Driving through the Big Sur Scenic Highway

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Driving through the Big Sur Scenic Highway

We left the beautiful coastal town of Monterey and went to Carmel-by-the-Sea via Pebble Beach and Del Monte Forest before staring our journey through the Big Sur Scenic Highway. It is a very nice coastal village and one of the most famous in California.

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There are signs for the coastal village of Carmel-by-the-Sea from the minute you leave Del Monte Forest.

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Once again, beautiful, luxurious houses overlooking the ocean caught our attention. The big windows revealing inside the houses were probably not a big deal for their residents, as they must be a great way of admiring the beautiful ocean.

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And then the actual Big Sur Scenic Highway started

Family Travel Secret
We were very excited to see the Big Sur, but we did not realize that the highway is basically just a series of viewpoints and doesn’t have many beaches for bathing. We told Noah that we would be on various beaches the whole day, but firstly most of the beaches were not accessible and secondly it was a cold, windy day (20th July and 67°F – around 19°C). After almost three weeks of warm temperatures, the weather on the Pacific Coast was a surprise for us.

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Family Travel Secret
The best way to explore the Big Sur is going from North to South, as that way you have the viewpoints on your side of the road and don’t have to stop. Thanks Mireya for the tip.

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There are a lot of places to stop along the way and we chose just some of the most important ones, as otherwise we would certainly have needed another day on the road.

The pictures speak for themselves, but some deserve a mention in this post.

Rocky Creek Bridge

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Bixby Creek Bridge

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Point Sur

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Andrew Molera State Park

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Nepenthe

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Burns Creek Bridge

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McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. This one overlooks a nice beach at the bottom of a rather high waterfall.

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Family Travel Secret
Access to this beach is not permitted, probably because of the danger from the waves and the cliffs. During our visit there was a group that risked their lives climbing down the cliffs and they were warned by the police to come back or be punished. We do not know if they only received a caution, but the fact is that the beach looks much more beautiful in its pure natural state without visitors.

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Big Creek Bridge near Gamboa Point

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Near Piedras Blancas you find the Elephant Seal Viewing Area. Lots of them were resting and playing on the shore.

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It was a really exciting experience to see those lazy animals and the weird noises that they make.

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We quickly passed through Morro Bay on the way to San Diego, where we would spend the next few days before going to Los Angeles and China.

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Next stop, SeaWorld San Diego!

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