Saturday, March 19, 2011

Sunday Favorites - Elephant Beach

For Sunday Favorites this week I'm sharing a little trip I took last year in March with my daughter. I was just telling a new friend about this place and it made me remember it. Hope you enjoy it and please travel over to visit Chari at Happy to Design for more Sunday Favorites!


 Favorite Post that was originally posted on 
March 28, 2010

Last weekend my daughter April and I and my grand-puppy Chorizo took a day trip to the coast, which is about 2 hours from Shafter. I've been to Pismo, Morro Bay, Cambria, Cayucos, Avila Beach, all those little coastal towns a million few times, but I'd never been to Elephant Seal Beach at Piedras Blancas in the southern range of Big Sur, near San Simeon. Count on April to show me something new, she loves to explore and visit new places.

She took me to a wonderful spot on scenic Hwy 1 to Elephant Seal Beach. Why I had never known this place existed is beyond me!

First off, the drive from Morro Bay to Elephant Seal Beach is gorgeous. Hwy 1 is known for it's beautiful ocean and mountain scenery. It seemed like the temperature changed every 5 miles. First it's foggy and overcast and cold then all of a sudden it's sunny and green and gorgeous. The drive alone was worth going.

But what was really amazing is that there is a small strip of beach known as a Rookery where these fascinating mammals come to birth, breed, molt and rest. Depending on the time of year that you are there you can watch  the males battle for breeding rights, you can watch seals give birth, and you can watch them sun themselves on the beach.

That's what we witnessed, the sunning on the beach, and it was awesome! I couldn't believe it when I first saw them. They looked like dead lumps of flesh that had washed up on the beach. But as we got closer we saw that they moved. The most hilarious part is while they lay there on the beach every once in a while they flip sand onto themselves with their flippers. There are several signs along the beach explaining facts about these seals and they say that while they don't know for sure why they flip sand it's probably to keep themselves cool from the sun blazing down upon them. (Click to enlarge)

It was so funny to watch them. When they moved they kind of just bounced around on the beach to get to where they wanted to go, not that they ever went very far. My daughter April said that other times when she has been there the beach is so packed with seals that you can't even see the sand!

If you ever get the chance, please visit this beach, it's worth it and if you have kids they will love it! We only had Chorizo and she loved it as you can tell in the mosaic below. If you would like more information I found a great website that gives lots of details and has an awesome slide show. It's from the Friends of the Elephant Seal and you can visit it here.  (click to enlarge)

And the view is awesome as you can see in the mosaic above. Chorizo just didn't know what to think. She would look at her momma and then back at the seals and you can tell she was just overwhelmed by all the different ocean smells. She loved it! She's a true water dog.



20 comments:

  1. What a fabulous place! I've been to Pismo Beach and would love to visit the area again.

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  2. Pondside - I hope to visit again soon. The whole area has so many little places no one knows about.

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  3. I would love to visit this beach to see the Elephant Seals. I did the Big Sur Marathon one time, so I've been in the area, but it was a quick trip and I didn't get to tour around like I should have. Don't you feel lucky to have experienced this?

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  4. That's definitely a treat to see. I love anything coastal related, and the fact that you can see nature in action makes it even better. Definitely worth a re-post! -diane

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  5. podso - Thank you. I hope you can visit someday.

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  6. Paula - Definitely I felt lucky. It's not often you get to see nature up close and personal like this. I hope to visit again soon.

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  7. Keetha Broyles - I think a road trip is necessary...let's all head to Elephant Seal Beach!!! Yay!

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  8. sweet european dreams - I'm glad you felt it was re-post worthy :-D

    I know I would love to visit again and get new pictures. Maybe of baby seals? Wouldn't that be great?

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  9. We just came back from a cruise down south ame, all around Argentina and Chile and so this lumps of meat just laying there, they're also right next to you in the Galapagos Islands and they just let you go by with not even a glace! Thank you Alycia for this pics, what a treat, you must've had a great time. Come over and visit my granddaughters.
    LOVE
    FABBY

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  10. You did, I'm sorry and thank you for such lovely comments, I'm very grateful. I wanted to eraise it but couldn't do it, I don't know why. Sorry hon. Thank you again.
    FABBY

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  11. Hi Alicia...

    Ohhh my gosh...I have never seen a seal outside of Sea World! What an awesome experience! This beach just looks beautiful and I could sit for hours...sun bathing with the seals...and watch them! It sounds like you and your daughter had a great time! Thank you so much for sharing your day to this fabulous beach with us for Sunday Favorites, sweet friend!

    Happy Spring wishes...
    Chari @Happy To Design

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  12. Hi Alicia, We used to live in Ca. I loved going along the coast and watching the seals, and other sea critters. They are SO amazing to watch. I've never been to the spot you went to , but no doubt it was very lovely.
    thanks for visiting my blog and commenting on the baby shower. :)
    Donna

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  13. What a lovely experience watching seals lying on the beach, using their flippers, bouncing around.

    I can imagine the great fun that you, April, and Chorizo got at the small Rookery beach.

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  14. Alicia, this is amazing. What a wonderful sight to see. I don't know how I missed this post the first time around. Well worth posting it again and I'm glad you did. I would love to take a drive to Elephant Seal Beach and experience all the wonder of watching the seals. Awesome!

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  15. What a gorgeous beach! Some of these pictures are worth framing :)

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  16. What a gorgeous beach! Some of these pictures are worth framing :)

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  17. I was stationed in California for not quite 2 and half years and the place ruined me for ever wanting to travel in the east again. There were so many beautiful huge vistas. It took me a long time to forget California and learn to appreciate the natural wonder in Pennsylvania. It pales in comparison. Reading your post and seeing your photos reminds me of my time in California. Big Sur, the flat beach at Moro Bay and Moro Rock, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and other places too numerous to mention. A two hour drive and you could be in a different world in California. Nice post.

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  18. Sextant - I actually went last month again and took some pretty decent pictures. I just love it there. So peaceful with views that just go on forever. We stayed in San Simeon and drove all up and down the coast stopping for dinner at Morro Bay. I love Morro Bay! I love to sit in my car at the little outlet that takes you out to Morro Rock and just listen to the waves and read a good book and eat salt water taffy! Perfect day if you ask me!

    I can imagine how difficult it would be to forget California. Yet growing up in Arizona with it's long flat deserts and beautiful mesas and rocky mountains all covered in gorgeous cactus made it difficult for me to learn to appreciate all the green of California. But I did.

    What I would love to see is a place where there is a change in the seasons such as where you live. We don't get much change in the leaves it goes from a hot summer to a cold, grey, wet, foggy winter. But Spring is pretty wonderful!

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Please leave a comment.I would love to know your thoughts!