---
title: "California Dreaming: Big Sur, South on the Pacific Coast Highway"
site: "The Quiet Vacationer"
site_url: https://quietvacationer.com/
url: https://quietvacationer.com/2026/09/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-south-on-the-pacific-coast-highway/
date_published: 2026-09-08
date_modified: 2026-09-06
author: "The Quiet Vacationer"
categories:
  - "Trip Reports"
tags:
  - "United States"
---

# California Dreaming: Big Sur, South on the Pacific Coast Highway

This is the first of a two-part report from our May 2026 trip to San Francisco. We had to be there for work on Monday, but United’s UA2 got us in on Saturday morning. We used that first day to collect a car in Union Square and drive south along Highway 1, stopping at Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove before turning around at Bixby Bridge.

## Prologue

Five months earlier, my partner and I had driven [from Los Angeles up to Monterey](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/03/15/america-the-beautiful-los-angeles-pacific-coast/) over three days. That was our proper Pacific Coast Highway road trip. We stopped for the night along the way, doubled back when we wanted to, and had enough time to make the occasional detours.

This time, I was travelling with my colleague, and we only had the weekend of free time. We weren’t trying to cover the entire coast again, it was more about bringing my colleague to see the famous sights along the coast.

We were doing this straight after flying on [United Airlines flight UA2 from Singapore](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/06/06/review-united-airlines-b787-9-business-class-sin-sfo/), which itself was a 16-hour flight. My colleague and I didn’t have anything scheduled until Monday, so we decided to go on this day trip.

We managed the day trip without any problems, although it certainly didn’t help the jet lag. By the time we reached Moss Landing in the late afternoon, I was quite aware that my body still thought it was somewhere in the middle of the night. If I had been driving alone, I wouldn’t have planned the day this way.

## Arriving at San Francisco

United Airlines flight UA2 landed early in the morning, which is one reason I like this flight despite its length. You arrive tired, of course, but you still have the full day ahead.

Before collecting the car, we went into the city and left our bags at the hotel. We would be parking at roadside stops for most of the day, and I didn’t want all our luggage sitting in the boot while the car was unattended. Even if the situation with car break-ins in San Francisco has supposedly improved, there’s no reason to leave a car full of suitcases at a quiet lookout if you have somewhere else to put them.

## Collecting the car in Union Square

Our Hertz booking was at Union Square. I have already written a [separate guide to renting a car in San Francisco](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/06/22/renting-a-car-in-san-francisco-union-square/), including why a city location made sense for this trip and how much the parking eventually cost, so I won’t go over that again here.

The rental itself cost US$56. Hertz gave us a Kia K4 with about 5,700 miles on the odometer, and the collection was uneventful. We didn’t need anything large or particularly exciting for a day of highway driving, and the Kia was completely fine for the two of us.

![Collecting the Kia K4 from the Hertz garage at the Fairmont San Francisco](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-1.jpg)
*Collecting the Kia K4 from the Hertz garage at the Fairmont San Francisco*

Once we had the keys, we left the city more or less straight away. We didn’t stop for coffee or walk around Union Square first, since most of the places we wanted to see were still several hours to the south.

![Heading south out of San Francisco](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-2.jpg)
*Heading south out of San Francisco*

## Lunch at Barbara’s Fish Trap

Our first stop was Barbara’s Fish Trap at Pillar Point Harbor in El Granada, just north of Half Moon Bay. It took about 45 minutes to get there from San Francisco, and by then it was a bit past lunchtime.

Barbara’s is a wooden seafood shack by the water, with fishing boats sitting across the harbour. There’s usually a wait, and the menu is mostly the sort of food we had come for: seafood and clam chowder. We ate beside the harbour and watched the fishing boats while we had lunch.

![Barbara’s Fish Trap at Pillar Point Harbor, El Granada](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-3.jpg)
*Barbara’s Fish Trap at Pillar Point Harbor, El Granada*

![Ordering at the window at Barbara’s Fish Trap](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-4.jpg)
*Ordering at the window at Barbara’s Fish Trap*

The food wasn’t the best seafood I have had in California, but I liked the stop anyway. You go partly for the seafood, and partly because you can eat it from a paper tray by the water with the wind coming in across the harbour. I wouldn’t make a special trip from San Francisco just for the meal, but it made sense along the Pacific Coast Highway.

![Fish sandwich, fries and chowder overlooking Pillar Point Harbor](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-5.jpg)
*Fish sandwich, fries and chowder overlooking Pillar Point Harbor*

## Half Moon Bay to Pigeon Point

After lunch, we headed down towards the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park, a place I’ve visited with my family in 2022, but not with my partner in late December of 2025. Along the way, we were treated to beautiful ocean views, which were an absolute delight.

![Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-6.jpg)
*Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay*

![Highway 1 along the San Mateo coast](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-7.jpg)
*Highway 1 along the San Mateo coast*

![An almost full parking lot along Highway 1](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-8.jpg)
*An almost full parking lot along Highway 1*

### Pigeon Point and Santa Cruz

We reached Pigeon Point Lighthouse at around 3pm. The light station is about twenty miles south of Half Moon Bay, on a bluff beside Highway 1, and there isn’t much around it apart from the coast.

We spent perhaps 15 to 20 minutes there. I don’t think it needs much longer unless you intend to walk more of the surrounding coast, but it was an easy stop between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. The lighthouse also looks very good from almost anywhere on the bluff, even with the restoration work going on.

![Pigeon Point Lighthouse](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-9.jpg)
*Pigeon Point Lighthouse*

![The water below Pigeon Point](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-10.jpg)
*The water below Pigeon Point*

![Cars pulled over along Highway 1](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-11.jpg)
*Cars pulled over along Highway 1*

## Mission Santa Cruz

By 4pm, we were in Santa Cruz. I had wanted to visit one of California’s Spanish missions, and this was the one that fitted our route without needing a detour.

There are twenty-one missions between San Diego and Sonoma, founded from 1769 to 1823. We had passed signs for them on earlier California drives but had never stopped at one. Mission Santa Cruz was the twelfth in the chain and was founded in 1791.

The chapel standing there today is a [half-size replica built in the 1930s](https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22722), not the original mission church. The earlier church suffered repeated earthquake damage and collapsed in 1857. There is still [one surviving mission-era adobe nearby](https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22649), built in the 1820s to house Native American residents, but it is easy to see the chapel and assume that the entire place has survived from the eighteenth century.

![Mission Santa Cruz](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-12.jpg)
*Mission Santa Cruz*

## Moss Landing and Pacific Grove

We left Santa Cruz and carried on towards Monterey. At about 4.30pm, we pulled in at a farm stand in Moss Landing, beside the highway.

Moss Landing sits at the edge of the Salinas Valley, one of California’s major agricultural areas for lettuce, artichokes, strawberries and cherries, so there was plenty of local produce on sale. Coming from Singapore, I’m used to fruit having travelled much further before it reaches a supermarket. We don’t ever get to see Rainier cherries, so we bought a few bags of these white cherries, which were on the sweeter end.

![The produce stand at Moss Landing](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-13.jpg)
*The produce stand at Moss Landing*

![Rainier cherries, California cherimoya and Lodi cherries at the Moss Landing produce stand](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-14.jpg)
*Rainier cherries, California cherimoya and Lodi cherries at the Moss Landing produce stand*

![Tangerines and watermelons at the Moss Landing produce stand](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-15.jpg)
*Tangerines and watermelons at the Moss Landing produce stand*

![Highway 1 approaching Monterey Bay](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-16.jpg)
*Highway 1 approaching Monterey Bay*

### Onwards to Lovers Point

By 5pm, we were at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. I had visited with my partner during our December road trip and was happy to go back. It is a small waterfront park with rocks and tide pools below, along with benches facing Monterey Bay. There isn’t a great deal to do there, which was quite welcome by this stage of the afternoon.

The seals were what I particularly wanted to see again. In December, my partner and I had spotted only one or two on the rocks. There were many more in May, stretched out beside the water and paying very little attention to the people taking photographs from perhaps ten metres away.

We didn’t repeat the 17-Mile Drive. My partner and I had already covered it properly in December, and doing it again would have meant reaching Bixby Bridge after sunset. We stayed on Highway 1 and carried on south instead.

![Harbour seals hauled out on the beach at Pacific Grove](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-17.jpg)
*Harbour seals hauled out on the beach at Pacific Grove*

## Bixby Bridge

We reached Bixby Creek Bridge at about 6pm. I had been looking forward to seeing it again, especially in the evening light, but this ended up being the most stressful stop of the day.

The bridge is a concrete arch completed in 1932, crossing the canyon above Bixby Creek. It is one of the most photographed sights on Highway 1. The evening light was good when we arrived, and there were already many other people trying to take the same photograph from the northern side.

![A turnout on Highway 1 north of Bixby Creek](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-18.jpg)
*A turnout on Highway 1 north of Bixby Creek*

The problem was the traffic around it, and we were contributing simply by being there. Highway 1 is only one lane in each direction through this part of Big Sur. The road bends sharply, there is very little shoulder and, in places, there is a steep drop towards the coast. Near the bridge, people were stopping in the traffic lane to take photographs. Some drivers who had missed the turnout were reversing back along the highway. Other cars had parked with half the vehicle still sticking out onto the road, while visitors walked between them and crossed to the other side.

It felt unsafe because you couldn’t always see what was happening beyond the next bend. A driver coming around the corner at normal road speed could suddenly meet a stopped car, a reversing car or somebody standing in the lane. We found a place to pull off and took our photographs, but I didn’t feel comfortable staying there for long.

![Traffic backed up on Highway 1 near Bixby Creek Bridge](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-23.jpg)
*Traffic backed up on Highway 1 near Bixby Creek Bridge*

Monterey County later [introduced a one-year ban on parking beside this stretch of Highway 1](https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/Home/Components/News/News/12023/18?widgetId=41), with the signs going up in August 2026. I can understand why people object to losing access to a famous public viewpoint. After what we saw that evening, I also understand the county’s concern. At one point, we watched a family cross both lanes for a better angle while cars were still moving through the area. I don’t know whether the parking ban will prove to be the right long-term answer, but the way people were stopping and walking on the road was dangerous.

![Bixby Creek Bridge](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-19.jpg)
*Bixby Creek Bridge*

With the new parking restriction, anyone visiting now will need to check the current arrangements before setting out. I’d still go earlier in the day rather than at sunset, when more people tend to stop for photographs. If there is nowhere legal and safe to stop, carry on and turn around somewhere suitable. Reversing along Highway 1 because you missed the photograph is an astonishing decision.

Bixby was as far south as we went. Highway 1 continues through Big Sur towards Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls and eventually San Simeon, but we would have been driving most of that in the dark. We turned north and saved the rest for a trip when we can give it the time it needs.

![The crowd at the Bixby Creek Bridge viewpoint](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-20.jpg)
*The crowd at the Bixby Creek Bridge viewpoint*

![Bixby Creek Bridge and the Big Sur coast](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-21.jpg)
*Bixby Creek Bridge and the Big Sur coast*

![Highway 1 through Big Sur](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-22.jpg)
*Highway 1 through Big Sur*

![People out on the rocks past the guardrail at Bixby Creek Bridge](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-24.jpg)
*People out on the rocks past the guardrail at Bixby Creek Bridge*

## Back through Marina

We had two more stops to make around Monterey before beginning the drive back to San Francisco, although neither had anything to do with the scenery.

We reached Costco in Sand City at about 6.45pm. I have written separately about [shopping at Costco as an international visitor](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/07/21/shopping-at-costco-as-an-international-visitor/), so I won’t try to turn this section into another Costco guide. We like visiting the American warehouses, though, and the food court hotdog was still US$1.50. After a day of lighthouses, missions and coastal viewpoints, we were quite happy to spend some time pushing a trolley around Costco.

![Costco Sand City](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-25.jpg)
*Costco Sand City*

At around 7.30pm, we continued to the Trader Joe’s at The Dunes in Marina. It sits directly beside the [SpringHill Suites where my partner and I stayed in December](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/02/14/review-springhill-suites-monterey-bay/), and I recognised the car park as soon as we pulled in. I had last been there only five months earlier, so it was a little strange to be back on a completely different trip.

We were looking for the Trader Joe’s canvas tote bags, partly because the designs vary by region and partly because people had asked us to bring some home. They were sold out. We bought snacks instead, which didn’t really solve the tote bag request, but at least we didn’t leave empty-handed.

![SpringHill Suites at The Dunes in Marina](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-26.jpg)
*SpringHill Suites at The Dunes in Marina*

![The reusable bag wall at Trader Joe’s](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-27.jpg)
*The reusable bag wall at Trader Joe’s*

## The drive back

From Marina, the drive back to San Francisco International Airport takes about two hours. It was already dark, so we took US-101 rather than retracing Highway 1. The inland route was faster, and there wasn’t much reason to stay beside the coast when we could no longer see it. We reached the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Union Square right at 10pm on the dot and dropped my colleague there.

I then drove to the Mason O’Farrell Garage near Union Square. It cost US$38 and didn’t include in-and-out privileges. The car itself had been only US$56, which meant one night of parking increased our total to US$94. This is easy to overlook when car rental rates in San Francisco look cheap, and it needs to be part of the calculation before booking the car rental.

![Back in Union Square at the end of the day](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-28.jpg)
*Back in Union Square at the end of the day*

## Was it worth it?

I’m glad we did the drive, even though I was exhausted by the time I finally left the car in Union Square. We went back to a part of California I like and stopped at a few places I had missed in December. Having my colleague sitting beside me made a big difference. I wouldn’t recommend getting off a 16-hour flight and attempting the same route alone.

I’d still make the drive again if the timings worked out the same way. The main change would be to collect the car and leave San Francisco earlier, so we could get to Bixby well before the evening crowd. I wouldn’t add any more stops to the route. Pfeiffer Beach and McWay Falls look close enough on a map, but going further would have left us deep in Big Sur after dark and facing an even longer return to the city.

For this trip, Bixby Bridge was the right place to turn around. This was never meant to replace the three-day Pacific Coast Highway drive I had taken with my partner in December, and if it were my first time along this coast I would give it at least two days. For a free Saturday before work, though, I’d happily do the same drive again.

In part two, we start again the next morning with another rental car, spend some time in San Francisco itself, and then drive across the Golden Gate Bridge towards Point Reyes National Seashore.

---

*Originally published on [The Quiet Vacationer](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/09/08/california-dreaming-big-sur-south-on-the-pacific-coast-highway/)*