Van life in San Diego was one of the best experiences I have had on the road! I became so in love with this city while visiting that I actually stayed for weeks! (Which is pretty rare for me). There are lots of places to park overnight, hangout at the beach, and more vegan food options than you could ever imagine. The van community here was so warm and welcoming which is a huge reason I stayed for as long as I stayed. If you are looking for perfect weather and lots of new friends, San Diego should be the first place you head towards!
These are just some of my top parking spots and favorite things to do when hanging out is in the beautiful SD.
OVERNIGHT PARKING
Figuring out where to park for the night seems to be one of the bigger concerns when traveling to cities such as San Diego. BUT I actually found it to be one of the nicest places with really clean lots and nobody disturbing me as long as I parked where I knew I could. Van life is so popular in California that at most of these locations you are bound to find van dwelling friends. These are just a few of my favorite spots!
1.
Mission Beach
GPS: 32.768476, -117.249860
This is a parking lot across the street from Belmont Park that is split into two sides. One side closes for a short period of time in the middle of the night (you will see a clear sign stating this). The other side is the one you want to park at and has a sign that says “Overnight parking allowed”. It’s my favorite spot in SD because it’s right across from the beach, there are bathrooms right next to Belmont Park, and there’s a lot to do in the area.
2.
Hotel Parking Lots
I don’t want to give exact coordinates for the sake of legalities. But there are numerous hotels in the SD area that you can stay in the parking lots with no knocks or being bothered. Make sure the parking lot is a decent size. Go in late and stay stealth. Don’t stay downtown or at any really nice hotels. I always find medium quality places like Best Western, Holiday Inn, La Quinta Inn, Ramada Inn, etc. There are plenty to choose from in this city so it shouldn’t be an issue. This is my preferred way to overnight park in SD.
3.
San Elijo State Beach Campground
This is an established campground that charges a fee. I wanted to include it for those that prefer staying in this type of campsite with security, potable water, and dump stations. It has really nice bathrooms here as well as a little store for food and firewood. You can fill as much water as you need which is nice because some folks have pretty large water tanks in their vans. It’s also directly on the beach so you have an awesome sunset view.
COFFEE SHOPS
It can be kind of difficult in some cities to find a place to plug in because they don’t really want you hanging around for too long. So here are a few of the coffee shops that I thought had a great vibe and welcomed digital workers to sit, use the wifi, and plug in for hours.
2355 India St, San Diego, CA 92101
Chances are that if you go into this coffee spot, at least one other customer inside is a van lifer or traveler. This is a pretty trendy coffee bar with amazing coffee. A few locals politely scolded me for getting Starbucks and told me about James. Super happy they did! This place makes for a great local stop to grab a cup of caffeine and browse all of the cool products they offer (there’s a ton).
3833 Mission Blvd, San Diego CA, 92109
If you’re looking for a cute coffee shop for an Instagram photo, look no further. This shop has the cutest set up with the majority of their tables outside with tons of plants around. They offer a great breakfast and an even better coffee selection. There is no better place to work on a warm day than Swell! If it’s chilly outside, I may avoid stopping here as the whole place is basically outdoors.
I know you’re wondering why this would be included considering Starbucks is literally everywhere. The biggest reason I am listing it is because NO Starbucks in the SD area has outlets. They know people will stick around and use the wifi so they simply don’t have outlets anywhere. If you are looking for a Starbucks to do some work, come to this one in National City. It’s only about 15 minutes South from the center of San Diego and has tons of outlets with baristas who don’t care if you hang out all day on their wifi.
MY FAVORITE MUST- VISITS
The van life community in SD is like none other I have seen. I was immediately messaged and welcomed by several local van dwellers with awesome advice and great hidden gems. If you stay at the Mission Beach or San Elijo camp spot, you will surely see other vans! Look up some van folks that you could meet in the area and shoot them a message. I promise you can leave this city with tons of new like- minded friends!
Black’s Beach is usually the most recommended beach because it has the unique feature of being a nude beach. If you aren’t comfortable with this, there is also an area for family’s with no nudity allowed. But traveling sometimes means trying new things and being free! At the very least, an interesting place to visit if you’ve never been to one. Try La Jolla Shores beach if you’re aren’t down with the nudity.
Plant Power Fast Food is an all vegan fast food restaurant with dishes such as buffalo wings, chicken tenders, and burgers! They also have a killer kombucha float that I would get every day if I could. I had never had vegan fast food so this was really cool and a totally different way of eating green.
Lastly for the traveling yogis out there, you must try Trilogy Sanctuary. This is a rooftop, aerial yoga studio that also serves vegan lunch. The rooftop is amazing and has a gorgeous view of the city. The staff are all like family and extremely friendly to all their guests! It is a little pricier than other activities in this list but truly worth every dollar.
Welcome to Nazi San Diego. I’ve lived here for 67 years and all of the cops should wear arm bands. In the old days when nomads traveled with backpacks, the general word was that you couldn’t be on the street in San Diego more than 5 minutes without being stopped. Personally, I was stopped three times per day. For no reason other than my looks. If you look, you’ll see the nearest free camping is in the desert, 60-80 miles away.
The law was found to be unconstitutional and hence all of the homeless in tents, but never take my word for it. Ask other van lifers, not cops! They’re lying Nazis.
hi, is parking pvernight in costco allowed? I know Walmart is not allowed anymore, and only 1 sams allows overnight
Do not come to Mission Beach with the intent to camp out or sleep in your van.
The city has startled enforcing its ordinance for no overnight camping in vehicles. All the mission beach parking lots have been cleared of van lifers.
Enforcement started April 2023 and it continual
Specifically the new ordinance is that no OVERSIZED vehicles longer than 27ft or taller than 7ft (either/or) between 2-6 am, or you will be ticketed unless you have a permit, and I believe this covers all residential streets regardless of the signage for parking. It is a bummer, as I just learned the $112 way! If you’re in a passenger vehicle you can probably still get away with it if you’re stealth.
I will car camp there and you will accept it.
Bazinga
2-4 am they say the paring lots need to be cleared they dont just have city police patrolling but also CHP and the County Sheriff
Hi, great article. I am also wondering how current this is? I see some conflicting info online about no overnight parking in Mission Beach but maybe it’s not specific to this particular parking lot?
I plan to be there at the end of June for a few nights in my Promaster and I figure I have no shot at finding a reserved camping spot at this point. Any help would be appreciated.
For people seeing this article in 2021, this information is out of date.
Here’s a copy/paste of a comment on Google Maps from the Mission Beach parking lot.
“Be aware the city of San Diego is so hungry, i didn’t see the no parking sign between 2am and 4am.
I received 2 citations one $56 for violation of sign ok plus another one 116$ for an oversized vehicle, i have a 20 foot long Promaster which was perfectly parked in one spot. Total fine 172$ You won’t have other money from me, restaurant, boutiques etc…”
I’m currently struggling to find parking in this region of CA. I’ve seen vans and RVs around but they’re risking $100+ tickets every night and potentially a tow. Myself included. It’s nearly impossible to get a good night of sleep with this on your mind. You can thank their terrible ex-mayor for these laws. There’s also hardly any public land options even within 1.5 hours of the city. I just read that the Mt. Laguna area has no dispersed camping signs up now while looking for a spot. Stereotyping people who choose this lifestyle must stop and I encourage everyone to advocate for that.
There is a huge industrial area off the 905, east of the 805. You will find a ton of RV’s and vans camping with no problems at all. As long as you don’t stay in one spot for too many days you will be good. I move around every day and never have had an issue.
Mt laguna doesn’t enforced any disperse camping at all. I camp there at the base all the time. My rig is 40 ft plus a 20 foot trailer with suv on it. I typically stay 1 night as I head into Mission Bay Rv park. Sometimes I might pull into Fiesta island and park on the beach for a night. I have out of states plates so I could care less about a ticket
Hi Sydney!
Wondering when you wrote this article, I don’t see a date on it. I am planning to van life in cali this winter, but am worried about covid shutdowns, and I also read that san diego outlawed sleeping in vehicles in 2018 or 2019.
When did you travel to san diego and stay at mission beach? would that still be a good place to park even during the pandemic?
Thank you!
Same I’m planing on van life in Cali too starting in San Diego and I was wondering this too !
So did you toss your panties and run! Or what? I live in my van with my lil guy Buddy, he is all chihuahua. I am mostly up in North County/Encinitas Oceanside etc and I need a place to work on my van. Not mechanically but interior conversion and putting in solar and a bunch of stuff. The pieces are piling up but I got nowhere to work on it. There is a place for mechanic work, self serve but it’s not cheap and I already may have messed up one of their lifts, ooops. I got all the tools just need a spot. Walmart parking lot is good for an hour or two but I need a few all day days. Do you have any ideas for me?
hi chewy,
I have some ideas and questions, but I have no idea how to get you my email without posting it here.
Shut up nerd