First time in California
 

We are travelling in California for the first time and hope to travel down Highway 101 and take in the beaches. Any tips or especially good beaches to see? How about hotels and places to eat? Any ideas greatfully received. Thanks

Hard to say not knowing where you are starting or ending. But, know that 101 is not the beautiful coast road that goes past beaches. 101 is the more inland freeway from SF to LA. Most people choose to take Hwy 1 (the coast road) part of the way and then cut over to 101 to pick up time. At one point north of Santa Barbara until close to San Luis Obispo the two are the same and both are inland. If you do a search here for "california coast" you'll find a wealth of information. Then, you'll need a good map of the state with which you can plan. Many beautiful beaches mostly for surfing and water sports as the water is really too cold for swimming. Much different than Florida, for example. One, often overlooked, beach is Pismo Beach on the central coast south of Big Sur.

Well, it depends on what you're after as far as beaches are concerned. Scenic (though very little rocky) are the beaches at Big Sur. The farther south you go towards LA the greater the chance of beach closure due to water contamination. I live in Orange County and there have been a couple of closures this month. Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and some of the San Diego beaches are a little more user-friendly. Those are quite a bit south of Big Sur though. I agree with the previous poster. You should only take 101 when you have to. For the most part you should stick with Pacific Coast Highway (also known as the 1). PCH can run through a lot of small towns and during rush hours can be anywhere from crowded to a traffic nightmare. Definitely avoid weekday rush hours. Check out mapquest.com for real time traffic reports in the areas you want to visit to get a feel for the peak traffic times, then try to schedule your travel around those if you're taking the 1. As long as you plan carefully you'll be awe inspired at the scenerie down that road. It's incredibly beautiful.

I should say the beaches can be very rocky at Big Sur... <BR>not very little rocky <BR> <BR>Sorry about that :-)

Hey Gill, just remember to drive on the Right side of the road. Just kidding. You want Beaches we got beaches here's a few, take your pick: Santa Cruz, Pismo, Malibu, Venice, Big Sur, Monterey Bay, Carmel, Stinson, Moonstone (Cambria), Coronado, Laguna, Point Lobos, and Montecito. And don't even talk to me about Mendocino and Redwood National Park. D <BR> <BR>Whew <BR> <BR>OK OK hey Kid stand back your bothering me. <BR> <BR>Take kam's advice and hug HWY 1 till you get sand in your shoes and a sunset in the Pacific. <BR>

Also note that up north we call it Highway 1 or the coast road or simply say "driving Big Sur". Tracey, being a southern Californian calls it PCH (pacific coast highway) but to my mind that really starts somewhere south of Ventura in Malibu. Also fun to note: northern California will say "101" whereas southern California says "The 101). It's a big state! The tourist board of California used to have a good booklet called "visiting the Californias" or something to that effect--it talked about various areas of California and was available free. There's also another book called "Driving the Pacific Coast"--don't know if it's still available--try Amazon, and there's a good Michelin green guide to California. If you give us some more information, we'll try to help further.

SFGhost, Can I add Drake's beach at Pt. Reyes and Black's beach (now called Torrey Pines) in San Diego? And, I actually love Half Moon Bay on a really windy wet day. We call it the sheepdog beach cause it's heaven for them.