Welcome To California’s Incredible Central Coast!
Before we were forced into a more restrictive #QuarantineLife, my wife Alex and I took a socially distanced car trip one day north of Los Angeles, along California’s beautiful 101 freeway until we popped down onto Highway 1, which goes along the Pacific Ocean!
Welcome To Cayucos!
Located on the gorgeous Estero Bay on the Central California Coast, Cayucos is a really cool resort town – 3-1/2 hours from LA, offering incredible views of the Pacific Ocean – and all that goes on in it!
The town of Cayucos took its name from the original rancho land grant – which means kayak or canoe; a small fishing boat such as used by the Aleuts in hunting sea otters along the coast.
As you can see, it’s a quiet little seaside town, but that is why it’s so charming…oh, and it sits just a few miles north of the magnificent Morro Bay, where you can see this!
The 581-foot high Morro Rock towers over that town, and is clearly visible from Cayucos as well…time to take a walk and explore – and it all begins by heading out to the end of the iconic Cayucos pier!
The View From The Cayucos Pier!
As you can see, the views go on for miles in both directions from the pier, and to the left sits Morro Rock, calling out your name.
Here is a short video showing you all of this incredible beach:
The best part: you can actually walk all the way to Morro Rock from Cayucos – the entire walk right along the beach!
Let’s go!
There are miles of sandy beaches — leading all the way to Morro Bay and its majestic Rock. However, along the way you will be distracted by things like this:
The Windsurfers Were Out!
There were dozens of Windsurfers taking advantage of the beautiful weather – and you can put a chair or blanket down not he sand and just watch for hours…or you can grab a bite to eat like this guy!
Cue The Hungry Sandpiper!
You see “shorebirds” everywhere – multiple varies – I think this is a Sandpiper but if it’s not, it was still having a great lunch while the windsurfers soared overhead!
The legendary Hearst Castle and San Luis Obispo wine tasting are both short drives away — but with a walk along the beach like this, you can find plenty to do right here as well!
That’s my rock selfie, and if you look inland, you can also see small caves at the edge of the beach, which are large enough to crawl into for a bit…
Cayucos is a perfect destination on California’s Central Coast, and such a short, scenic drive away!
Of course, since we were at the ocean, we had to enjoy a great meal at Cayuco’s terrific Duckie’s Chowder House!
And of course, it was a socially distanced, masked meal!
Alex had some nice grilled fish and sautéed vegetables, because it’s important to be healthy at all times, right?
NOT when there is a fried seafood platter available!
How could I refuse a platter with fish, shrimp, clams and these beautiful fried oysters!
Now, it this makes you hungry to come and visit, CayucosbytheSea.com offers complete visitor information for summer and winter vacation rentals, area lodging accommodations with hotel, motel, RV Parks, Bed and Breakfast listings, shopping information, restaurants, family activities, hiking, fishing information, and a street map of Cayucos too!
So, who’s up for some of this?
The Pacific coastline is truly spectacular – not only in California, but Oregon as well:
Alex and I also did a tour of Oregon’s spectacular coast, which included a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and you can see it all by clicking on my story here:
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Let me know if you’d done a road trip along California’s coastline!
Categories: Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
Nice video of kitesurfing. Calling them windsurfers is like calling a snowboarder a skier.
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Wow! What an amazing place it is. Happy reading❤️😊
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Thank you for the comment..it truly is a magical spot!
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We live on the North Coast in the heart of the Redwoods. It would be a drive, but it sure looks like it would be worth it.
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It’s gorgeous Pete, but where you live is just as majestic to be sure!
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Morro rock is something else! The rocky skyline of your coast is so different from the east. Beautiful! When you mentioned Hearst Castle, it reminded me that Vermont Marble has redone their marble pool. They have white marble, only found in Vermont and Colorado. They also carved the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Isn’t that cool? I think the rock caves in your photos are gorgeous. Thanks, John!
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That’s so cool, thanks for pointing that out! We went to Hearst Castle once…insanely beautiful, but also insane to see how far it is from the pier he built just for the ships to bring in all of the building materials…what a shangra-la!
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Glad you enjoyed the story, John. If you ever get east, their museum is fascinating. Really! Definitely a shangri-la at the Hearst Castle. Whew!
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Wow,I’ve never heard of this beautiful town,it sounds charming
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Beth, it truly is, and if you drive north from there you get to Big Sur which is spectacular…lots of incredible hiking trails as well! Thanks for commenting!
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What a marvelous beach, John. Our beaches in South Africa are also like this. Long and wide with lots of sparking sand. Unfortunately, our beaches have been closed for all the holidays these year because of that jolly virus! We are cancelling our holiday because we are worried about the rising infection rate. Never mind, there is always next year.
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Yes, the beaches are closed in much of the state, but some are open because our infection rate is closing indoors, so they now feel that getting people outside when the weather is good will help!
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Yes, I think being outside in the fresh air is better. Sunshine seems to also help with this disease – at least there is a school of thought that thinks that way.
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Well, the really good news is that we are underway with our vaccinations – just a few hundred million to cohere, and few billion for the world and then hopefully we can ease up on most of these restrictions and get back to life! Glad you are staying safe!
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Well, we aren’t getting any until May 2021. Terence might get earlier as he travels for work.
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Definitely one of my favorite places to visit!!
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Our first time but not our last – we loved it!
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That looks like my kind of small seaside town, John. And the food looks great too! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s charming, Pete…with so much room to roam and the beaches are soft sand and go on for miles!
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I think I could happily live there, John. 🙂
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