California Coast Question

[Dottore]

Both my wife and I work at home, and would like to rent a house or flat on or near the California coast for Feb & March of next year.

We were thinking of looking around Carmel, Half Moon Bay or Morro Bay. We are not looking for anything spectacular. Just a comfortable house or apartment in which to work.

It occurs to us that we should also look south of LA. Possibly Del Mar or Carlsbad or La Jolla—or even Dana Point—but we don't know these places nearly as well as we do the coastal towns north of LA.

We'd like to be in a small town, but one large enough to have a few good places to eat and a decent library etc. (The library in Carmel is perfect for example.)

There are a lot of Californians on this board. I would welcome any thoughts you may have as to location, climate, amenities etc. We were thinking of looking through VRBO or something similar once we had a location narrowed down—but if any of you have a vacation property for rent that might suit, I'd certainly be keen to hear about it.

Many thanks in advance.

[jyl]

February and March are winter, even in CA.

Are you trying to get as close to "summer" conditions as you can? Then go as far south as possible. Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano (rent a room from snowman!), La Jolla, etc.

But if you're okay with a Northern CA winter - 45-50F, lots of gray blowing rain, some brilliant clear days - then I like the following towns very much:

- Monterey area including Pacific Grove and Carmel. You know this area since you know Carmel. I think this would be a great place.

- Morro Bay with nearby San Luis Obispo just up the road. SLO is a university town just inland, with all the resources, food, and vibe that brings. Morro Bay is a smaller town on the coast, smaller and less ritzy than Carmel, but pretty. The Central Coast has a bit of a different feel from the Monterey Peninsula, maybe more laid-back, a bit agricultural, less wealth. I know this area less well than the others.

- Point Reyes. This is a very small town - two blocks long - with one of everything (grocery store, espresso/bakery, hardware store, etc). Not sure about a library, don't have a restaurant count but I'm sure there are some decent ones. Not a hick town - it caters to S.F. tourists so excellent wines and gourmet foods in the grocery store. The appeal is that it is small, feels remote, yet is central to the whole Marin area and the Pt.Reyes Nat'l Seashore. The Nat'l Seashore has beautiful secluded beaches which are uncrowded even in summer and will be your private dunes in winter, bays and lagoons, and miles of trails - but a bare minimum of roads. Google Map it and you'll see the appeal. Fresh oysters from these waters. Inverness and Bolinas are on sheltered lagoons, Stinson Beach is popular, Muir Beach has a great English pub/inn (the Pelican Inn). And 1/2 hour away are the Marin County towns with all the resources you would need. 1 hour to S.F. by car. Lots of winding roads through beautiful coastal hills, which can turn rain-slick and fog-shrouded too. I go to Inverness yearly and would love to spend a few months living in this area.


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- Santa Barbara. Bigger than you were looking for, but I mention because it is a very appealing town and has more of the SoCal weather.

I'd have a hard time choosing between these, in Feb/Mar the weather might tilt me toward the Santa Barbara area, but if you're hardy then Pt. Reyes would give you the most opportunity to hike and beachcomb.

[BeyGon]

Carlsbad and Encinitas are nice, get something on the coast side of the freeway.
Every place mentioned is nice, Dana Point is OK but more townish in San Clemente. Good places to eat up and down the coast. Laguna is too busy. Weather is great, mostly great all winter. Beautiful today. We are going down to the Chart House overlooking the bay, fill up on caviar at the salad bar and drink some wine, right now. Here is a shot I just took. That's water in the back but it's a mile and a half away.

[speeder]

Big difference between Monterey and La Jolla, as others have pointed out. I'm guessing that you want some sunshine in the middle of winter gauging by where you live, the further south the better. Strangely enough, L.A. has slightly better weather than San Diego in the winter. A little warmer.

[Dottore]

Thanks for those responses. I guess what we are mostly looking for is a nice small community into which to settle for a while. Weather is less important, though SoCal is of course most attractive at that time of year.

We have a fairly rigorous work schedule—so emphasis is on comfortable place in a nice community, relatively near the sea.

Point Reyes, Inverness etc—I hadn't considered, though we have been through there numerous times. Will look into this further.

[dipso]

Can you really just rent a house for two months? That would be cool.
It depends on what you want. California has a huge coastline.

Climate should be moderate that time of year. You might have sunshine you might have rain. You never know, but in that 2 month period you will probably have both.
Warmer temps the further south you go.

Dana Point is a nice isolated little town. How about San Diego, but you probably wouldn't want to leave the city.
Not much around either place. Personally I wouldn't stay south of Palos Verdes. There are a lot of little beach cities just north of PV and continue all the way up the coast.

The coastline is more attractive from PV up as well. You seem to already know about the areas further north. Those places are beautiful.

Sure wish I could help you more but the only reason to stay south would be the weather.

[lowyder993s]

Originally Posted by dipso

Can you really just rent a house for two months? That would be cool.
It depends on what you want. California has a huge coastline.

My brother lives in Coronado...he's in Bali right now...rented his house for 2 weeks...11k Wish I had that kinda grip. There are stirrings this may be an El Nino year...if so it COULD be awful wet...but its a warm wet
I'm in Leucadia (Encintas)...north San Diego...funky, good eats...good library in Carlsbad 3 miles north.

[jyl]

Weather aside, sounds like the smaller the town the better, as long as it has what you need? In that case, of the towns I listed, I'd do Pt Reyes #1. It is small enough that, in a week or two of going about daily life - groceries, breakfast, coffee, etc - you'd get to know the tradesmen etc and they'd come to recognize you, assuming you're the friendly sort of course. Might not be easy to find a place for rent there, I'd don't know.

The horror film "The Fog" was shot in Pt Reyes Lighthouse, Inverness, and the surrounding area. I recently learned that.

[BeyGon]

Bodega Bay where they filmed The Birds.
But you want libraries, so that puts you into some sort of civilization,

[ramonesfreak]

ide like to offer my services as house-boy, if your hiring

[craigster59]

Check out Mendocino. Nice little picturesque town on the ocean. It was Cabot's Cove on "Murder She Wrote".

[vash]

half moon bay, montara...or even pacifica. you dont want to be too far from the city do you? jan feb, march up the coast like in medicino, the weather can be insane. to remote. i would drive with a chainsaw in the car. trees fall that much. the weather is GREAT in the three towns i listed.

[ckissick]

I like vash's recommendation of Montara. Of course, I live in Montara. But don't go for Pacifica, as it's not very attractive. Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada and Half Moon Bay all have a laid back, small town feel, yet we're still just 25 minutes from San Francisco or Palo Alto. We also border the Santa Cruz Mountains and the beautiful, rural San Mateo County Coast. A lot of people here are commuters to SF or Silicon Valley, but there are also a lot of fishermen, farmers, and cowboys.

We can have stunning weather in Feb and March, and we can also have some pretty dramatic weather, with 80 mph winds and 60-foot waves at Maverick's.

I have a friend with a very nice house that he rents for vacations, about 100 feet from Surfer's Beach. It's right behind: www.MiramarBeachRestauraunt.com. The house is right next to the Coastal Trail, a 12-mile long paved hiking/biking/horse trail that parallels the beach. PM me if interested.

There are so many nice towns from Mexico to Oregon, but pretty much all of them in SoCal might be too big for your needs. Others, like Cambria or Morro Bay or Mendocino might be too remote. Carmel is amazing, as you know. But Half Moon Bay is probably the most Mayberry-like, while still close to a world-class city.

[vash]

come on!! go up Linda Mar Blvd, up into the hills in pacifica? kinda nice. beach vibe, with a mountainous look... i agree 95% of of Pacifica is a dump. unless you have a thing for round table pizza and meth.

[ckissick]

There are some nice pockets in Pacifica, but it's too much the 'burbs. I don't feel the decompression until I get over Devil's Slide and into Montara.

[rcooled]

You might consider Santa Cruz on the northern end of Monterey Bay....population around 50K. Daytime temps are usually in the 50s or low 60s during Feb & March and although that's the tail end of the rainy season, there can be many bright sunny days to enjoy. Living right in town, you can be within walking or biking distance to the beach, lots of great restaurants, the municipal wharf and a lively downtown area. If you like a more rural scene, the hills just above town would be a good choice. There's a university here, an historic beachside boardwalk, a yacht harbor and a vibrant music/arts & entertainment scene. There are also several state parks & beaches nearby with giant Redwoods and great hiking trails. Silicon Valley is about 45 minutes north and you can be in San Francisco in an hour and a half. Monterey & Carmel are about 40 miles to the south. Clint Eastwood's "Sudden Impact" was filmed in Santa Cruz. Long or short term rentals in most any area of the city should be fairly easy to come by.