San Francisco to LA -4 days
 

My husband and I are traveling from San Franciso to LA and have 4 days to do it. We are leaving SF on Tuesday, May 23rd and have to be in LA Sat May 27th. We would like to see as much as possible as we travel down the coast. We are interested in kayaking, whale watching, and wine tasting. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Some key spots:
- Monterey, stay at the Treebones Resort or Ventana (both are a little south of MOnterey/Carmel on HIghway 1)
- Hearst Castle (1-day)/San Luis Obispo(SLO)/Highway 1(PCH)
- Solvang/Santa Barbara (Take a day or two to take in the wineries along the way from SLO to Santa Barbara.

The Pacific coast hiway heading south is awesome. Having 4 days to do it is really awesome. If you break your trip up into 4 nites, I'd consider staying in Cambria or Morrow Bay, where kayaking on the ocean is easy. Gotta see the Hearst Castle. There's plenty of good wineries near and above Santa Barbara, where I'd also try to spend one or two days if possible. You might want to watch the movie Sideways to get a feel for some options. SB to LA is about 2 hours total with stops and traffic; so I'd hold that off for the last day. A great local spot near the Ventura and LA county line on PCH is called "neptunes," where you get a pile of steaming shrimp which tastes really good with a cold beer. You're as likely to see some Hollywood types there as well as some biker dudes (Harley riders). Gladstones for fish near Sunset and PCH is another option, just outside of Santa Monica. The Santa Monica pier is where "the 10" will take you into LA...have fun!

Morro Bay is great for kayaking as is Monterey.

For whale watching, you can take tours out of Monterey.

Thanks for the feedback. We were debating whether or not to do Hearst Castle, but everyone seems to be recommending it, so I think we will.