Pacific Coast Highway in a Rental: Where Santa Cruz Fits

One night works if you only want to stop overnight. You arrive in the afternoon, walk down to the beach, pick up dinner from the taqueria up the street, and leave by mid-morning.

Two nights is better. The drive down from San Francisco takes most of day one, especially in summer. If you stay only one night, you spend most of your Santa Cruz time recovering from the drive and preparing for the next leg, with no full day to spend here.

With that day you have real choices. Walk the cliff path to the surf breaks, which sit a 12-minute walk from us, and rent a board over on 41st or take a lesson from a surf school in town. Or drive five minutes to Capitola, fifteen to the Boardwalk, or twenty minutes inland for the redwoods. There's more in our things to do in Santa Cruz guide and the best beaches guide.

Here is what we tell guests at the office. Our sites fit RVs up to 43 feet. Highway 1 through Big Sur does not.

South of Carmel the road narrows, the shoulders vanish, and the curves tighten. Highway 1 carries an official restriction barring trucks longer than 30 feet kingpin-to-rearmost-axle from Carmel to San Simeon. That's a truck-route spec rather than a flat motorhome-length law, but it tells you what the road thinks of big rigs, and experienced RVers put the comfortable limit around 30 to 35 feet. The switchbacks near Hurricane Point can force a large Class A motorhome across the centerline. If you booked a big rig because it fits where you sleep, understand it may be a hard, stressful drive on those cliffs.

There is current road work to factor in too. As of June 2026, Big Sur is open end to end, the Regent's Slide closure having reopened on January 14, 2026, roughly 90 days ahead of schedule. But the Rocky Creek Bridge, 12 miles south of Carmel, has had temporary traffic signals running 24 hours a day since late May 2026, with delays of up to about ten minutes and wide-load restrictions, on a project currently estimated to run into 2028. None of this closes the road. It just means you should not try to do Big Sur and reach Los Angeles in the same day. Check the morning you leave, because conditions change.

Note: the road status here is accurate as of June 2026. Before you drive, pull up Caltrans QuickMap (quickmap.dot.ca.gov) for live closures and signal delays. If your rig is on the larger end, plan 25 to 35 mph through the Big Sur corridor and fuel up before you leave Monterey, because gas is scarce and pricey on the cliffs.

If you picked up a campervan near San Francisco and you're dropping it in Los Angeles, you are doing a one-way rental, and a few things are worth knowing before you sign. A campervan from SF to LA is a common booking, but the terms vary, so we do not rent vehicles and you should treat all of this as general guidance and confirm the numbers in your own contract, because they change by company and season.

Expect a one-way drop fee. Across the market these commonly land somewhere between $200 and $750. The good news for this exact route: SF to LA is a popular relocation direction, so the fee is sometimes reduced or waived on a relocation special, and at least one large rental company is running a discounted one-way SF to LA deal as of mid-2026. Ask about relocation rates before you book the standard rate.

Watch the mileage terms. Many rentals include something like 100 to 150 free miles per day and charge roughly $0.35 to $0.50 for each mile beyond that. Some offer unlimited miles instead. A coast trip adds up miles quickly, so a low daily cap can quietly become the biggest line on your bill. Do the math against your planned route before you book.

For European visitors there is paperwork. You will generally need your passport at pickup. An International Driving Permit is not legally required to drive in California if you hold a valid license from your home country, but most rental companies want one anyway, and many require an IDP or an official English translation when your license is not in English. Sort that out at home, not at the counter.

• Drop fee: commonly $200-$750, and SF to LA is sometimes offered as a reduced or waived relocation special
• Mileage: often 100-150 free miles/day then ~$0.35-0.50/mile, or unlimited. Read the contract
• Paperwork: passport always. An IDP is not legally required in California with a valid foreign license, but most rental firms want one (and often require it, or a certified translation, for non-English licenses)
• Insurance and a young-driver surcharge can add up. Ask for the all-in price, not the headline rate

A rented rig runs on systems most first-timers have never thought about: a propane tank, a fresh-water tank, and gray and black waste tanks that have to be emptied somewhere legal. Propane runs the stove, and depending on the rig it may run the fridge and heater, though many rigs run the fridge and heat on electric or shore power. On the road this is a pain you plan around. At a full-hookup site, it's mostly handled for you.

All 16 of our sites are full hookup, which means water, power, and a sewer connection right at your spot. You empty your tanks at your site instead of hunting for a dump station, and you plug into shore power instead of running a generator. Most campgrounds ban generators overnight, typically from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and a running generator is the fastest way to annoy your neighbors. On shore power you never start it. This is also where you can handle any road chores you put off on arrival: refuel, dump tanks, fill fresh water, all before the harder driving south.

Propane is the one thing you may still need to top up on a longer trip, and you refill it off-site. You'll find refill points at U-Haul outlets, dedicated propane dealers, many hardware stores, and farm-supply stores. The rule everywhere is the same: appliances off, and nobody aboard while they fill. For where to empty tanks and handle other road chores in and around town, see our getting here page.

You do not need to move the rig every time you want to see something. Park once, leave the rig plugged in, and get around without moving it. Here's what's reachable on foot or a short drive:

• The beach: a 9-minute walk
• The surf breaks (The Hook and The Point): a 12-minute walk
• Capitola: a 5-minute drive or a 10-minute bike ride
• The Boardwalk: a 15-minute drive

If you would rather not unhook at all, local buses and a bit of planning cover most of what a visitor wants, which we break down in our getting around without a car guide. When you leave, you head south toward Monterey and Big Sur with a full fuel tank and empty waste tanks.