We were there December 27th and there was no wind and high 60s. A gorgeous day at the beach. Campground is clean and neat. They do charge for the dump station even if your stay, fyi.
I've been twice. Would not recommend it for a tent. Very windy in the afternoons and evenings. Take your hikes in the mornings, very pleasant. No hookups but nice hot showers. Hidden off leash dog beach (see if you can find it). There's a small sign by the boat launch. When the campgrounds are full, the beach is still empty. I went spring break my second time and no people. They were all out on their boats.
We are here on a rainy November day and looking forward to sunshine tomorrow. This campground is operated by Sonoma County, along with three or four other nearby campgrounds. The area is beautiful. Doran State Beach sits on a jetty, protecting the adjacent harbor. The space we are in faces the restroom/shower, and is about 125' from the beach. The more desirable, ocean front spaces were all booked when we made a last minute reservation. The other circle style loops sit on the harbor side of the jetty. The entire campground has no hookups. There are a few hose bibs in each of the loops along with one dumping station. The staff are very helpful and the restrooms are relatively clean. There is a $2 per day, per dog fee. There is no store near the campground. The little town of Bodega Bay is a five minute drive. Most of the restaurants close early this time of year, so be prepared. Crab season opened this week, so there are a lot of boats and shipping trucks in and out of the harbor. It's quite fun watching all the fishing and crabbing activity. The wheelchair access is decent, but some repairs need to be made. For example, the bench in the men's shower was missing. I did notice a beach wheelchair at the camp host site. The wheelchair designated campsites don't seem to be in great locations and missing a few key features. We would come back to this campground.
This is one of my favorite parks. The do not have electricity but if you have a generator there is very good TV reception. We averaged around 50 channels on our tv. Also they have very generous generator hours. You can run your generator from 7am until 10 pm at night. Most people here are in 5th wheels though so don't run their generators very much. They all have little Honda generators. With the sound of the surf you can't really hear anyone generators at all anyway. This is a very nice campground and campers are ery respectful. The ranger's are excellent and most helpful. It is a very busy campground but because everyone is courteous everything runs well. The campsites are paved pads and most level. They have an excellent website that describes in detail the exact dimensions of each campsite so you know exactly what you are getting. Many of the campers here are regulars and they seem to prefer the ocean side because the prevailing winds come from the harbor side. But be forewarned when a storm does come in, the winds switch to the South and so those campsites on the ocean side can get very windy. There is a nice mix od campsites here and you can pick a woodsy site if you like or an open view site if you like. On the harbor side you can get excellent views of the entire bodega bay. Also on the harbor side is the bird santuary and you can see all sorts of birds. They also have the Bird santuary walk just beyond the Ranger Station. Also they have campsites marked as reservable or first come, first serve. They usually hold back about 20 percent of the campsites for the late arrivals. But if you want a particular campsite it is best to make reservations.
We stayed here 2 nights. You are between the Ocean and the entrance to the harbor. We walked on the beach and enjoyed the fog horn. There was a water faucet you could fill your water if you needed it. We didn't use the rest rooms so don't know how they are. The gal at the gate was very nice and helpful. Next time I want to try a kite. We will come again. The Manoff Family