Sea Lion Arch Cove | Wild Camping

October 5th, 2023 by tracksaroundtheworld.de

As mentioned before - beautiful place. Stunning! One of the best beaches we ever had. We don't want to put a new pin in the system, but we were above the beach, on a kind of platform. Leveled and place for one vehicle like us with space around. With friends may be two ;-). When you drive down, just left on the cliffs. May be 80 m from the beach. So you don't need to drive down and you have a great overview. We loved it! It is special there.

December 13th, 2022 by Doug Miller

Fabulous location, but easy to get stuck, as others have reported. Approach road has steep/bumpy sections and is dicey for 2WD or low clearance vehicles.

May 4th, 2022 by mitja0204

beautiful spot to camp, no problems in our tacomas with air down and 4x4 back up the beach 😎 use left side road see in picture.....once you reach the rocky part of the sand road back up you ll be fine. can get windy down there. bring fire wood.

April 2nd, 2022 by Adriaan&Isabelle

The unpaved road to the beach (with a building and some permanent RVs on the dunes) is pretty bad washboard. You will need 4x4 on the sandy patches to get from this beach to the waypoint.

There are numerous tracks proving that people did drive down to the water and even below the floodline, but we didn't want to take the risk and camped on the road in between the two tracks leading down because it was a little less windy there. (Yes, we blocked the road but it was close to sunset and we didn't expect nightly traffic.)

In the morning, we climbed the rocks above the arch and saw about 10 sea lions, which all went into the water at high tide.

Weak Telcel 4G signal.

January 16th, 2022 by candacebbowman

My rig wouldn’t have made it I’m sure so I turned around at the first patch of soft sand. I’m actually at the old fisherman’s building. I’m 2WD and over 14 tons!

I walked to the cove with my dog who loved it, it’s a decent hike! I’d say minimum 20 minutes if not 30 easy if you can walk a decent pace without stopping. We actually ran back to beat the sun going down.

A pack of dogs hang out here so if you have a dog beware. My Great Dane is fearless and took them all on as we were walking back. There were at least 10! The closer he got the more afraid they got lol! I didn’t feel like they would attack me, most dogs are intimated by my Danes size so they usually try to dominate him. They didn’t attack him, just weren’t being friendly.

The cove is sooooo beautiful!!

June 22nd, 2021 by Alika

Great place! You definitely need a 4WD to get there. I dunno how anybody would go down so close to the water and back up. It's steep, and when I was there the sand very loose. Just walking down the trail I was going up to my ankles. Plenty seals, especially past the arch, walk the hill and go back down a bit, they love hanging out on the flat rocks. You'll hear them.

April 3rd, 2021 by RogueWanderers

Flat spot on bluff overlooking Sea Lion Arch Cove. Stayed above to avoid deep sand on short sandy track down to beach. Road from MEX 1 is washboarded but easy, once you hit the ocean, road to Sea Lion Arch Cove has some soft sandy spots. No amenities. Beautiful views. Had the cove to ourselves for evening explorations. 2G on Verizon

March 22nd, 2021 by jrzetlmaier

Not big rig friendly! The arch is cool but the 10 miles of washboard and off-road 4 x 4 track make this more suitable for a suv or side by side. Super duper windy!

November 28th, 2020 by markneubert

I actually camped on the cliff above this Morro Bay Santa Domingo. But I am posting here to make sure everyone is aware. I watched a Dodge SUV get caught and stuck below the tideline and start getting pulled out to sea. Four different locals with jeeps, two Cherokees, one Wrangler and a Rubicon came to help. The two Cherokees even after airing down got stuck the Wrangler didn't have enough power to do much except being an anchor so that it did not get pulled out further. It took all four to pull it out. In each of them other than the Rubicon at some point got stuck. So I would recommend camping up on the cliff and walking down and enjoying the beach. I am still in Baja so can't post pictures but will once I have a chance.

September 18th, 2020 by rvaldez21

Took right from the paved road in town then a left down a big dirt road that was fairly wash board til you get to this little fishing building. Passed by the front if it and up the road where we passed by a few spots immediately. Took this road which is pretty sandy and some really soft spots but with 4x4 we only encountered one spot where we had to gun it a little. Went passed the lighthouse and down the road towards the cove.

We took the road to the left and came to a spot right above the cove which is pretty flat and has hard pack. Only a short walk to the water, has a rock fire ring.

Didn’t see anyone the whole time where we were. Might have tried to get down to the beach but it looked pretty soft and no one else was around to help if needed.

June 28th, 2020 by b-anderson86

Great spot. Two locals went down to the beach in a OJ bronco and a XJ. both had trouble getting out but eventually aired down enough and got out. We stayed above the beach and it was great BUT beware of bees! see photos. also can get very windy

February 6th, 2020 by changetheroad2018

This really is a beautiful spot however there are many spots along this coast (some with shelters and grills) if you don't want to risk going down onto the beach. We decided to camp at the beach/lagoon area just after the fisherman's building and took a walk over to the arch spot. There were parts which we would have questioned our ability to get through and we wouldn't have attempted to go down to the the beach itself. We are in a 4x4 pick up/camper but we dont have a great deal expertise in off roading/driving in sand. Final stretch down to beach was very deep and sandy (i have attached pictures). Various broken sections of car bumpers would suggest a lot of people do get stuck. We recommend heading out to this area anyway as there are a lot of reachable spots and it is really beautiful.
Road in wasn't awful, a little washboard in some sections but overall good.

January 9th, 2020 by rookieoftheyear

What a magnificent spot. Beautiful sunset after a particularly stressful moment a few hours prior. We came down the hill and accidentally came too close to shore. Even at 15psi and 4 low. We found ourselves stuck, deep in the sand. Whoops. Sand is coarse, soft and doesn’t pack down at all! MaxTrax barely helped however the universe was on our side when 3 trucks pulled up with 2 of them carrying 6 people. Gave our taco a couple of pushes and she was out. We can’t thank y’all enough for the help, you really saved our asses. 🙌🏻We continue to embrace this tight knit community of overlanders!

The setting is as magical as everyone on here describes. Clear blue water, dolphins, seals, pelicans and good people vibes. Perfect elixir to calm the nervous energy.

As far as getting back up the hill. Air down, 4 low, back up onto the other little hill and gun it. Cheers!

December 19th, 2019 by lostbox.org

camped at the lighthouse because we didn't think the heavy vehicles would make it down to the arch beach. looks like they are setting up to charge for this place. they have recently built shelters and appear to be working on bathrooms nice spot, recommended.

July 15th, 2019 by ben.fewtrell.email

what a amazing little cove ! no one around , we stayed up the top and walked down as i dont think big tire ruts along a sand dune looks great nor do i like the idea i getting stuck at the bottom of a very soft long sandy hill with nothing to winch off ( there was an old rusted up truck down there that looks like it never made it off the beach), worth checking out for sure but if u want good beach camping stop at this spot then continue on to the next beach (north) for the night parked feet from the waves

June 23rd, 2019 by Tucks' Truck

One of the very best wildcamp spots we have ever seen in over 5 years of full-time overlanding! Stunning remote beach, aquamarine water, beautiful natural rock arch, sea-lions around and no people! Definitely only high clearance 4x4 to do the trail to the top of the beach. If you go down to the beach you really need to be an experienced soft-sand driver with very low tyre pressures. We didn't get stuck but we put our tyres on our 6ton truck down to 15 psi.

May 4th, 2019 by Everlanders.com

Cant get much better than this! We got our 13,000 lb Expedition Truck down here before reading of others hardships getting back out... Worth it!

April 13th, 2019 by Thomas

THIS is not the campsite. THIS is the attraction: cove and sea lions. follow the trail across the beach, right side up the arch, down on the left for the sea lions. Road is 4wd only, or folks knowing how to use tire pressure, due to soft sand

March 19th, 2019 by savanna_27

One of the most amazing campsites I have ever stayed at. The sea lion arch is such a beautiful sight from the cliff where the level campsite is. The seals are barking in the distance. The water turquoise blue. Not a soul in sight. The beaches are beautiful in this area and you have a perfect view of the sunset. Definitely worth the shady track to get here. And would only recommend 4x4.

April 25th, 2017 by adventureofhanselandgretel.com

Stunning views, this place is truly beautiful, we saw sea lions and whales. Met super friendly local people. It was very windy at night, camp on top of the cliff. It's though to come back up from the beach, make sure you are experienced in off roading and soft sand. 4x4 needed. Keep in mind that sea lions are very shy animals, if you get to close you will chase them off. Many of them had pups and will protect them. Enjoy this beautiful little cove.

December 30th, 2016 by cicibreaksborders.com

many spots near this location to camp for the night. bumpy/sandy roads getting in, but passable.
if you decide to drive down to the beach, make sure you are well equipped, it would be easy to get stuck. we drove a little past this spot and found a flat area with a fire pit. the beach with the arch is beautiful and well worth a visit.

November 26th, 2016 by Flip Flop Cowboy

We took the paved road through the center of town and then a left on the wide gravel road. We followed it out to the old fishing village/processing plant and past the lighthouse.

The gravel road from town was the worst part with some nasty corrugations. The sandy track leading toward the cove is no problem, as long as you have good tires (rocks) and air-down. You could probably even do it with two wheel drive.

We did not drive down to the cove, because the road is deep rutted sand. It looked fun, but not the kind of thing you want to do with your house on board. It's a nice cove, but we didn't want to live there indefinitely.

We hiked down to the cove and then up the trail to the North where there was a nice place to overlook all the sea lions. We sat quietly in the rocks for about 45min. They're very entertaining.

We camped just above the cove, between some rocky hills we hoped would provide wind cover.

November 24th, 2016 by travelschool101

Took the overloaded KLR 650 here. the road sucks, thou doable slowly. I could only get as far as the abandoned fish plant at the 1st beach. to the lighthouse / sealoins it was too sandy. I burried the bike twice. spent the 2nd night in the fish plant as my tent was blowing down the beach.
the walk to the lighthouse then to the sea lions was nice. saw about 15 sealoins, all was well till they saw me!
nice place, couple of American recluses live on the hillside.

February 27th, 2016 by CarpeViam

Great spot. A lot of soft sand so 4x4 required. We took the paved road in the middle of Valle de Jesus Maria out a bit and about 1km out, turned down the wide dirt road driving toward the coastal hills, which then turned into smaller 4x4 tracks by the abandoned fishing(?) building and some rv's/houses. We camped on the south side of the cove, taking the sandy track to the landing on the headland opposite the arch. Great views of the sea lions, whales, and some dolphins. This whole area has many camping options and is a fun place to explore. Can be a bit windy but we found the wind died down at night during our stay; we also spent one night by the lighthouse which seemed to provide a little bit of shelter.

December 27th, 2015 by www.AFewMoreMiles.com

A beautiful little cove with a quaint arch about 10 meters tall. The view is worth a million dollars. Sea lions are all around. Whales swam by in the distance. A lovely sunset and clear sky filled with stars. We drove down to the beach down a steep sandy hill and were uncertain if we would be able to get out in the morning. There is a flat area at the top and I recommend that instead of taking the path down to the water. Even with low tire pressure and 4 wheel drive, if we didn't have our MaxTrax to help us climb the hill, our little SUV might still be down there. It's a popular spot for friendly locals to relax and watch the sunset. After the sun goes down the beach is left all to you (and the sea lions). It's a bit windy though.