On our upcoming trip after staying in Carmel we plan to take off in the morning towards the South stopping for an early lunch at Nepenthe. After that the only other planned stop besides coastline picture taking is at the Limekiln State Park.

So my question is should we try and make it to Santa Barbara in that one day or spend a night in Pismo Beach?

The PCH drive to from Carmel to Pismo Beach shows only 140 miles (3 hours per Bing maps) while the total trip to Santa Barbara is 221 miles (4.5 hours). I don't want to get to Pismo Beach too early nor do we want to get someplace too late, but Santa Barbara looks like the only logical place to stay after Pismo.

Thoughts?

It is a long drive from Carmel to Santa Barbara and part of that drive is along Big Sur with mostly low speed limits. Either Cambria or Pismo would be my choice.

i've done carmel to santa barbara and found it to be a comfortable drive...getting into santa barbara around dinner time. pismo, morro bay or cambria are other options.

Seaside Motel in Cayucos. Less touristy than Cambria and more a laid-back, classic California beach town.

You could also stay around Lompoc (lots of motels as well as an Embassy Suites or HIExpress), or Solvang/Buellton.

We really enjoyed staying at the Fireside Inn on Moonstone Beach near Cambria. Loved the gorgeous natural beauty of marine life along the boardwalk. We walked to a restaurant but more restaurants are available in the little town of Cambria. We relaxed there for two nights and enjoyed the Central Coast wineries and dinner in Paso Robles. Hearst Castle is right there if you want to take a tour. For us, the Cambria area was beautiful and peaceful.

http://visitcambriaca.com/attraction...onstone-beach/

Take a look at this video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtavkbMoi2A

I stayed at the Fireside Inn a couple of years ago and found there was little to no internet access. Had to walk across the street to the beach to check email. Some people might not need to do that, but at the time I was dealing with a family emergency and being on a dark beach all by myself at night was not pleasant. Last week I stayed in San Simeon at the Morgan hotel. Internet in the room and a pretty good Continental breakfast.

Agree with Jamie99 and others. Carmel to Santa Barbara is a long haul and the latter has a nasty rush hour. Best to avoid it if possible, especially for a one-nighter where you won't have time to do much sightseeing anyway. Cambria, Pismo or even SLO would be better options imo.