Before we had children, we always loved to travel as a couple – abroad, on cruises, and to our beloved Hawaii. After we had our son 7.5 years ago, we realized that traveling was going to change and still be a blast with kids, but we still needed time to connect and travel without them. Because we save our main travel budget for family adventures, we needed some more local and affordable options when it came to our weekend getaways and time together. When our son was 18 months old, we made our first of many now almost annual trips to Pismo Beach, and fell in love! It’s a great town with many places to stay for all budgets, with amazing food, shopping, and of course a great beach and giant ocean to look at! When we first went, we called it our “local Hawaii”, because while it’s not the same feel as the islands in terms of climate, it’s a lot easier to get to than taking a 5-6 hour plane flight and has a lot of the same beauty!
Beautiful Pismo Beach (Kon Tiki Inn)
A great beach to run, walk, surf, paddle, play – you name it!
We usually like to stay at the Kon Tiki Inn, because all of the rooms are ocean front, there’s a pool, spa, continental breakfast, fitness center, and the rates are unbelievable! It’s an older hotel and simple, but they work to keep it up and the staff is very nice. This year, we finally remembered to book early enough in order to secure one of their 4 penthouse suites – they are not actually suites, but on the top floor and include a fireplace. It was awesome, and something we’ll definitely try to do again! Nothing like a fire when it gets a little chilly on the coast!
Love the fireplace and the Old Man and the Sea
King Bed in Penthouse Suites
Another view from our room!
For food, we always try at least a few new places, and have a few we return to. We enjoyed the ambience and fare at Sea Venture this time, which has awesome sunset views. The new casual Flagship restaurant right by Kon Tiki is also a really good value and very family friendly. They have some great happy hour pricing, and a variety of appetizers and menu items – open for three meals a day! Some classic favorites are Splash Cafe, which is great for breakfast or clam chowder bowls that we even have taken home, and Old West Cinnamon Rolls which has a huge line every morning for Mom’s famous recipe. We always end our stay with dinner at Ventana Grill, which has amazing margaritas and Spanish style tapas and cuisine. The service is top notch! Again, sunset views are a nice bonus and something to consider when making reservations!
A classic Pismo favorite!
Love these signs – speaking truth!
Our favorite way to end our stays!
All in all, we love just being able to read, walk the beach, and take in the scenery at Pismo. It’s a great place for a couples getaway. However, with playgrounds on the sand and TONS of family friendly eating available, we’d definitely take our kids here and have a feeling they’d always want to come back! The best part of it all, is everything is within reasonable walking distance. If you’re used to our lifestyle which always seems to involve a car, this in itself makes for a bit of paradise!
True bliss!
Sunsets never get old!
Never Ever!
If you need help planning your own Pismo Beach vacation, please contact me! I’d love to help! 🙂
We Cain Travel 
One thought on “Pismo Beach, our local Hawaiian paradise – Great for families or couples without kids!”