I knew that it was worth an extra day to travel down California route 1 as far as Morro Bay because I had done the trip, in the opposite direction, in the summer of 2014. The weather was mainly sunny but there was a stiff wind so the surf was quite rough in places. The drive has never-ending views and dozens of viewpoints for almost its entire length and, driving south, meant that I was more easily able to get in and out of the viewpoints. The video of the trip was in 27 segments so I think I must have stopped at least 26 times and over 200 photos were taken. In order to keep the video watchable I had to break the journey into two sections.
The northern section is the more rugged and sometimes you find yourself looking down on the ocean from 1,000 feet up and at other times you are just above the breaking waves. The map and video for this section are here.
The southern section is significantly flatter with more beaches and better opportunities for the road to stay right on the coast. However, there are still rocky headlands and there are often trails from the viewpoints that allow you to get on them. There are opportunities to view hundreds of seals basking on the beaches and Hearst Castle, in San Simeone, is a worthwhile stop but, since I had visited in 2014, my memories did not need refreshing today. The map and video for this section are here.
My destination, Morro Bay, is notable for the huge rock that rises 581 feet above the ocean just off the coast but, sadly, this will be my last port of call on the perimeter as I will turn east tomorrow and begin my journey home.
Two of over a hundred spectacular views I photographed from viewpoints.
The waves were packing quite a punch today. This rock was about a half mile offshore and about 50 feet high but the surf was higher.
This is just one of several beaches with hundreds of seals basking in the sun.
And here is the sun setting on my perimeter trip in Morro Bay .
Great pictures! Rachelle was recently in San Francisco Bay and saw a great white shark gulp down a seal!
No such action where I saw the seals. The biggest excitement was when some wanted to move up the beach to escape the rising tide.
Great views. Did Monterrey to Cambria in 2011 and this time I did stick to the coast before heading inland at the end. Don’t remember all the road-works on the ocean side of the road though!