CAYUCOS, Calif. — A sunny, scenic beach usually means one thing: crowds. But this Central Coast gem just five miles north of Morro Bay is a classic California beach town--without the sea of people.
My family visited Cayucos for a weekend in July, and we were charmed by the retro look of the place. Surf shops and restaurants are housed in 100-year-old wooden buildings, and there's nary a fast-food franchise in sight.
On our first evening in town, we made our way to the waterfront to watch the sun melt into the Pacific. Thirty or so people gathered around a beach bonfire. Offshore, pelicans divebombed into the ocean for dinner. Surfboards poked out the back of sport utility vehicles, the woodies of our time.
The beach party, the funky old buildings, the clean blue shimmer of the water and, most of all, the lack of crowds made it seem as though the clock had been turned back 40 years. As we learned later, local boosters promote Cayucos as the "Last California Beach Town." They may be right.
We originally planned to go to Cambria. With son Kevin at camp on Catalina, my wife, Alison, and I wanted to take daughters Kelly and Katie (ages 15 and 8) away for a long weekend.
Friends took their family to Cambria every summer. Or so we thought. When I called to get their motel recommendation, they said they actually stayed at a cottage in Cayucos, and they loved the place.
Cayucos? As a kid, I spent lazy Sundays along the beaches of Morro Bay, Pismo and Avila. In college, a group of us made an annual Big Sur pilgrimage. But I had never stopped in Cayucos.
That may be because, until recently, the town never promoted itself--and can't easily be seen from California 1.
We made reservations at the Beachwalker Inn, mainly because it had the best ranking in the AAA Tour Book--and because it's a block from the beach.
After a four-hour drive from L.A., we checked in and found our room to be clean and cheery, with green-and-pink patterned wallpaper and a decor that was a little bit country. The rate included coffee, juice, pastries and fruit for breakfast and a copy of the San Luis Obispo paper every morning.
Although you can walk to the beach, the main part of town is about a mile away. Other motels are closer to the action but not as highly rated in the AAA guide.
The first thing Alison wanted to do was walk out on the pier, which was built in 1875 by James Cass, the town's founder.
