Page 106 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

PISMO BEACH
Central California’s classic beach town
»DINE, BEACH
COMB, PLAY,
EXPLORE!
Pismo Beach
Conference &
Visitors Bureau
classiccalifornia.com
MORNING COFFEE in Pismo Beach,
above; dirt bike rider on the beach, below.
DOES YOUR IDEAL PICTURE of a Cal-
ifornia beach town come complete with a
sandy strand, a wooden pier and surfers
out past the break—waiting for the per-
fect wave? Then you’re carrying a mental
postcard of Pismo Beach. It sits on Cali-
fornia’s Central Coast, midway between
San Francisco and Los Angeles, which
encourages territorial Northern and
Southern California residents to love and
claim it equally.
Start your visit here with a walk on the
1,370-foot-long Pismo Beach Pier, allowing
a peek at the ocean and the beach below
and an optimal vantage point to look back
at land and view the homes, hotels, restau-
rants and shops in town. This is the perfect
beginning perch from which to plan your
local itinerary.
Wine Country and Wildlife
Pismo Beach allows visitors to divide their
time equally between the waves of the
Pacific Ocean and the winemaking regions
of Edna Valley, Arroyo Grande and Avila
Valley, located only 10 minutes outside of
town. And when you’re strolling through
downtown Pismo Beach, many restaurants
include local wines on their extensive wine
104 2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
B Y J I L L K . R O B I N S O N
lists, to be paired with fresh wine-country-
inspired cuisine.
Beaches serve as the front yard of Pismo
Beach, with sandy shoes along the Pacific
Coast available for nearly any level of
adrenaline or relaxation. Romantics enjoy
lingering on the beach to watch the Pacific
Ocean sunsets. Offshore, you can spy sea
otters, migrating whales, seals and tide pool
inhabitants throughout the day. Following
their annual migration, thousands of
monarch butterflies drip from the limbs of
eucalyptus and Monterey pine trees from
late October through February.
Pismo’s Great Outdoors
With six state beaches, two nature pre-
serves and three state parks within a
30-minute drive of town, Pismo Beach is an
outdoor adventurer’s dream. Discover these
reserves on foot or by bike, while your best
options for water excursions are kayak,
surfboard and stand-up paddle board.
Sports enthusiasts can find plenty to do
around Pismo, whether their favorite pas-
time is golf, fishing, surfing, kayaking,
kiteboarding or horseback riding. And once
all the activity is over, the beach is still
there, beautiful as ever.
PISMO BEACH CVB