Even probably the most seasoned vacationers with passport stamps filling up each web page can nonetheless be shocked by what they uncover.
“Hidden gems” could also be an overused time period, however the truth is, there’s one thing magical about discovering locations that no one appears to know, and oftentimes, they go away an enduring mark even greater than international icons.


As for the West Coast, most vacationers go for a handful of main cities and stylish seashore cities.
In between is what’s left to locals who have a tendency to stay tight-lipped about their picture-perfect hometown.
But at present, as a resident Californian myself, I’m placing my Joker masks on and taking part in the villain as I reveal the West Coast’s 4 most lovely seashore cities which were held a secret far too lengthy.
4) Fort Bragg, CA: ‘Glassy’ Shores & Towering Redwoods
Let’s be sincere — except Long Beach and anyplace round The Bay, many California seashores are spitting photographs of one another.


But if there’s one particular swath of shoreline that is extra distinctive than the remainder, it is Fort Bragg.
Home to Glass Beach, simply because it sounds, the coast gleams with kaleidoscopic sea glass, making for the right picture op.
Don’t fear — you will not slice your ft open and need to make an surprising ER go to. The ‘glass’ is easy, so your journey will probably be too.
But Fort Bragg is not any one-trick pony. As if glassy seashores weren’t cool sufficient, how about sprawling forests with bushes you may’t wrap your arms round?


That’s proper, this city is dwelling to quite a few Redwood areas and pristine waterfalls, together with:
- MacKerricher State Park
- Russian Gulch State Park
Better but, be sure that to hop aboard the Skunk Train to benefit from the surroundings much more.
3) Tillamook, OR: Cake Cheese By The Ocean
They say ‘it ain’t simple being tacky’. That is except end up in Tillamook, Oregon.
If you are a cheese fiend like me, maybe you have bought Tillamook model dairy merchandise at your most popular grocer with out batting an eye fixed that Tillamook is an actual place that simply so occurs to be a seamless gateway to otherworldly shoreline no one ever appears to speak about.


This little-known foodie city is a enjoyable go to itself, however on the outskirts of city lie rugged stretches of shoreline speckled with towering sea stacks, misty headlands, and wide-open seashores that really feel straight out of a Pacific Northwest dream.
People discuss Bigfoot sightings extra so than Tillamook’s shores, and that is a disgrace. Especially, if you happen to go to such locations as Cape Lookout State Park.
And sure, whilst you’re right here, you may ebook a go to to the Tillamook Creamery. It’s compulsory, proper?
2) Carpinteria, CA: The ‘Safest Beach In The World’


Despite what you hear about California’s ‘zombie land’ streets in main cities, one off-the-radar paradise has been topped the ‘world’s most secure’ seashore vacation spot.
Next door to Santa Barbara lies the historic city of Carpinteria, boasting a pleasant Old Town and much more gratifying seashores that not often draw enormous crowds, except the annual California Avocado Festival held each fall.
As I discussed, I stay in California. Guess what number of instances I’ve heard folks rave about Carpinteria…
Zero. It’s domestically beloved.
But that makes this gem much more attractive as one of many West Coast’s few yet-to-be-discovered hideaways excellent for dolphin recognizing, browsing, or just kicking again with a White Claw in-hand (cover it from the lifeguards!).
1) Solana Beach, CA: San Diegans Will Spite Me For Revealing This Place
Well… it was run.
I could also be banned from native taco outlets and threatened by dude-bro surfers for revealing our beloved hideout from vacationers that invade every spring and summer time like clockwork.
San Diego vacationers are inclined to go for Coronado, Mission Beach, Del Mar, and La Jolla, however Solana Beach has remained off the everyday vacationer path as a neighborhood haven to take pleasure in year-round.


Neighboring Del Mar’s uppity, pinky-out crowd, this laid-back city is the antidote for a way of actual SoCal with hole-in-the-wall taco outlets, walkable outlets and different eats, and pristine seashores hidden beneath staggering bluffs that vacationers are inclined to miss.
With no main lodges and no resorts, that is the place you may spend a day journey to mix in with locals at such locations as Pizza Port, moderately than botox-injected Karens in ritzy Del Mar and La Jolla.
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