Cold surf, golden light.11 Pacific destinations from Big Sur to the North Shore.

A one-square-mile coastal village on the Monterey Peninsula — Carmel Beach's white sand and Monterey cypress, Pebble Beach two miles north, and the Big Sur Highway 1 driveway

A Santa Barbara County beach town with the world's safest beach, a harbor seal rookery, and a downtown Avocado Festival every October

Seventy-five miles of Pacific coast, twelve micro-cultures from Venice to Highland Park, and a movie-industry studio system woven into the daily life of half the city

Ten miles of Orange County coast — Balboa Island ferries, the Wedge bodysurf break, the Newport Pier dory fleet, and the largest small-boat harbor in the country

A 1875 Methodist tent-revival town turned Monterey Peninsula seaside village — Asilomar State Beach, Lovers Point, and the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, all on a 17-Mile-Drive-adjacent coast

Endless summer, with a personality

A San Diego County beach town with the Cedros Avenue Design District, Fletcher Cove's bluff stairs, and the Belly Up Tavern's nightly headliner stage 25 miles north of downtown San Diego

Two active volcanoes, four climate zones, and 266 miles of coast on a single island

The Garden Isle — Na Pali sea cliffs, the Waimea Canyon, and Hanalei Bay on a single island circuit

The valley isle, where the road slows down and the ocean takes over

Paradise where the Pacific meets the trade winds