Best coastal towns in California

The right base town makes a coast trip; the wrong one makes a parking lot with a view. Here are California's best coastal towns compared honestly, personality, walkability, cost gravity, and who each one is really for.

The Northern California list

• Mendocino: the romantic: headland trails from your inn's door, galleries, no chains, New England looks. For couples, writers, and fog appreciators. Splurge adjacent.
• Bodega Bay: the working harbor: chowder shacks, whale watching, wild beaches. For low key weekends and dog owners. Reasonable.
• Point Reyes Station: the farm coast hamlet: legendary bakery and cheese provisioning for the seashore next door. For hikers and picnic maximalists.
• Half Moon Bay: the Bay Area's easy out: harbor, bluff trail, pumpkin season fame. For spontaneous day trippers.

The Central Coast list (the heavyweights)

• Santa Cruz: the beach town, plain and simple: boardwalk, surf culture, redwoods behind. For families and energy seekers. Mid priced, summer busy.
• Monterey: the wildlife capital: aquarium, otters, rec trail. For families and first time visitors; the widest lodging range on this list.
• Carmel by the Sea: the storybook: cottages, galleries, THE dog beach. For romance, aesthetes, and Labradors. Expensive and worth it.
• Cambria: the sleeper: Moonstone Beach boardwalk, pines, elephant seals up the road, Hearst Castle next door. For Hwy 1 through travelers and value hunters, the smart overnight between Big Sur and SoCal.

The Southern California list

• Laguna Beach: coves, art galleries, and the best snorkel swim water in SoCal proper.
• Encinitas: surf town soul intact: Swami's break, flower fields, unhurried main street.
• Coronado: the grand hotel classic with the silver beach; resort town polished.
• Avalon, Catalina Island: the technicality that wins arguments: a car free Mediterranean village 22 miles off Long Beach. Golf carts, snorkeling, and the ferry ride as decompression chamber.

How to choose in ten seconds

Romance: Mendocino or Carmel. Family: Santa Cruz or Monterey. Dog: Carmel, no contest. Budget: Cambria or Bodega Bay. Swimmable water: go south of Point Conception: Laguna or Coronado. All of the above in one trip: that's the Hwy 1 road trip, and the towns above are its pearls, in order.