RECREATION / NATURE : County Beaches Offer Plenty of Sun, Sand for Campers : Though short on solitude and wilderness, the county’s shoreline campsites, from Newport to San Clemente, have other attractions.

Staying overnight at Orange County’s state beaches can have less to do with traditional camping than with, well, parking .

The actual campgrounds at San Clemente and Doheny state beaches (and at San Onofre State Beach, just south of the county line) are something less than attractive: lots of asphalt, few trees, hard-packed-gravel tent sites and bumper-to-bumper Winnebagos.

If solitude is your goal, it might be best to look elsewhere, as beach camping here is a decidedly urban experience. Those twinkling lights are not stars, but nearby convenience stores and gas stations; that sound lulling you to sleep is not the crashing waves but the rushing freeway traffic.

A look at the fully outfitted motor home in the site next door--complete with TV antenna and portable generator--lets you know that the camping credo here is not “getting away from it all” but, rather, “bringing it all with you.”

But while beach camping in the county may not be the archetypal wilderness experience, it has its attractions. After all, 480,468 camping fans can’t be wrong. That’s how many folks stayed at San Onofre, San Clemente and Doheny state beaches in 1988, the last full year before San Clemente and Doheny started rehabilitation efforts that periodically closed down all or some of the campsites.

In fact, the parks are so popular that getting a site at all can be tricky. Weekend dates in summer often sell out in a day or two (sites become available for reservation eight weeks in advance, through the state’s Mistix system). Summer weeknights also sell out--don’t expect to show up without a reservation and get a site.

The big attraction? Sun and sand.

Beach camping is just a logical extension of the Orange County beach experience. Why just spend a day at the beach, when you can spend two days? Or three, or a week? Many of the people camping are locals who elect to spend their vacations within a short walk of the waves, bypassing the need to fight traffic or find a parking spot with every beach trek.

You can wake up and go for a morning swim before breakfast, or wander to the sand after dinner to watch the sun go down. And there is a chance to indulge in some traditional camping activities: campfires (bring your own wood), cooking out, walks and bicycle rides.

Families, meanwhile, come out in full force at the state beaches. Beach-camping kids always find something to do.

Camping can reveal a seldom-seen side of the beach, too: the night side. Taking a moonlit midnight walk along a quiet stretch of sand, emptied of the surfing teens and baking sunbathers of day, can be an almost mystical experience.

Another factor in the popularity of Orange County’s beach campgrounds is the fact that there is no place to camp on Los Angeles County beaches. The nearest beach camping to the north is at Leo Carrillo State Beach, south of Oxnard.

A guide to local beach camping follows. A note on prices: the prices listed below are effective through the end of the month, but the new state budget will force “substantial” fee hikes at all state parks on Sept. 1. The exact increases are expected to be announced today and may be as much as 50% in some areas. Remember also that these are the minimum fees; there is usually an additional charge for extra vehicles or dogs, and some discounts may be available for seniors.

* Doheny State Beach.

Closed for almost a year for rehabilitation, camping facilities are open again at this state park, just south of Dana Point Harbor. Unlike the bluff-top campgrounds at San Clemente and San Onofre, the campsites at Doheny come right up to the sand. Sites on the campground’s northern boundary border the marshy inlet to San Juan Creek, putting campers within an easy view of bountiful bird life--herons, egrets and gulls, for starters.

The park has 121 sites. None has electrical, water or sewer hookups for RVs. The price is $15 per night for beachfront sites, $12 per night for all others. Reservations available through Mistix, (800) 444-7275. Park information: (714) 496-6171.

* San Clemente State Beach.

The blufftop campground here offers 72 sites with full RV hookups. An additional 88 tent sites are now under construction and will reopen within a few months (no date has been set). The park is at the south end of San Clemente, just off Interstate 5. The beach is a short but steep walk from the campground.

Camping is $16 per night for the hookup sites (tent sites will be $12 when they open). Reservations available through Mistix, (800) 444-7275. Park information: (714) 492-3156.

* San Onofre State Beach.

This state beach is actually just over the border in San Diego County, three miles south of San Clemente. Popular with surfers, the park offers 221 developed sites (none with hookups) and 26 primitive walk-in campsites. As in San Clemente, the camping is on a bluff overlooking the water. All sites have a water view.

Camping is $16 per night for the hookup sites (tent sites will be $12 when they open). Reservations available through Mistix, (800) 444-7275. Park information: (714) 492-4872.

Other options:

* Bolsa Chica State Beach.

This is primarily a day-use park in Huntington Beach that allows “en-route” camping on a first-come, first-served basis. That means self-contained trailers, campers or motor homes can park overnight between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. There are 50 sites; no tent camping allowed and no reservations. Park information: (714) 846-3460.

* Newport Dunes Aquatic Park.

This privately run resort on Newport Bay offers more than 400 sites with full RV hookups. The price is steep--running from $30 to $45, depending on location--but the park offers its campers such resort facilities as tennis courts, a swimming pool, a grocery store, laundry facilities and water-sport rentals. Information: (714) 644-5566.