Beautiful scenery! If looking for a place to relax and detox from the daily routine in LA, this is…read moreit! Enjoy the drive and feel how looking at nature gives you that much needed reset! The good is delicious everywhere you go! I think I had dinner at Tognazzini's Dockside, food was great!

If you like a slower pace, Morro Bay is great. Small shops, ocean breeze, and that huge rock…read morestaring at you everywhere you go. It's not a big tourist scene, which I actually loved. The beaches are clean, people were pleasant & mellow, and the bay views are beautiful. We spent most of the time just walking around. Plenty of parking too. While strolling the pier, you can find numerous seafood and waterfront dining options. If you live in California, it's a 3-day weekend escape, including the hours on the road.

A simple mural on a city street in Morro Bay. I love to see the colors and types of murals that are…read morespread around the town, but this one in its simplicity and color is great. Come on, it is good for a drive by. and a picture of course. I am looking all the murals in our county. This is fun and sure adds color to the local flavor

Just love going to Libraries. Each one has its own unique style. Morro Bay is a bit smaller than…read moreNorth County but just as informative. Love their bulletin board that posts upcoming events and current happenings for the community. Haven't been to this one in quite some time. Oh..... you must ASK for the restroom key from the Librarian for use. Apparently, there are guests who probably use this as their "Wash 'n Go" so it is monitored with signs on both the Men's and Women's Rooms stating to go see the LIBRARIANS, plural.

The librarians are talking to each other REALLY loudly. I…read morewouldn't even care about this, but when I had to make a quick phone call and I started talking QUIETLY for no more than 5 seconds, one of them comes over to me all rude and says "Hey, you can't be doing that in here. You can take it outside!" Really?!? They want the public to STFU at all times, but they keep yapping? This place is a joke.

My little ode to the City of Morro Bay. To me the harbor and waterfront vibe is unmatched. Unlike…read more its neighboring coastal town neighbors, the coexistence of both businesses (tourism and commercial fishing) is symbiotic. Not competing with one another but exists mutually bringing out the best to draw tourists in, like myself. Also ancient lore has it that the calm is brought about by the calming effects of the Morro Rock. Embarcadero: The waterfront, which is called the Embarcadero, is a mix of retail shops, restaurants, hotels, charter tours, local service businesses, and parks. The Embarcadero is well planned out. Behind the shops is a walkway (ADA) with views of the harbor. There is an area with a telescope that locals call the seal viewing point. There is a floating platform in the harbor that seals flop onto and lounge about in each other's company. When there's something to talk about, they sure can chat it up. They can be loud and expressive, heard from the shore. The telescope is free, not one of those coin operated jobbers. Waterfront coastal access walkway: Throughout the harbor view walkway are information boards describing the local plants, animals, ecosystems, and city history.Plus there are memorials along the walkway, to name a few: Anchor Memorial honoring fisherman lost at sea; Nick Howell Legacy Bench honoring his contributions to the local community; First Landing of Filipinos in America marker; and CA state historic landmark # 821 Morro Rock. Restroom Situation: Having clean and accessible restrooms is so important especially for folks day tripping doing the tourist thing. There are public restrooms throughout the Embarcadero and along the coastal access walkway linking the Embarcadero to Coleman Park, iconic Morro Bay Rock and adjoining Morro Strand beach. The parking lots next to the Rock and beach is free. Free access to the beach as well. I gotta hand it to the City for the forethought of the multitude of restrooms. Boat Launch: On the far side of the Embarcadero Street from the Morro Rock is a boat launch that is free to use. But be aware that parking fees for the launch is enforced. It use to be free, but that changed recently in March 2026. Plus this area has a park (Greenspace, play area, picnic table/bbqs, restroom, fish cleaning station). Maritime Museum: Such a special place. Outdoor exhibits of real vessels. The one room museum surprisingly holds significant local artifacts and historical info. Plus the best part, it's FREE. Donations accepted but no pressure or mention by staff to do so. Landmarks: +Morro Rock - The Rock stands 580 feet tall and is a volcanic plug dating back to 20,000 million years ago. It's against the law to climb onto the rock. It's a protected area for birds. Plus with all the guano, you don't want any part of that, +Three Stacks- PG& E built an energy plant along the harbor in the 1950s. Thus the three stacks. The plant was closed in 2014. After a study was completed that determined it would take about $1 million per year to maintain the three stacks, the City voted to remove the three stacks which will be taken down by 2028. Say your goodbyes now. History: The Chumash tribe lived here before the European settlers. Archaeological artifacts of the local tribe date back to over 3500 years ago. Then by the late 1500s, it has the earliest recorded European interactions. By the late 1700s, permanent European settlement occurred in the area. In 1870, the city became officially incorporated, just 20 years later after California obtained statehood in 1850.

We passed by here yesterday before heading home. We were in Cambria which is a short drive north of…read moreMorro Bay. Morro bay is a beautiful seaside town. They have nice places to eat and shop at. Some of our favorites are Dorn's, Giovanni's and Dockside to name a few. Cal Poly is not too far away, in San Louis Obispo. It's definitely worth checking out. You will see lots of surfers at the beach close to Morro Rock.

The Morro Bay Art Center has been a part of Morro Bay since it's inception seventy years ago…read more Located downtown on Main Street, one cannot miss the bright purple building which serves as a gallery of local member artist's creations, as well as offering art classes, demonstrations & workshops. The two-story building has changed over the years, with the addition of a classroom and kitchen, as well as a second floor gallery. MBAA is celebrating it's 70th Anniversary with MBAA SALON 2021 - Show & Sale which runs through July 12, 2021. The two story art center is presently showcasing a large number of member artist's approaches from Pop Art to Contemporary, in medias of acrylics, glass, bronze, mixed-media and much more. Their current hours are from noon until 4 pm, except Saturdays they have extended hours to 6 pm. This member supported volunteer organization is an asset to the Central Coast community.

This Art Center is calling for artists! I had noticed many lessons being given at the Art Center…read morein Morro Bay, which piqued my curiousity. Then the bird show started calling me. The New Times ran a feature showing some of the work on exhibit, so we drove out to the coast for the day and sauntered in. The gallery is refurbished since days of old, and features a nice exhibit space on the first floor, while a second large art gallery is somewhat hidden up a set of stairs. The bird drawings paintings, and prints were uniquely evocative of our central coast area and the works also drew upon the beautiful surrounding environment. Since January and February are primo "Birders" months, and Morro Bay now has an ongoing Birders Festival each year, this was a perfect match. We enjoyed the display and the ceramics and jewelry that the upstairs had. We will return to more shows in this gallery.

Best Tattoo Shop on the Central Coast! Have been a customer for over 17 years and now travel from…read moreArizona for my yearly visit. Great Atmosphere, Creative Artists and always look forward to my next visit.

02.21.2024 - Spur of the moment piercing…read more I hate that I have to leave this horrible review, especially because Jeremiah was really nice and awesome. But I feel as though I have to do my due diligence to make sure that this doesn't happen again and to help others avoid the same situation that I'm in now. Before heading back home from Santa Barbara, I take a quick shower and suddenly, one of my forward helix piercing fell out. With its awkward position, I tried putting it back in, but there was no way I could. I needed professional help. I called multiple places within Santa Barbara's vicinity, but all tattoo and piercing shops open late. Since I'll be passing by Morro Bay and it's about 1.35hrs away, the timing seemed to be perfect. So I hit the road and waited to call around some of the shops in that area. The first place that popped up on Yelp was Central Coast Tattoo. Since it was a tattoo and piercing shop, without any hesitation, I called and let the shop know I was on my way. I've been wanting to complete a certain piercing look on my right ear, so I decided to get 2 piercings along with reattaching my forward helix piercing. It was definitely a spur of the moment decision. Jeremiah was super nice, easy going and he was patient as I was looking through the jewelry collections. I asked if the earrings are surgical steel or medical grade steel. Jeremiah confirmed they were. After choosing my earrings, I waited for him to set up his station. Everything was fine, I was excited, but felt at ease. He drew the dots on my ear, showed me a mirror and adjusted them as needed. I have to say, I've had 12+ piercings throughout my life and never have I had excruciating pain during piercings. But this time, it was the first. Both piercings were extremely painful when puncturing and it ended up bleeding too. But even then, I didn't think anything of it because sometimes, the condition of our body's can feel off than normal and the location of the ear could be more sensitive than usual. Since getting it pierced, my ears started to swell badly, got red and felt hot. By the next day, just getting a whiff of air touching my right ear, I felt stinging pain. I started my aftercare regimen religiously. Warm salt water soak, clean around the piercing with saline, warm compress, ice pack...it got so bad to the point that I couldn't sleep all night from the throbbing, stinging pain. I felt like I was going to come down with a fever. My lymph nodes started to get bumpy and painful. My head started hurting. The nerves connected to my right ear all started radiating pain. It got pretty bad by the 4th day. Even with my aftercare routine, it just got more angry and irritated. When I got up on 2/25/2024 morning, I rushed to the mirror to check if the swelling went down, but my heart dropped and I was in absolute distraught mode. One of the two piercings got eating by my skin! (OMG!!!!) The front part of the earring is nowhere to be seen. I gently touch the back to see if the post was still in my ear, and it barely was. I thought my skin popped the front part off so I started checking my bed, around my bed, under my pillow, but I couldn't find it... Great, my skin at ate the earring...I never experienced this in my life...I'm panicking while trying to stay calm...my husband tried to push the back post forward to check and he saw the front part deep within my ear...My husband started searching for the best, cleanest and reputable piercing shop in the city and he found Body Manipulations. There's no time to delay and to beat the crowd, we get ready to drive down to the shop as soon as they opened. Just one look, the piercer knew what needed to be done. She had to forcefully push the embedded earring out to clasp it. Both piercings needed to be removed and I must say, this was the most painful 45 seconds of my life! She noticed that the embedded one was pierced at an angle, creating tissue damage. This explained the sharp pain with blood when Jeremiah pierced me. Also, remember I mentioned that I confirmed whether the earrings were good quality? Well, it turned out that each piece, the front and the back post were made of very poor quality metal. This added to my ear getting really angry because my skin is very sensitive. At this point, I'm pretty pissed. I spent money to get my ears infected. My other healed piercings were also getting affected from my ears swelling up so much that I had to get a longer post for them. Spent unnecessary money. Within 4 days, my ears went from looking normal to looking like dumbo with red, angry, inflamed ears. Unfortunately, this establishment does not use good quality jewelry. Although most tattoo + piercing shops are managed by professionals who are trained and skilled at performing legit piercings, I don't believe Central Coat Tattoo meets that criteria.

David's art is outstanding. It was a pleasure to view his art in person in his gallery and to have…read morean opportunity to talk with him. Definitely inspiring!

Went in after eating at Shine next door and was glad I did! They have a huge selection of…read morelandscapes and seascapes featuring local areas. They even have an entire collection of dog art! And the staff is great!!

Wonderful store ... unique, artsy jewelry pieces. One of a kinds. Must see!…read more Website is not working.

One of my favorite shops on the Embarcadero. They have the most beautiful jewelry and gift items…read more Last time we were here I bought beautiful ring made out of old unique Japanese button. The owner remembered us when I told her about the ring I had bought last visit. That same jewelry designer had other button jewelry on display here. They were having a sale on everything there, which was great. I ended up finding a cute mini wallet as a gift for a friend and a tiny stuffed cat that resembles my own cat. Both items were a great price. I'm so happy we stopped by here.

Great place, educational, worth the trip. I go every time I'm in town. And I spend a ton of money…read morein the gift shop because I want to support the museum. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and have fun doing it. Great for the whole family.

A neat little museum to stop in when passing through. I would plan on spending about half hour…read more Entrance fee is $3 per adult.