And so we hitched up our little caravan and moseyed 200 miles down the central coast of California to charming Morro Bay.
Lovely Morro Bay
We visited Morro Bay several years ago and loved it. This time, however, the state campground was full. It’s actually not a bad thing when we’re forced to expand our search. We found a pretty regional park campground tucked into the hills between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. It was the perfect location for eight days of exploring the area.
In this stretch of the central California coast, velvety green hills meet the sparkling ocean for a breathtaking tableau. The entire area encompassing Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, and the surrounding small towns offers up a friendly, relaxed atmosphere to accompany the stunning natural beauty. We walked the beach, kayaked, explored the towns, and made day-trips to nearby Cambria and Los Osos for wild and wonderful nature adventures (blog post to come).
Here, the highlights of our time in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo:
Morro Strand Beach
Anchored at one end by the unmistakable presence of Morro Rock, Morro Strand State Beach offers three miles of coastline for meditative beach walks. At Morro Rock, we watched peregrine falcons nesting, sea otters at play just offshore, and enjoyed the gorgeous golden light that illuminates the rock at sunset.
Morro Strand Beach
Morro Rock
Kayaking Morro Bay
This was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Morro Bay. It’s easy to get out on the water here—kayak rentals are available at the state park and in town.
We set out mid-morning to take advantage of an unusually high tide, which allowed us to kayak deep into the marsh. We glided in narrow channels past scores of avocets, curlews, godwits, and sandpipers, all awaiting the return of low tide to expose their foraging grounds.
Morro Bay Kayak Shack
The day was so gorgeous that we then decided to head in the opposite direction, toward Morro Rock. Our motivation was to see if we could find the sea otters we had been watching from shore the previous day. It’s a long paddle from the marsh to the rock, and we were paddling against the wind. But we were on a mission, energized to find the otters. Alas, we reached our destination to find no sea otters, and the tide had turned against us.
The Reward For All That Effort: Sea Otters!
We faced a long, arduous paddle back, thinking, “Well, that wasn’t a good decision.” And then, directly in front of us, a sea otter bobbed to the surface, grasping a large scallop. With a loud squeal, mama otter called to the baby otter, who bobbed to the surface nearby. The otters rolled and frolicked in the water just a few feet from our kayak, completely undisturbed by our presence. That 15 minutes with the otters was worth the return paddle from hell.
Mama and baby sea otters
Baby sea otter hitches a ride on mama
When we finally made it back to the dock, the staff at the kayak rental place said, “Wow! You paddled across the bay? Against this tide?” I’m fairly certain the unspoken import was, “Are you crazy?”
The perfect ending to our terrific and crazy paddle was lunch at the Bayside Cafe, conveniently located just across from the dock.
Fish tacos at the Bayside Cafe
A Quick Trip to San Luis Obispo
Although we were only six miles from San Luis Obispo, we didn’t spend much time there because we had so many other things we wanted to do in the area. The Thursday night Farmer’s Market is legendary; we found a few organic vegetables, but it’s more of a street party than a true farmer’s market. Katherine and I also spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring the historic mission, and, of course, every interesting shop and gallery in the downtown area.
San Luis Obispo Mission
El Chorro Regional Campground
What a great find! El Chorro Regional Campground is situated in the beautiful rolling hills of the central coast, just a few miles from Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. There are wonderful hikes right from the campground, and the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is on site.
The park offers full hookups for $35 a night; the sites are attractive, and although many are on the smaller side, there are some that will accommodate big rigs, including several pull-throughs.
Your lovely pictures tell the tale of two enchanting towns. How wonderful to spend time there with friends, too!
Marcia, the central coast truly is enchanting. And it was even more fun shared with friends!
Gorgeous photos especially that last one! :)
Thanks, Janna! It’s a gorgeous area.
Bill went to college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the area is his favorite. Still, you saw more than we have! That was a crazy paddle – but the otters are wonderful :-) I love all the pics, the hawk on the pine cone perch really stands out, and they really capture the diversity of things to see. Thanks for the info on the campground!!
Jodee, it’s such a small world — Eric lived in San Luis Obispo after college until the early 80’s. We both love it there! Glad you enjoyed the photos — it’s such a beautiful area. It will be fun for you guys to head back there in your new rig. :-)
Sounds like a perfect stay! I can only imagine how tired your arms and butts must have been after that long, rough paddle back…but the otter payoff most certainly would have been worth it! Thanks for the heads up on El Chorro!
Lisa, it was an absolutely perfect stay — it was difficult for us to leave! That was a rough paddle back, but it was worth it. El Chorro is great — we can’t wait to return. p.s. We liked C-loop best. :-)
Eeekkk!!! Those sea otters are so cute! We were just talking yesterday about wanting to spend more time in that part of CA. A few years ago we spent a few nights at the El Chorro Regional Park, but it rained most of the time so we didn’t get to explore the area much. Your kayaking adventures sound similar to what we’ve experienced here in Florida with the strong tidal currents. Sure is different than paddling around a lake.
Amanda, we were thrilled to have such a wonderful sighting of the adorable otters! It was worth the tough paddle. I can see how your experience in this area would have been very different in the rain — we definitely lucked out with the weather.
As always remarkable photos. What fun to share the adventure with such grand folks as Ted and Kathy. We hope you’ll make your way down to Anza Borrego while we are still around,.(month of Feb) Would be fun to share some desert time. Weather is great, sunrises,sunsets and moonrises spectacular, birds chirpy, citrus plentiful, bike riders serious and neighbors pretty good too. (Karen and Larry).
Thanks, Sue — we’ll definitely be seeing you in Anza Borrego — we’ll be there to share the last week of February with you guys! Looking forward to reconnecting. :-)
OH WOW!! You got to kayak with otters, one of my VERY favorite animals. I am green with envy. I’ll even do the tough paddle for that. This looks like such a great place. Sure wish I were with you. This is definitely my kind of fun. How terrific that you were able to find this regional park when the state park was full. Great tip, thanks, if I can EVER get out there.
Sherry, we were thrilled, too! Seeing the otters definitely made the paddle worth the supreme effort it took. This is a place you and David will absolutely love.
Just to let you know once again my good friends how much you brighten my life with your fabulous photography and so, so interesting blogs to accompany it. I love travelling with you! We have just come through a blizzard–two days and 19 inches of snow. Oh the “bleak midwinter”. Love, Barbara
Barbara, I’m so happy you’re traveling along with us and that we can take you away (momentarily) from 19 inches of snow. You would have loved seeing all of the birds at Morro Bay.
Oh, the Central Coast is so wonderful, and I was very tickled to read about that regional park. I don’t enjoy the state parks as much any more when they are crowded and expensive for no hookups. California sad. But what a great time you had in a beautiful part of the state. Love Morro Bay, and we have never kayaked there. I have to be sure to keep track of this one, Laurel, for our next coast trip south. Thanks!
Sue, I think you’ll enjoy El Chorro. We’ve been staying in California Regional Parks the past few years and really like them — they’re a great alternative to the expensive state parks. You would love kayaking at Morro Bay!
That header photo was worth every muscle you exhausted trying to return back:) The otter is my all time favorite. I would have loved being with you to watch those two play. What amazing photos!!
This looks like an area we would really enjoy visiting. We actually had reservations in San Luis Obispo two years ago but for some reason we cancelled and went somewhere else. I was disappointed because the monarch butterflies were wintering there and I wanted to visit the olive farms. Oh, well, another time. But you have resparked my interest:)
Gorgeous photos, Laurel:)
Pam, you would love this area — there’s so much natural beauty, and so many opportunities to get out and enjoy it. I’m so glad you enjoyed the otter photos. Hmmm….olive farms — now you’ve given us another reason to go back there!
Isn’t it always the case when kayaking that the tide and/or the winds get worse as you’re about to head back to where you started. Sounds like a wonderful time, though. If you’re in the Monterey area, you may want to check out Elkhorn Slough – check out our post http://www.islandgirlwalkabout.com/2014/05/17/elkhorn-slough-national-estuarine-research-reserve/
Brenda, I just went back to look at your post and I’m glad you reminded me of Elkhorn Slough. We’ve hiked near Elkhorn Slough but not kayaked it — maybe we can make it there when we head back to Ashland mid-March. Your otter photos are amazing!!
Thanks for such a great post about Morro Bay and the surrounding area. We too have been out kayaking and found ourselves exhausted after a long paddle against the wind and current. But I would do it any day for a chance to watch the sea otters up close. A couple of years ago near Eureka CA we had such great fun watching the harbor seals all around us while we kayaked.
We’ll put that one on our list, LuAnn. You’ll love kayaking in Morro Bay — next time we’ll watch the tides a little more closely!
I had been wanting to go to Morro Bay for so many years. For some reasons we always get stuck at either Cambria or at Big Sur.
Everytime I read your posts along CA coasts, it gives me a big smile. For although we had been driving up and down there, there are still a lot to see and do that we skipped or just overlooked. We will keep this mind once we are back out west.
ML, Cambria and Big Sur are good places to be stuck! Morro Bay is wonderful, though — you guys would love it there.
Great post, Laurel. Raul and I will be in the Morro Bay/Cambria area in early April, so your travel tips will come in handy (except for paddling against the tide!).
So glad this might help you, Thalia. You and Raul will love Morro Bay and Cambria — we can’t wait to return! Looking forward to seeing you back in Ashland.