This section of your California road trip along the coast is a cracker! It offers the opportunity to drive on the beach across extensive sand dunes, look for sea otters in the kelp of Morro Bay, watch Elephant Seals cuddling and fighting on the beach, and experience one of the best drives in the world towards Big Sur. All you need to do is pace yourself, and enjoy the views along this unforgettable part of your journey.
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Good morning, Pismo Beach!
Having arrived the previous evening as the sun was setting over Pismo Beach, and surfers were hauling themselves out of the water to go in search of dinner, it was nice to see the town bathed in sunlight and spot the surfing related murals.
There are plenty of places to pick up breakfast in town, so we ordered Acai bowls and coffees at one of the local cafes before heading out of town in the car to the Oceano Dunes Preserve for our morning’s activity.
Drive a dune buggy on the beach at Oceano Dunes Preserve
Only 3 miles south of Pismo Beach is the Oceano Dunes Preserve, a California State Park, and one of the most expansive coastal dunes systems in California. The Oceano Dunes Preserve offers a rare opportunity to camp, ride a horse, or drive on the beach – in fact, it’s the only California State Park that allows vehicles to drive on the beach. Four-wheel drives recommended to avoid getting stuck in the sand!
The chance to drive dune buggies on the beach is a great reason to include a stop at Pismo Beach on your California road trip with teenagers. Controversially, we chose this over a stop in Santa Barbara.
Sun Buggy Fun Rentals
You can book quad bikes or dune buggies with Sun Buggy Fun Rentals to ride on the dunes. They will advise you to check in one hour before your rental time to complete disclaimer forms and collect your Power Ranger helmets and goggles before your adventure on the sand. Whilst you wait, there is plenty of activity to watch on the beach – cars coming and going, and even horse riders passing by.
There is plenty of parking at the Sun Buggy Fun Rental office. Then, once you’re ready, you need to wait for a bus to transfer you to the departure point for the dune buggies and ATVs further along the beach.
On arrival at the dune buggy departure point, you will be given a map of the sand dunes to follow, plus an emergency rescue number. Surely, we wouldn’t need that, we thought?
Cautionary tale – driving on the beach in our dune buggy was great fun on the flat sand, but it wasn’t too long until we found ourselves struggling in the taller sand dunes with our long wheelbase quad-buggy. Then, we got stuck and had to call the emergency phone number to get towed out of the dunes. Once we’d dusted off our pride, we set off again, but it was only about 15 minutes before we got stuck again, and had to be towed out for a second time!
The trouble was that we kept straying off the safe zones on the map, probably because an expanse of sand all looks the same and it’s difficult to see the dunes ahead of you, until it’s too late…
ATVs would have been a much better option, but our bright orange dune buggy looked cooler. Anyway, it gave the kids something to tease their parents about for the rest of our California road trip!
Search for sea otters in Morro Bay
After some fun at the Oceano Dunes you can pick up Highway 101 and drive north to San Luis Obispo, before picking up the Pacific Coast Highway 1 for the next part of your California road trip.
As an alternative to staying overnight in Pismo Beach, you could stay at the famous Madonna Inn just outside San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is known for its wild themed rooms and would be worth a stop if that suited your itinerary.
We chose to stop at Morro Bay for lunch (30 minutes up the road from Pismo Beach), randomly picking a restaurant which overlooked the water and had a clear view of the distinctive Morro Rock looming over the bay – an ancient rock and plug of a volcano.
The town of Morro Bay heavily publicises sea otters on t-shirts and gifts, so we concluded that the sea otters must be around the area somewhere. After checking out the small strip of shops, we drove around the bay to 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 watching the sea otters frolicking and rolling in the kelp, some of them with babies on their stomachs. Sea otters wrap themselves in the kelp to stop themselves floating away when they’re asleep – just too cute. This was a real holiday highlight from a wildlife spotting perspective as they were so close and totally unbothered by our presence.
Pitstop at Elephant Seal Vista Point
Once you manage to tear yourselves away from the sea otters, get back on the road and enjoy the views of strangely lumpy hills under big blue skies.
About 40 minutes along the coast, just past San Simeon, you’ll reach Elephant Seal Vista Point. There were hundreds of elephant seals on the beach at Elephant Seal Vista Point.
Some of the seals were enormous. The area is a rookery where the seals give birth, tend to their young, and mate. Lots of them were sleeping, cuddled up to each other, and others were honking at each other and play fighting which was fun to watch.
Hearst Castle at San Simeon – if you have time, you can include a visit to Hearst Castle on your California road trip, an estate built by William Randolph Hearst, offering a home full of art and antiquities and beautiful decorations. Unfortunately, when we visited, the Castle was closed due to a previous landslide which had damaged the approach road, so we kept on going to Elephant Seal Vista Point.
Enjoy a stunning drive to Big Sur
Back on the road for the last time on this section of your California road trip, you will begin a wonderful 1.5-hour drive to Big Sur.
The closer you get to Big Sur, the more stunning the scenery becomes as the road hugs the rocky coastline and, at points, reaches a high elevation with dramatic drops down to the ocean – it looks like the Amalfi Coast in Italy with tight, hair-raising bends and incredible views.
The drive to Big Sur was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever done, but it was a hard drive, so we were tired by the time we reached our accommodation at Big Sur Lodge. We had intended to drop into Nepenthe for dinner, one of the key places to eat in Big Sur with great views, however didn’t make it on this occasion.
Also, we had intended to stop at McWay Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, to walk the 0.5 mile track near highway 1, however it was very busy and we couldn’t get parked up.
Important – this section of the road trip around Big Sur is often closed due to landslides and other damage, so definitely double check that the route is open before you set off. If it is closed, you may need to take an inland detour on Highway 101 and pick the route up further on.
Where to stay in Big Sur?
There are some cool places to stay in Big Sur, from cabins in the woods to small luxury hotels, but you need to book early to secure the perfect accommodation for your needs as the area is relatively undeveloped.
We decided to stay somewhere economical as we were just passing through for one night. Big Sur Lodge was beautifully positioned in the trees, with direct access onto the walking trails that we would do the following day, and we had a perfectly satisfactory meal that evening in their family friendly restaurant. Our accommodation was fairly basic and had a ‘cabin in the woods’ feel.
After your exhilarating drive to get to Big Sur, you will no doubt be excited to explore the area and get out into the trees. There are lots of options for this, but one of the most accessible routes is the Pfeiffer Falls Trail behind Big Sur Lodge. Find out how we got on in me next blog…
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