Pismo Beach Caves

Useful Information

Location:	Pismo Beach.
Open:	no restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Sea Cave
Light:	not necessary/bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Pismo Beach is located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles at the Californian coast. The name is not only the name of the beach, but also the name of the city which was built on the plateau above. The beach is a high, almost vertical cliff with sandy parts as well as rocky parts at its foot. Where the cliff is close to the sea there are numerous sea caves and natural bridges. Actually there are three locatiosn with caves. At the northern end, at the end of Cave Landing Road is Smugglers Cave, located at Pirates Cove. Dinosaur Caves Park is located further south, a park which is popular with walkers, photographers, dog lovers, joggers, and fishing enthusiasts. An outlook at the cliff offers a view of another sea cave, Dinosaur Cave, obviously. There is also a staircase leading down to the beach and the sea cave. Another group of sea caves can be found further south below the Pismo Bed and Breakfast, accessible down the Mystery Stairs. Another access is from SeaCrest OceanFront Hotel, which has the Sea Crest Vista Point and a staircase down to the beach. This section of the beach is famous for white rocks, the caves are quite spectacular but not very big. The biggest one is called White Cave.

This is not a single cave and not a single location, so we had difficulties giving coordinates. We have listed the coordinates of the three main sites below. There are numerous other small sea caves along the beach, and numerous outlooks. It’s also possible to take a kayak tour to the sea caves, there are several businesses renting out kayaks.