Weekend Getaway near Pescadero

Thanks to Igougo, we were able to get a great deal at the Costanoa Coastal Lodge. Our lovely room in the lodge overlooked a foggy canyon. The tidal pools at Pigeon Point was another favorite of ours.

Quick Tips:

Take advantage of your Igougo membership! We were able to get a great rate and stay at the type of place we wouldn't normally consider. We both love the outdoors, but camping was out of the question due to the wedding we were attending. The lodge gave us the best of both worlds.

Best Way To Get Around:

Everything is very spread out in this part of California. A car is definitely recommended.

I first heard about Costanoa because of the special offer on Igougo, and I was glad to finally have the chance to take advantage of it. Since we were attending a wedding that weekend and need the appropriate facilities to get ready, we chose to stay in the lodge, and the furnishings were very comfortable. There was no television in the room, but then Costanoa isn't the kind of place you go to to watch TV. The room wasn't enormous, but it was big enough for a quality king-size bed, a small refrigerator, and a table and chairs. The main attraction in the room was the patio. Our room sat on the edge of a small canyon, and it was so relaxing to be able to sit with a cup of tea and a book and just chill in the morning.

The lodge provided a lot of information on local activities, and we took full advantage of that information. Unfortunately, this meant that we couldn't explore the camp itself fully. The was a large hot tub attached to the lodge, and a day spa for those so inclined. The camp does not have a full restaurant; the general store has some picnic items and food for the grill, but it struck me as overpriced. That's a small penalty though; overall Costanoa was a woderful combination of luxury and solitude.

We picked this place for breakfast the first morning because it was the only restaurant I remembered. We returned the next day be cause it was worth returning to. I had a breakfast burrito the first morning and was quite pleased. It came with a spicy salsa for the extra kick, and there was enough to it to get me through an active day. No complaints at all with the bacon and eggs I had the next day. They also have an extensive pastry case, and both the brewed coffee and the cappucino were excellent. A friend tried a milkshake later in the day and said it was fabulous. I'm not saying this is five-star breakfast or anything, but it's better than I expected to find given the remote locale.

We were lucky enough to reach these tidal pools near low tide, and the wildlife we could see by climbing along the rocks. I'd been to areas known for the tidal pools, but had always come away disappointed, for various reasons. On this day, however, there were things to see everywhere we looked. The highlight for me were the starfish- in an hour or so I found over a dozen, of several different colors. There were also crabs, anemones, a couple sea slugs, and a wide variety of plant life. There were six of us, in our twenties and thirties, climbing over the rocks like we were kids. A fabulous way to spend an afternoon.

There are few places where a short walk guarantees a hiker the opportunity to see large wildlife in a natural habitat, but the coastal reserve at Ano Nuevo does just that. The reserve is crowded during elephant seal mating season (December through March), but we visited in late summer, when it's possible to walk up to the beach alone after picking up a permit from the small gift shop/visitors' center. The walk to the overlooks was an easy couple miles through a coastal meadow and through the sand dunes. Once at the overlooks, we were within 50 yards or so of large groups of elephant seals. This wasn't like Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco or similar places where the sea lions are clearly used to being around people. The elephant seals ignored us entirely, and went about what must me the normal routine. An added bonus to Ano Nuevo were the very informative docents who answered questions for us, shared their high-power binoculars for better viewing, and even radioed back and forth between lookouts when something interesting was happening. They were clearly enjoying their jobs, and made the afternoon more enjoyable for everyone. The afternoon was well worth the $2 per car admission fee.

Unfortunately, in December 2001, a small portion of the lighthouse exterior fell off, and the structure itself is closed to tours until it can be evaluated for safety. However, the grounds around the site, as well as the youth hostel located there, remain open. There's not much to it though- there's a very nice overlook at the point, from which you can easily see harbor seals sunning themselves on the rocks below, but that's about it. We quickly moved on to the tidal pools a couple hundred yards north of the lighthouse.