trying to figure out how long to stop - Cali coastal drive

[wakica]

Just narrowing down our plans for driving from San Francisco to Anaheim this summer before we decide on a night stop along the route.

We want to do 2 days.

Here are some estimates that I have. Please let me know if they are realistic or if I will need more or less time in certain places if you are familiar with this area.

Leave San Francisco early morning (6am)

1. Half Moon Bay - 30 min - check out the Feed and Fuel authentic country store.
This might not work being so early ???

2. Santa Cruz Boardwalk - 1 hour - check out the beach, take some pics and stroll the boardwalk. (not riding as we are doing 6 Flags and Disney also on this trip)

3. Monterey - 2 hours - see the restored buildings, see the Sea Lions, visit Cannery Row - not sure if we want to bother with the aquarium.

4. Carmel and the 17 mile drive- 2 hours - enjoy the scenic drive, gape at some million dollar estates and enjoy the quaint hansel and gretel type cottages of Carmel.

5. Point Lobos State Reserve - ??? - not sure if we should just enjoy driving around or take a bit of time to walk a coastal trail and peek at the sandy beaches.

6. -Drive and enjoy scenes along the Big Sur coast line

7. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - 30 min - enjoy a short walk to see the view of a cove and a waterfall from a cliff - parking is right beside the road.

8. SLEEP AT SAN SIMEON

9. Hearst Castle - first trip there. (3 hours for time to do the tour and get back and check out)?

10. Pismo Beach - drive along the beach

11. Santa Barbara - 1 hour - enjoy the buildings with a spanish influence

12. Arrive Anaheim.

Anything unrealistic? Anything you would change? Add in? Take out? lol
Are we cramming in too much the first day and should maybe stop earlier?

any and all advice is most welcome!

 

[Fantaluminishes]

Just narrowing down our plans for driving from San Francisco to Anaheim this summer before we decide on a night stop along the route. We want to do 2 days. Here are some estimates that I have. Please let me know if they are realistic or if I will need more or less time in certain places if you are familiar with this area. Leave San Francisco early morning (6am) 1. Half Moon Bay - 30 min - check out the Feed and Fuel authentic country store. This might not work being so early ??? 2. Santa Cruz Boardwalk - 1 hour - check out the beach, take some pics and stroll the boardwalk. (not riding as we are doing 6 Flags and Disney also on this trip) 3. Monterey - 2 hours - see the restored buildings, see the Sea Lions, visit Cannery Row - not sure if we want to bother with the aquarium. 4. Carmel and the 17 mile drive- 2 hours - enjoy the scenic drive, gape at some million dollar estates and enjoy the quaint hansel and gretel type cottages of Carmel. 5. Point Lobos State Reserve - ??? - not sure if we should just enjoy driving around or take a bit of time to walk a coastal trail and peek at the sandy beaches. 6. -Drive and enjoy scenes along the Big Sur coast line 7. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - 30 min - enjoy a short walk to see the view of a cove and a waterfall from a cliff - parking is right beside the road. 8. SLEEP AT SAN SIMEON 9. Hearst Castle - first trip there. (3 hours for time to do the tour and get back and check out)? 10. Pismo Beach - drive along the beach 11. Santa Barbara - 1 hour - enjoy the buildings with a spanish influence 12. Arrive Anaheim. Anything unrealistic? Anything you would change? Add in? Take out? lol Are we cramming in too much the first day and should maybe stop earlier? any and all advice is most welcome!

Here are my thoughts:
Half Moon Bay - Just keep going to Santa Cruz. There's nothing notable there.
Santa Cruz Boardwalk - Ride the Giant Dipper, but note that it doesn't start running until around 10am. If you're not going to ride it, there's no reason to stop here.
Monterey - Walk Cannery Row and then have lunch at The Fish Hopper. If you opted to skip Santa Cruz, then you could see the aquarium before lunch.
The drive from Monterey to San Simeon will take several hours. I'd plan to arrive at your motel in the evening.
Hearst Castle - Awesome!
Pismo is a nice beach. We love walking from the part where you drive on the beach, all the way to the pier (about 3 miles round trip).
Santa Barbara - Doesn't appeal to us. I'd stop in Solvang on the way for a Danish meal or pastries, and then head from there, through Santa Barbara, and all the way to Anaheim.

We're Bay Area residents, who visit Monterey, Santa Cruz and the Pismo area several times each year. Have a great trip.

 

[sndral]

Just narrowing down our plans for driving from San Francisco to Anaheim this summer before we decide on a night stop along the route.

We want to do 2 days.

Here are some estimates that I have. Please let me know if they are realistic or if I will need more or less time in certain places if you are familiar with this area.

Leave San Francisco early morning (6am)

...
3. Monterey - 2 hours - see the restored buildings, see the Sea Lions, visit Cannery Row - not sure if we want to bother with the aquarium.

....

Anything unrealistic? Anything you would change? Add in? Take out? lol
Are we cramming in too much the first day and should maybe stop earlier?

any and all advice is most welcome!

Sea Lions in Monterey? They're there and oft spotted in various places, but when I think of seeing groups of them I think of the ones you see @ Moss Landing on the way to Monterey - btw there are also usually otters swimming in the Moss Landing harbor. If you just want to see a group of Sea Lions you'll see a bunch if you visit Pier 39 in SF http://www.pier39.com/home/the-sea-lion-story/.

 

[wakica]

Here are my thoughts:
Half Moon Bay - Just keep going to Santa Cruz. There's nothing notable there.
Santa Cruz Boardwalk - Ride the Giant Dipper, but note that it doesn't start running until around 10am. If you're not going to ride it, there's no reason to stop here.
Monterey - Walk Cannery Row and then have lunch at The Fish Hopper. If you opted to skip Santa Cruz, then you could see the aquarium before lunch.
The drive from Monterey to San Simeon will take several hours. I'd plan to arrive at your motel in the evening.
Hearst Castle - Awesome!
Pismo is a nice beach. We love walking from the part where you drive on the beach, all the way to the pier (about 3 miles round trip).
Santa Barbara - Doesn't appeal to us. I'd stop in Solvang on the way for a Danish meal or pastries, and then head from there, through Santa Barbara, and all the way to Anaheim.

We're Bay Area residents, who visit Monterey, Santa Cruz and the Pismo area several times each year. Have a great trip.

Thanks for the suggestions! We'll definitely be stopping at the Santa Cruz boardwalk even if it's just for pics. LOL. Gotta be able to say "been there, done that". Good to know that you agree there aren't much rides worth catching too. and thanks for the lunch idea for Monterey!

Sea Lions in Monterey? They're there and oft spotted in various places, but when I think of seeing groups of them I think of the ones you see @ Moss Landing on the way to Monterey - btw there are also usually otters swimming in the Moss Landing harbor. If you just want to see a group of Sea Lions you'll see a bunch if you visit Pier 39 in SF http://www.pier39.com/home/the-sea-lion-story/.

We will definitely see them in San Francisco. I only added it in bc the page I read of suggested stops along the way had that down. It was just a vague - ah, we'll do a little of this, a little of that sort of thing for that spot.

 

[endy]

You can also stop to see the elephant seals just north of Hearst Castle. There are signs along the road and a good place to stop and walk along the boardwalk to see them. There are thousands of them.
Make you have enough gas to get to Cambria. It was outrageously expensive between San Simeon and Carmel/Monterey.

We did an evening tour of Hearst last month. It was great, amazing ceilings - so don't forget to look up.

We stopped at the art shop & café south of Big Sur. Beautiful art tho way over my budget.

If you're a golfer Pebble Beach is outstanding but if you want to buy something Pebble Beach they also have a store along Cannery Row that had 30-50% off so it's way cheaper than at the golf course.

 

[usnuzuloose]

If doing the 17 mile drive, you can make a stop at the world famous Pebble Beach and go out on the 18th hole and take in the views. And take pictures. Just walk straight through the hotel to the back and out the doors. I have to go there every time. It is so relaxing.

If you go to Carmel the beach is awesome, the sand is all white!
And a lot of shops to go through if you have time.

 

[GrandBob]

Sea Lions in Monterey? They're there and oft spotted in various places, but when I think of seeing groups of them I think of the ones you see @ Moss Landing on the way to Monterey - btw there are also usually otters swimming in the Moss Landing harbor. If you just want to see a group of Sea Lions you'll see a bunch if you visit Pier 39 in SF http://www.pier39.com/home/the-sea-lion-story/.

Yes, there are Sea Lions in Moss Landing. In fact, they've been numerous and very destructive this year. But the concentration is nowhere near as great as on the Coast Guard pier in Monterey. In fact, I've never seen concentrations as large as on Monterey's Coast Guard pier anywhere else. And I work in Moss Landing and used to live in San Francisco and Pacific Grove. If your goal is seeing large numbers of Sea Lions, go to the Coast Guard pier.

-Bob

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yes, there are Sea Lions in Moss Landing. In fact, they've been numerous and very destructive this year. But the concentration is nowhere near as great as on the Coast Guard pier in Monterey. In fact, I've never seen concentrations as large as on Monterey's Coast Guard pier anywhere else. And I work in Moss Landing and used to live in San Francisco and Pacific Grove. If your goal is seeing large numbers of Sea Lions, go to the Coast Guard pier.

-Bob

In fact I just got a link for the otters on the webcam. Not sure where that webcam is. One year DH and were over by coast guard pier, and we saw one seal push another seal onto the wrong side of the fence.