northern California. Our first stop, and the only reservation we made before arriving in Humboldt, was at Jalama.

Jalama Beach County Park Campground is about one hour’s drive north from Santa Barbara and it is near a famous surf spot. It’s also opened year-round. April is still early in the year and many campgrounds are still closed so Wade made a 3-night reservation for Jalama. He started telling me about the Jalama Burger. Sure enough, when I searched online for more information about the campground, the burger was regularly mentioned.

At first it seemed strange to drive south before heading north to Trinidad. Jalama turned out to be a great first place. We recently camped in Polihale in Kaua’i but that turned out only to be one night because of the storm. So it’s really been years since I went camping, that one time. So I’m not much of a camper. Not any kind of camper, to be honest. And I had some questions and concerns. My camping experience at Jalama was fun and helped me ease into the more austere conditions later on.

off to Jalama

After stocking up at Trader Joe’s, we headed south. We passed by Vanderberg Space Force Base, which to my surprise, was established in 1941. It not only launches spacecrafts for NASA and SpaceX, it also does missile testing. There wasn’t a launch when we were at Jalama otherwise we may have been able to see it, weather dependent. Definitely hear it and feel it.

It was a beautiful Tuesday, the traffic moved, and Wade navigated, and soon enough, we hit the last 14 miles, through hills with brilliant yellow blooms.

We arrived after check-in time, which is 3PM. Our campsite was #16, which is near the office. It’s the last one before the fenced-off host area so we only had one campsite next to us. #16 is at the end of the road from the store and restaurant. The bathroom is just a short walk away.

Sites 10A to 16 have the river on one side and the sulfur smell can get quite strong. You can reserve all of these, except 10A. In total, 12 campsites at Jalama are for walk-ins. Being early in the camping season, there were quite a number of empty spaces. When we walked to check out the campground or to do our dishes at the washing station, I looked at everyone’s set up. They were all different, including a very cool vintage camper.

As Wade started to unload the car, I tried to send a text to our parents and discovered that there was no cell service. There’s wifi when you get close enough to the Store & Grill. There is also a payphone right across our campsite. We had planned on spending more time off our phone, so that wasn’t a problem.

The thing with Jalama is that it can get windy. On our first night, we had a van at the campsite below us which helped block some of the wind. For the last two nights, we had the fire going, which helped a lot with the cold. And we bundled up really good. Our campsite is actually quite open, compared to those down in the middle. So the large RVs can make a big difference with some of the wind off the ocean. The group campsite near ours also looked protected.

Jalama Beach

Jalama Beach is relatively remote, with only one road in and out. We saw a lot of people there for the day, some with their dogs. It’s $10 for day use. On the two full days at Jalama, we went down to the beach. The first day we turned north and the second, south to the surf spot.

It felt so great to be barefoot walking in the sand. The first day was sunny, warm enough for Wade to strip down to his swim shorts to get some sun on his whole body.

The following day was a lot colder and windier. Snuggled in our hoodies, we took a longer walk. There are several surf breaks at Jalama. Cracks and Tarantulas are south of the campground, the first about a ten-minute walk and the second one is the busier one. We actually never got to the further one, stretching that ten-minute walk looking at the marine life, enjoying the sandy beach, and spontaneous push-ups.

In parts of the beach, we found massive numbers of Portuguese Man o’War that have washed up onto the shore. By the time we see them on the beach, they are usually already bleached white by the sun. That day, we saw the brilliant blue balloon-like float, the part that stays above water, moving with the wind and tide. What we don’t see once they’re on beaches are the tentacles and polyps that can extend as much as 100 feet. The tentacles are what sting people in the water. They have capsules with barbed tubes with venom.

The Sunset

We set up our chairs and our tents to face the ocean. Sitting in our comfortable reclining chairs with our drinks, we watched the sun set and the skies take on beautiful colours.

Prepping for Jalama

In the week leading up to go time, we supplied up. We already have sleeping bags, tents, an easy-up, mosquito tent, and from our emergency stash, flash lights, batteries, radio, water-filtering straws, etc.

We still needed a number of things – a stove, cookware, plates, etc. Also chairs.

In Kaua’i, we had a single burner stove that we took camping at Polihale State Park. Wade got super frustrated with that one and gave it to a friend. For this trip, we ordered the Coleman Triton 2-burner propane camping stove. Cooking was definitely easier with two burners. This one also has a wind guard and closes up in a carrying case – handy. It’s light and quick to set up. One night at Jalama Wade made us a cod dinner. And in the morning, Wade boils coffee for his must-have cup of coffee.

For cooking, we picked up a set of white ceramic pots with blue detachable handles at a thrift store. They nestle nicely, which makes storing them much easier. It’s amazing what you can find at these stores, like Visions glass pots, and not just the usual brown glass. I also saw a couple of purple ones.

And Wade did get the Jalama Burger. I didn’t feel like it and asked for the raw apple pie instead. He also tried a breakfast burrito while I had hash brown.

We bought two mesh chairs that recline, which may have been the best thing we got for this camping trip. The chairs have a removable tray on the side, for my drink, phone, and David Paulides’ The Hoopa Project. Or at least that’s how I used my chair. The colour we got was Cobalt Blue, out of a selection of well over twenty options.

If you want to know more about Sasquatch, do check out The Hoopa Project.

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Jalama Beach County Park Campground

4½ miles south of Lompoc, turn off from Highway 1, and continue for 14½ miles on a country road.

Check-in 3 PM & check-out 1 PM | 2-night min for weekends & 3-night min for holiday weekends

Campsites for tent-camping, RVs, and trailers. There are also large and medium cabins that accommodate four people. These sit on the hill behind the rest of the campground, facing the ocean. While pets are allowed at campsites, they are not in the cabins.

Each campsite has a picnic table and a BBQ pit. Facilities include restrooms with flush toilets, hot showers, a dish washing station, a store and grill. The dish washing station has two sinks with hot water which made cleaning easy.

As we were tent-camping, we didn’t need an electric hook-up or dump station though both are available as is water. There are also two group campsites.

While we were there, the campground was building additional bathroom facilities. The ones we used were clean and had ample toilet paper. The sink was outside the bathrooms, which had two stalls available in the women’s. The showers had hot water and we got quarters from the store.

Fees: Camping $35-$40 (depending on season), Premium Beach front Camping Sites $55, electric hookups $50-$55, Cabins $200-$250. See all Jalama Campground fees.

More than a year after our Jalama camping trip, I was on the Pacific Surfliner from LA and passed by the campgrounds. The view was spectacular, despite how dirty the train windows were.