My Dad lives in Laguna Beach and we have been flying out for years. We love Laguna but the time has come to explore a little.

We are booked into the San Luis Bay Inn located in Avila Beach, CA for Easter week 2003.

Would love input on the area, hotel, recommended restaurants and day trips for myself my husband and 8yo.

Is it worth the hassel to get a connecting flight from LAX or should we just drive it?

TIA

Last time I heard, Avila Beach was almost a ghost town due to petroleum contamination. No downtown facilities. Hope you all like golf. There is a pretty good restaurant on the pier at Port San Luis. Other than that, you'll have to travel to Pismo Beach, Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo to do anything. I'd seriously consider a change of plan.

Lawren,
Don't let Pat discourage you, maybe he hasn't been here for awhile!
The San Luis Bay Inn is a timeshare, located between Avila Beach and Port San Luis. Within walking distance is the Avila Beach Golf Course, Avila Beach, a great bar "Rick's" that has live music most nights and a restaaurant called The Custom House. Port San Luis is pretty and "Fat Cat's" serves the best breakfast around. Five minutes away are the Sycamore Mineral Springs, you can get some spa services there Massage, facials, and you can rent the hot tubs by the half hour. Montana de Oro State Park is beautiful, great for picnics and horseback rides. Downtown San Luis Obispo has the Mission (interesting tour and museum)mostly small boutique shopping, a few art galleries and lots of restaurants mixed in. Definately a town where you park the car and walk around! The Madonna Inn is fun and kinda kooky, Cambria, Hearst Castle, and Rocky Point are all great day trips. Also, there are several wineries in the area, so leave an afternoon for wine tasting. If you have specific questions, I'll be happy to answer.

Lynette

you will be so happy if you do not go to Avila, and take a plane to the Monterey Penninsula instead. If you are looking for college town beach atmosphere, Santa Cruz is the better spot.

Avila beach is yucky tack ville. One good restaraunt is there but I forgot the name. It has a pier attached I think. It is upscale, in the north part of town.

Be careful if you go to that bar called Ricks. There are older men lurking.

I don't know what the previous poster is talking about - Avila is not "yuck" at all. Located in a canyon and near Shell Beach, this stretch of coast is a great place for a getaway. Your 8 year old will enjoy Fat Cat's for dinner.

STAY AWAY FROM SANTA CRUZ--
Beach area--lot of gang activutiy and downtown full of homeless people.
Pismo Beach lots of stuff to do.& don't miss Farmers Market on thurs evening in San Luis Obispo it is great.

As a local, we have stayed at the San Luis Bay Inn. The petroleum clean-up is totally done, and the small town is greatly improved. If you fly into San Luis Obispo, you can easily rent a car there and the drive to Avila is only about 15 minutes. Changing terminals in LAX is not a big deal. The drive from LAX is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Besides San Luis, you can easily go to Cambria and Hearst Castle for a day. I think you will have an enjoyable week!!