Interested in what you'd consider as "must do" things in California. I'm travelling over with the family in May and going from LA to SF on the coast road through Big Sur and Monterrey, then to Tahoe and Yosemite and back to LA. In LA we are staying first at Annahiem and then Venice.
On my list is trying to catch up with the Coreban US guys. Going to Bark Paddleboards. Sector 9. Bing Surfboards. Tahoe Waterman and a paddle on the amazing Lake Tahoe.
Im interested to hear of your experience's, and what I would kick myself over if I only heard about it when I got back. Surf, skate and SUP related, and any eating establishments that embody the beach lifestyle.
I'm excited to discover and explore myself, however it would be a shame to drive past any gems without noticing.
Cheers for hour insight.
Universal Studios and Disneyland/Adventure park if you have kids (or not
). Hire bikes and ride over the Golden Gate then catch the ferry back from Sausalito.
Yosemite is awesome, do one of the hikes from the valley floor to the top.
Spring skiing in Mammoth? Usually open til late June.
I've always had crap surf in California but never got out of LA so that's not saying much, the coast between LA and San fran looks amazing.
I've done exactly the same trip up the coast from LA to SF, fantastic drive you will love it.
Some of my tips from the trip:
- stop in at Hurst Castle on the way up the coast.
- hunt down Bob Morris' Beach Cafe at Malibu, great meals right on the sand.
- Plan to spend a few days around Monterrey, really nice town.
- Avila Beach is another great little sea side town on the way to SF, funny that I met a kite surfer from there at the Corona this year.
I went to the Zepher shop at Santa monica, just to see where DogTown started. Wasn't worth the walk up from the pier.
San Fran is my favourite city to visit. Love it. Make sure you go to Mission and get yourself a Burrito. They are to die for. The base ball is a great sporting event to go to if you get the chance. The Oakland A's are good value at the turnstile and its an easy train ride from the SF.
If you need to do some shopping in San Fran there is a place called The Sports Basement. Its massive!!! They stock everything and its cheap as chips. I ended up getting a bunch of sample Hurley T-Shirts for $10 each and running shoes for $55 that were $179 over here. its the best value shop I have ever been to. Also one of the biggest!
shop.sportsbasement.com/
610 Old Mason St
San Francisco, CA 94129
If you grab a bike from the waterfront in San Fran and cruise the walkways up to the Bridge you go straight past it. Head over the bridge and tuck into some lovely food in Sausalito with a great view back towards the city. In the summer in San Fran the sky stays really grey until about 11am when the fog lifts......so if you are going to bike over the bridge wait till later in the morning. Biking over that bridge is a pretty fun thing to do - especially if its windy!!
It may seem like a huge call but depending on how much time you have I would recommend a side trip to Vegus. Its unreal!!!! Its about 3 to 3.5 hr drive from LA and spending 24 hrs there will blow your mind. I would think 2 or 3 days would be better but its well worth it just for 24 hrs if that is all you have.
The skate park at Venice beach is unreal. Its massive (like most things in the States). The talent flying around those bowls is mad.
Enjoy!
Don't forget to have a surf under the Golden Gate either looks like a good SUP wave, this is from the day we rode accross on bikes Dec 31 2007:
The drive to Muir and Stinson beach north of the Golden Gate was awesome - giant Redwood forest on the way was pretty cool too - water at Stinson was freezing in September (mid summer)
Yosemite is pretty awesom - we also did Sequoia and kings Canyon National parks - the giant trees in there impressive.
Monterey was nice - some great little waves around Pebble beach (had to watch - no gear) - just look out for small rodent like animals swimming all over the place.
Maybe a paddle down the grand Canyon to the Lake near vegas - theres a SUP school in vegas - man made lagoon somewhere.
Try some Stone beers - nice stuff - I liked the - Arrogant Bastard Ale - would be a popular drink amongst some seabreeze forum contributers. 
There is also a Double Bastard Ale - 10.5%. - 3 litre bottles - not for the faint hearted - ads a new dimension to the long neck
We did 5 weeks driving around in a GMC Yukon and had a ball - LA - San diego - Las Vegas - Sequioa - Yosemite - San Fran - LA then New York for ten days and it was a great family holiday - despite not having a surf sail or SUP for the whole time
Enjoy
A couple of suggestions I would add to the above are:
- hire a bike at Santa Monica and ride the path along the beach down to Venice Beach and beyond. Do it on a Sunday morning when they have the market stalls and the drumming at Venice and check out the freaks, straight out of the sixties.
- go visit Santa Cruz, a really nice surf town.
- go check out Mavericks. It's at Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay (California, that is, not in Melbourne) Even if you are out of season and it's not breaking (which was the case when I was there) it is still worth seeing, to get a feel for the place and an understanding of what a challenging place it must be.
- do the drive up Big Sur. if you are able to, I suggest you do it from north to south (ie SF to LA), as it is easier to stop and take photos.
- head up into the redwood forests up behind the coast.
- be the ultimate tourist and hire a PT Cruiser, or similar, as you hire car.
- take (or buy) a GPS. Saves lots of arguments with your "navigotor".
Thanks everyone for your ideas and insights. I was already looking forward to the trip, now I have more to look out for. Will take lots of pictures, and try to keep logged on during my travels. Only nine weeks to go.
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Your going to love it. I did pretty much the same trip a few months ago - get yourself a convertible with Satellite Radio and a GPS would come in handy (on second thoughts that would be a pain if you are going with kids).
Make sure you go to Hearst Castle in San Simeon - about half way between LA and SF. There's a beautiful little bay there where they hire SUPs.
Hollywood is great for a couple of days, but I'd prefer to stay in Santa Monica or Venice Beach next time. San Francisco is great for a couple of weeks/months/years. If you want to take advantage of the strong A$ spend a few hours shopping at the www.citadeloutlets.com/ in L.A.
Plenty of fantastic places on the coast: Santa Monica, Pismo, Carmel, Big Sur, San Simeon and more - try to spend some time there. If you feel like lashing out on a good meal with a view go to www.geoffreysmalibu.com/ in Malibu for lunch. There are a plethora of fantastic bars/restaurants in San Francisco. For fast food make sure you drop by www.innout.com/ for some burgers.
Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks are fantastic.
The coast road North of San Francisco is more spectacular than the coast road LA to SF - would love to travel much further up that way next time - maybe all the way to Seattle.
Oh yeah, and make sure you stop off in Hawaii on the way there or back.
We found www.priceline.com pretty good for managing and booking accommodation as we traveled.
A good place to stay. Carmel.
www.thecolonialterrace.com/
If you are into golf, a round at Pebble Beach would be an experience of a life time... Not cheap...
www.pebblebeach.com/golf
media.pebblebeach.com/images/stories/pdf/Pebble-Beach-Resorts-Golf.pdf
Just back from an epic Cat skiing week in the Kootenees BC.
With the family in Tow you just have to do the Disneyland thing.We stayed at Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Annaheim.....directly across the road from the theme parks and at 114 per night for a great double room with super comfy beds you cannot get bettem value as you really need a few days there.Short drive to Huntington Beach also.Santa Monica is really cool of course but pretty exy.Depends on the age of your kids I guess.
