Things to Do in the Central Coast
Think of the Coast Highway as the Yellow Brick Road leading to a magic world of beauty and delight.
Whether you travel south from Northern California or north from Los Angeles, you'll discover steep cliffs, white sands and a blue ocean punctuated with spouting whales and jutting rocks. Kayak calm lakes, surf ocean breakers, build sandcastles or photograph birds you've never seen before. Activities on the Central Coast often involve Mother Nature.
Making the Most of Morro Bay
Morro Bay sits at the very center of the ribbon of coastal highway connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. Its charm is its beach-side location, with only a peninsula of towering sand dunes separating it from the blue Pacific. Head out to the waterway to photograph the iconic Morro Rock jutting 576 feet above the water at the entrance to the bay. It's a sanctuary for peregrine falcon. Paddle those kayaks across the pristine bay nearby, or toss out a fishing line from shore. Dipping a toe, or more, is popular at pretty Atascadero State Beach, just north of Morro Rock, and Morro Strand State Beach also offers long stretches of sand and gentle surf.
Pismo Beach—Beach City, USA
Pismo Beach may win your vote for Beach City U.S.A., with its 23 miles of wide, white beach. Flip-flops aren't mandatory, but they may as well be since ocean fun is the best game in town. Explore dunes, tide pools and old pirate coves. Construct castles of sand or jog on the clean beach with your dog. Buff up that tan on the beach or fish from Pismo Beach Pier, where no license is required. Tour the dunes in an all-terrain vehicle or play arcade games on the pier. If your gang comes between November and February, feast your eyes on the thousands of migrating monarch butterflies that rest in clusters in Pismo's eucalyptus and Monterey pine groves. To learn more about these magnificent insects, take one of the naturalist-guided tours.
San Luis Obispo Outings
It's a happy, low-key college town tucked into green Santa Lucia foothills some 10 miles from the Pacific. Quaint, cool and undiscovered, San Luis Obispo is home to Cal Poly, an 18th-century mission, rows of renovated Victorians, eclectic shops and inexpensive restaurants. Admire the music of the bells as you tour Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, the fifth California mission founded by Junípero Serra. Get an eyeful of art by contemporary California painters at the San Luis Obispo Museum, or raise a glass in the wineries in the Edna Valley. The prettiest beaches in California are just west of town.
Last Great Place on Earth
Explore one of the "Last Great Places on Earth," about 20 minutes south of Pismo Beach in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Preserve. Eighteen miles long, the dune-lagoon ecosystem is one of the most biodiverse on the planet, which is why the Nature Conservancy made it first on its "Last Great Places" list. Ansel Adams immortalized the dunes and lagoons preserved here in magnificent photos, and it was the setting for the well-known 1923 film, "The Ten Commandments."
Ready to travel? Find hotels in Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach.
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