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Cayucos, CA

We love Cayucos because it has a wonderful beach, tide pools, pier, little shops and beach front places to stay. Near the pier there is also a beach front pizza place, and a fire pit where they tell stories and roast marshmallows at night. The town is dog friendly and even allows you to eat outside at certain restaurants with your dog. Most of the motels allow dogs and provide designated dog areas. There is also a no leash beach somewhere south of town.

Cambria, CA

We have a favorite place in the old section of Cambria called Heart's Ease.

This shop is a cute little house that has lots of smelly stuff in it, which we don't much stop for, but we wind our way through to the back yard of this tiny house. There you will find a jewel of a garden with paths, plants flowers, and some garden things, but our favorite feature is the FAIRY GARDEN! There is a "room" made of grape vines, just big enough for kids that they can go into and sit on tiny benches, and watch the fairies go about their business. It's free to walk through the garden.

There are sooooo many shops and things to do here, I can't name all of them but here are a couple of our favorites:

Hearts Ease

The Garden Shed

The Cambria Museum

Shamel Beach Park

Shamel Beach Park (photo above of beach) features a lovely grassy area and picnic tables, a large play structure for the kids, a built in pool, a gazebo, and beach access. Some of the prettiest pebbles and drift wood, I've seen are on this beach.

BEWARE OF DANGEROUS RIPTIDES. WATCH YOUR KIDS CLOSELY.

Avila Beach, CA

Below you will see two photos of the Avila Valley Barn. It is located on Avila Beach Road and is right off of Hwy. 1 at Avila Beach. This is also free to walk through, but if you want to feed the animals, it's only .25 a bag and totally worth it! They have goats, chickens, emus, a horse, and a cow.

They also give hay rides around the farm, we've never gone on the ride so I don't know if it costs or not.

There is an open air barn with fruits and veggies. They also have an extensive gourmet foods store, and a sweets shop with salt water taffy and homemade ice cream! Our favorite is the grilled corn on the cob.

Just before you get to the Avila Valley Barn you will see a sign for the Avila Hot Springs. We've never stopped there personally, but I hear it's a great place to go with the kids, and it looks like lots of fun!

Here's a link: Avila Hot Springs

Morro Bay, CA