This section of our California road trip along the coast is a cracker. In a single day we drove a dune buggy on the beach, watched sea otters snoozing in the kelp at Morro Bay, listened to elephant seals honking at each other near San Simeon, and finished on one of the best drives in the world into Big Sur.
It’s the second leg of our 10-day California road trip with teenagers, which we did as a UK family over the Easter holidays, and it was the day that gave our two teens the most stories to tell. All you need to do is pace yourself, because there’s a lot to fit in.
Pismo Beach to Big Sur is around 120 miles, roughly two and a half to three hours of driving without stops. You take US-101 north to San Luis Obispo, then Highway 1 up the coast. The Big Sur section of Highway 1 is prone to closures from landslides, so check Caltrans QuickMap before you set off. If the coast road is shut, the inland US-101 is the fallback.
On paper this is a short leg, but it’s one to spread across a whole day. After San Simeon the road hugs the cliffs all the way to Big Sur.
Here’s roughly how our day broke down:
A few miles south of Pismo Beach, so start the day by heading the wrong way.
About 30 minutes up the road from Pismo Beach, and a good lunch stop.
Around 40 minutes further along the coast, just past San Simeon.
Roughly another hour and a half to two hours of slow, winding coast road.
These times are approximate and don’t allow for stops or traffic.
The Big Sur section of Highway 1 is often closed somewhere along its length, due to landslides, storm damage and repair work. Check Caltrans QuickMap on the morning you drive, and again before you commit to the coast road.
If the road is closed, the fallback is the inland US-101. Depending on where the closure is, you may be able to see the elephant seals from the south, then loop inland and reach Big Sur from the north via Carmel. It makes for a longer day.
We’d arrived in Pismo Beach the evening before (the full story is in Part 1, Los Angeles to Pismo Beach), just as the sun was setting and the surfers were hauling themselves out of the water to go and find dinner. It was lovely to see the town bathed in morning sunshine and spot the surf-themed murals on the walls.
There are plenty of places to grab breakfast in town. We ordered açaí bowls and coffees at one of the local cafés, then got in the car and headed a few miles south to the dunes for our morning’s activity.
Just south of Pismo Beach is Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, one of the most extensive coastal dune systems in California. You can camp, ride a horse or drive on the beach here, and it has long been the only California State Park where you can take a vehicle onto the sand. Vehicle access has been the subject of a long-running debate involving the California Coastal Commission, the courts and the county, so check the California State Parks website before you plan your day around it.
The chance to drive dune buggies on the beach was a big reason for stopping in Pismo Beach on our California road trip with teenagers. Controversially, we chose it over a stop in Santa Barbara, and I don’t think the kids regret it for a second.
We booked our dune buggy with SunBuggy Fun Rentals, which rents out dune buggies, quad bikes (ATVs) and side-by-sides from its office in Oceano. There’s plenty of parking at the office, which was handy with a hire car.
They asked us to arrive an hour before our rental time to fill in the disclaimer forms.
You collect your helmets and goggles at check-in. Ours made us look like a family of Power Rangers, which the teens found hilarious.
While you wait there’s plenty going on, with cars coming and going on the sand and even horse riders passing by.
When you’re ready, a bus takes you along the beach to the departure point for the buggies and ATVs.
At the departure point you’re given a map of the dunes, with the safe zones marked, and an emergency rescue number. Surely we wouldn’t need that, we thought.
Driving our dune buggy on the flat sand was brilliant fun. It wasn’t long, though, before we found ourselves struggling in the taller dunes with our long-wheelbase buggy, and then we were well and truly stuck. We had to ring the emergency number and wait to be towed out.
Once we’d dusted off our pride, we set off again. About 15 minutes later we were stuck for a second time, and had to be towed out all over again.
The trouble was that we kept straying outside the safe zones on the map. A big expanse of sand all looks the same, and you can’t see how steep a dune is until you’re on top of it and it’s too late.
With hindsight, ATVs would have been a much better choice for the big dunes. They’re lighter and nimbler, and far less likely to bury themselves. Our bright orange dune buggy did look cooler, though, and it gave the kids something to tease their parents about for the rest of the California road trip.
If you do pick a buggy, stick closely to the safe zones on the map and don’t be too proud to use that emergency number.
After the dunes, pick up US-101 and drive north to San Luis Obispo, then join Highway 1 for the next part of the trip.
If you’d rather not stay in Pismo Beach, the Madonna Inn just outside San Luis Obispo is a famous alternative, known for its wildly themed rooms. We didn’t stay there, but it would be a fun overnight stop if it suits your route.
We stopped in Morro Bay for lunch, picking a restaurant at random because it overlooked the water, with a clear view of Morro Rock looming over the bay. The rock is an ancient volcanic plug, and it’s hard to take your eyes off it.
The town of Morro Bay has sea otters on every T-shirt and gift in the shops, so we reasoned they must be around somewhere. After a wander along the small strip of shops, we drove around the bay towards Morro Rock to see the sculpture Those Who Wait, and found something very special in the water: lots of sea otters hanging out in the kelp.
We sat and watched them rolling around in the kelp, some with babies lying on their tummies. Sea otters wrap themselves in kelp to stop themselves drifting away while they sleep, which is just too cute. They were so close and so unbothered by us that it was a real wildlife highlight of the whole holiday.
Once you manage to tear yourselves away from the otters, get back on Highway 1 and enjoy the views of strangely lumpy green hills under big blue skies.
About 40 minutes along the coast, just past San Simeon, you reach Elephant Seal Vista Point. There were hundreds of elephant seals on the beach when we stopped, and some of them were enormous. The beach is a rookery, where the seals come ashore to give birth, look after their young and mate.
Lots of them were fast asleep, cuddled up to each other, while others were honking and play fighting, which was brilliant to watch.
There are elephant seals on the beach through much of the year, but the numbers and what they’re up to vary a lot by season. Broadly, winter is when the big males arrive to battle it out and the pups are born, spring is when the young seals are left on the beach, and the beach is at its quietest in late summer.
We visited in April and there were still plenty to see. The Friends of the Elephant Seal website has a helpful guide to what’s happening at the rookery month by month, so check it before you go.
Most of the seals you’ll see are females and younger animals; the huge males with the trunk-like noses are less numerous and more seasonal
If you have time, Hearst Castle at San Simeon is a popular stop. It’s the hilltop estate built by William Randolph Hearst, filled with art, antiques and lavish decoration. Unfortunately, when we drove past it was closed, because an earlier landslide had damaged the approach road, so we carried on to the elephant seals instead. Tours can change, so check the Hearst Castle website for tours and access before you plan a visit.
Back on the road for the last time on this leg, you begin the most dramatic part of the drive from Pismo to Big Sur. The closer you get, the better the scenery becomes, as the road clings to the rocky coastline, climbs high above the sea and drops away to the ocean below. It reminded us of the Amalfi Coast in Italy, with tight, hair-raising hairpin bends and incredible views around every corner.
It was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve ever done, but it was also a hard one. We were all pretty tired by the time we reached our accommodation, so take it slowly, use the pull-outs to let faster traffic past, and swap drivers if you can.
We meant to stop at McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, where a short trail from near Highway 1 leads to an overlook of the waterfall dropping onto the beach. It was very busy and we couldn’t get parked. Parking is limited, so arrive early or late in the day.
We’d planned to drop into Nepenthe for dinner, one of the best-known places to eat in Big Sur with big views over the coast. By the time we’d reached the lodge we were too tired to head back out.
Big Sur is remote and relatively undeveloped, which is a big part of its appeal, but it means there aren’t many places to stay. There are some lovely options, from cabins in the woods and campsites to small luxury hotels, but you need to book early, especially for the school holidays. We wanted to stay at the Post Ranch Inn, but it was full on our dates.
In the end we went for somewhere more economical, as we were just passing through for one night. Big Sur Lodge is inside Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and is beautifully positioned among the trees, with direct access to the walking trails we set off on the next morning.
Our room was fairly basic, with a cabin-in-the-woods feel, which suited a one-night stop. We had a perfectly satisfactory dinner that evening in the lodge’s family-friendly restaurant, which was a relief after such a long day on the road.
We’ve only stayed at Big Sur Lodge, so the rest of this is from our research rather than experience:
With so few places to stay, the best-located rooms go months ahead for spring and summer.
The state parks along the coast have campgrounds, which are popular with families and also book up quickly. Reservations are made through California State Parks.
If you can’t find anything in Big Sur, Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey have far more choice and make a good base. You can drive down to Big Sur for the day, road conditions permitting.
In closing
This was one of the most varied days of our whole trip: getting stuck in the sand dunes, watching sea otters and elephant seals up close, and then that jaw-dropping coast road into Big Sur. Leave some slack for the things you can't plan for, like a buggy up to its axles in sand
After a day like that you'll want to get out into the trees, and one of the easiest places to start is right behind Big Sur Lodge. Find out how we got on in our next guide, Big Sur to Monterey.
Pack a sense of humour for the dunes. You'll need it.
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