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San Simeon Pier Photos

Recommended Reviews - San Simeon Pier

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Diana D.

This might be my favorite pier in the whole of California. Several years ago when I did my trip from South to North on CA 1, I passed by this beach and pier and it was breathtaking. But I was so tired driving along the coast that I didn't take the time to enjoy it. Many years went by and I never got a chance to come back and visit this beach. Finally, after almost 8years I got a chance to come back to it and enjoy it. This place is quiet, calm, quaint and simple. A perfect place to just be with the nature, the ocean, the sea mammals (plenty of them) and very little people. Although this place is great all day, come here either during sunrise or sunset and be blown away by the amazing views.

Marcus F.

A simple pier, yet rich with history. A treasure trove of antiquities have made their way over these planks. Very peaceful here and so many other cool things to explore along the beach below. Take the time to walk around the area and not just walk along the pier. - At low tide there are various sea animals to check out. A great place to find starfish. - Check out the The San Simeon Bay trail. Just head north along the beach below the pier and look for a trail leading up the cliffside. Amazing views of the coast and a nice walk through the trees. - Another quiet and safe pier in the area is the Cayucos pier, 22 miles south of here in the seaside town of Cayucos.

Christopher H.

San Simeon, California (San Luis Obispo Co). Highlights: Sandy Beaches, the non-commercialized pier and dope weather. Parking/Roads: Paved, decent sized lots for trailers & porto potties. Handicap: Excellent for us sick peoples. Hours: 24/7. There is a gate and kiosk but I don't see how they can prevent visitors. Cost: Free Distance: SLO is the closest big town - appx 40 miles @ under one hour. DTLA - Appx 250 miles @ 4 hours. San Fran - Appx 210 miles @ 4 hours. Bakersfield - appx 150 miles @ 2.5 hours. San Simeon is located off of California's Iconic Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH/HWY 1) south of Big Sur. Common activities include fishing off the pier, and general beach activities. I didn't see any watercrafts or docking spots for boating or related fun stuff. The pier is a perfect location for an hour long break when traveling to or from LA/Marin Counties where you can stretch, walk around, exercise a bit, snap some killer sunrise/set photos, people watch, bird and animal watch, have a snack or lunch and to enjoy the mildly polluted beauty of God's grand design. There is something about the brisk sea air tapping the shoulders coupled with the cold ocean water revitalizing the soul from the hips down that I can not explain accurately with script & feebly attempted with my crappy photography... The limitations of the artistry realm from a data driven calculus loving numbers type of idiotic genius is what my shrink (ex-gf) have labeled a decade plus ago. What's that mean? Come waste your time and find out yourself =P Adjacent Attractions: Hearst Castle (accessed across the street) for you museum peoples. Elephant Seal sanctuary for you peta types. They some big ole seals~! Hearst Winery for you debcaurous types. Piedras Blancas Light House/Station for you naval types. Coastal Discovery Center for those w/ mini me. Endless amount of Hiking, walking, biking trails for you fit bastards. And for you speed freaks, if your lucky, no cars or cops =) Adjacent Eateries: Cambria has some weak boutique spots & SLO has all of Yelp Elite's favorite corporate chains like McD's, Starbucks, Walmart, etc. The food sucks off the coast w/ exception to some baller restaurants w/ killer views here & there. I pack my own goodies whenever I'm headed this way. Travel safely my friends and wear your seatbelt, and mask, and goggles cause the Govt claims it will save your life from a virus that has a 0.0002 odds of killing you which translate to a 99.98% of living if you are hit w/ COVID for California residents. Oops sorry, there goes my data driven mind again. @cigarcpa

Cody H.

It's a beautiful free spot to stop at and admire the ocean and coast line. There is also a nice beach to dip your toes or build sandcastles, and fly a kite. Directly across from the famous mansion. A good place to relax after and reflect on the simplicity of nature after seeing the epitome of excess.

From the pier itself.
Mike K.

Stopped here briefly on a recent camping/road trip up the central coast. It's right next to the Hearst Castle. It's a nice beach and pier and wasn't too crowded when I stopped by before sunset. But the lawn area had some bbq/event earlier in the day. People are absolute slobs. The mess that they left behind is ridiculous. Clean up after yourselves you pigs! Rant aside, it's a cool beach for sunset and a quick stroll.

San Simeon Pier - March 2017
Stephanie C.

Pretty pier! There is no Ruby's at the end, so for us Southern California people, this may not be what you expect of a pier. It really is just a long pier that takes you out to overlook the beautiful ocean and California coastline. There were some people walking the pier, taking photos, and even a few fishing. We also saw a seal playing in the waves below. That was our favorite part! Nice little stop in San Simeon. Parking is fun free too!

Pier on a glorious day.
Valerie D.

Great day for a Sunday drive. Left cloudy Atascadero and headed to Morro Bay, had lunch, stopped by Morro Rock. The sun is shining, blue skies and warmer than inland today. We continued onto Hwy 1 heading North. Our final stop was here. Walked the Pier and absorbed this beautiful Country and Ocean of ours. Nature at finest. Calm ocean like glass, lush Green hills, no noise or air pollution, mammals and animals surrounding area, OH MY!!! This is a must stop for everyone and it's free. Bring a picnic lunch and take a walk on the wild side (beach).

A M.

Gorgeous place to watch the sunrise. Has a beach next to it where elephant seals sometimes show up. Right by Sebastian's. Also by the Discovery Center, which is always fun to check out. Paths to walk on. There's often people fishing... it's a nice place.

San Simeon pier

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Review Highlights - San Simeon Pier

Plus, Central Coast has the absolute most gorgeous sunsets and to view unobstructed from this pier is just phenomenal.

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Piedras Blancas Light Station - Info signs along the trails

Piedras Blancas Light Station

4.6(69 reviews)
8.5 mi

First lit in 1875, the Piedras Blancas lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark as well as a…read moredesignated Outstanding Natural Area! It's surrounded by a marine sanctuary and the beaches and rocks are full of seabirds and elephant seals and more. If you can manage to get tickets for a tour, I highly recommend you jump on it - they're infrequent with limited availability - but so worth it! The tour starts at an old, out-of-use motel nearby - then you all get in your cars and follow the guide into the light station complex. After parking, you meet the tour guide for the grounds and they give a talk. Then you're free to explore for the rest of your allotted time. There are lots of historical buildings on the grounds to explore - with little "museums" in the gift shop, fog signal house, and lighthouse itself. You can even still see the foundation area of the original 1906 keeper's house - but the building was moved to nearby Moonstone Beach. You can't tour it but it's available to rent for overnight stays! Sadly, the top three floors of the lighthouse had to be taken down due to repeated earthquake damage - so the original lens (a first order Fresnel) was moved and is on display in nearby Cambria. But the signal is still functional and flashes every 10 seconds on its temporary replacement lens. They do have plans to fully restore the lighthouse to all its former glory - but are still trying to raise the funds - they have a GoFundMe on their website if you're interested. The grounds have tons of trails all around with amazing views of all the beaches and "piedras blancas" or "white stones" - covered in sea birds and seals! Definitely don't miss out on at least some of them. My only complaint is that they only give one tour a day (starting at 945am) and only allow you a total of two hours to explore - which is definitely not even close to being enough imo. Our tour guide's talk was 40-45 mins long so that left only about an hour to see all the museums and buildings and explore the trails. And they're strict on the time limit too :( But it's still totally worth it - and actually it's probably better for the protected nature environment lol! So see it if you get a chance bc it's a rare luxury!

Booked a Monday 2-hour tour in the early morning of the tour, and it turned out to be the best…read moreexperience of our central coast trip. The coastal fog cleared enough on the late June day for us to enjoy glimpses of Piedras Blancas rocks and breaching whale. Plus the native plants were in peak bloom. No one minded that the docent led tour lasted longer than the original 45 minutes, after which we were allowed to roam the well-groomed grounds until noon. Most of the tour group were still there when we left at 11:45 am. The fact that only tour groups are allowed in felt exclusive, plus you are away from the mass of summer tourists. My advice... the advertised tour dates are Tues, Thurs, & Sat, but we booked ours for a Monday. It doesn't hurt to check for available dates on the booking website.

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Piedras Blancas Light Station - Piedras Blancas Light Station

Piedras Blancas Light Station

Piedras Blancas Light Station - Historical buildings on the grounds

Historical buildings on the grounds

Piedras Blancas Light Station - Piedras Blancas Light Station

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Piedras Blancas Light Station

Margarita Adventures - Three generations zipping.

Margarita Adventures

4.9(381 reviews)
33.7 mi

Such a fun experience at Santa Margarita Ranch Ziplining! The adventure honestly starts the minute…read moreyou arrive. You check in at the main office downtown, then hop on a tour bus to the ranch property. Our driver was super informative and entertaining along the way. The drive itself felt like part of the experience with bumpy ranch roads, multiple gates, gorgeous scenery, and a real behind the scenes feel of the property. Once you arrive, the staff gets you geared up with all the safety equipment and everyone was incredibly friendly, professional, and great with all ages. After gearing up, you take an old Army style jeep up the mountain and that ride alone was an adventure Super rickety, steep, and fun! We felt very safe the entire time because before every single zip line, the staff carefully checked everyone's safety gear and connections. There are 6 zip lines total and each one is different with spectacular views that change throughout the course. One thing to know is that you should be in reasonably good shape because there are mini hikes between some of the zip lines. There are lots of water stations along the course, which was great, but the experience is definitely active and you do not want to hold up the group. Totally worth it though and such a memorable Central Coast adventure for families, couples, teens, and adventurous kids!

Super friendly. Super professional(s). 6 zip lines! And of…read morecourse, Super fun! Kids are welcome. Under 100 lbs, your little rider must go tandem on 3 (they can go alone on the other 3)

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Margarita Adventures - Margarita Adventures Fun!

Margarita Adventures Fun!

Margarita Adventures
Margarita Adventures - Wildlife at the vineyard where zip lining is located.

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Wildlife at the vineyard where zip lining is located.

Town of Harmony - Harmony Chapel

Town of Harmony

4.5(34 reviews)
9.9 mi

The town of Harmony doesn't have a lot .... Which is expected since the population is only 18, but…read moreI thoroughly enjoy stopping here every year on my annual trip to Cambria. It's just a cute small town and fun to walk around and stretch your legs after a long drive. They have a few cute shops to wander through. If you love pottery or glass blowing, it's cool to go through and check out the shops and you can see the studio where they create the glass art. They have some cute photo ops around the property. They have a very small church. I missed the new coffee shop and the ice cream shop. I heard the ice cream is really good. It wasn't open the days I was there. I always saw a sign for wine and wine tasting. I never could find it. Last year I finally found it! They finally have it marked with a big sign now! I'm so glad I didn't miss it. It's so beautiful especially when it's green. I highly recommend the Harmony cellars as well.

Harmony, California is a tiny little historic town found in 1869 as a dairy community named for a…read moretruce between feuding farmers and now known as a popular designation spot for tourist to enjoy. Within this town of 18 people, you can enjoy the preserved building, art galleries, wineries, postal museum and wedding chapel. There is even an airbnb you can stay in the town. This cute little town does get super busy during weekends and peak tourist season. Worth a quick look if not too busy.

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Town of Harmony
Town of Harmony - Harmony Wedding Chapel's Bride's dressing area

Harmony Wedding Chapel's Bride's dressing area

Town of Harmony - Pottery shop

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Pottery shop

San Simeon Pier - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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