Even essentially 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 person appears to know, and oftentimes, they go away a long-lasting mark even larger than international icons.


As for the West Coast, most vacationers go for a handful of main cities and stylish seaside cities.
In between is what’s left to locals who have a tendency to stay tight-lipped about their picture-perfect hometown.
But right now, 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 stunning seaside 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 wherever round The Bay, many California seashores are spitting pictures of one another.


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


That’s proper, this city is house to quite a few Redwood areas and pristine waterfalls, together with:
- MacKerricher State Park
- Russian Gulch State Park
Better but, be certain 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’ve got bought Tillamook model dairy merchandise at your most well-liked grocer with out batting a watch that Tillamook is an actual place that simply so occurs to be a seamless gateway to otherworldly shoreline no person 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, for those who go to such locations as Cape Lookout State Park.
And sure, whilst you’re right here, you may e book 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’ seaside vacation spot.
Next door to Santa Barbara lies the historic city of Carpinteria, boasting a pleasant Old Town and much more pleasant seashores that hardly ever draw big 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 good for dolphin recognizing, browsing, or just kicking again with a White Claw in-hand (conceal it from the lifeguards!).
1) Solana Beach, CA: San Diegans Will Spite Me For Revealing This Place
Well… it was a great run.
I could also be banned from native taco retailers and threatened by dude-bro surfers for revealing our beloved hideout from vacationers that invade every spring and summer season like clockwork.
San Diego vacationers are likely to go for Coronado, Mission Beach, Del Mar, and La Jolla, however Solana Beach has remained off the standard vacationer path as an area 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 retailers, walkable retailers and different eats, and pristine seashores hidden beneath staggering bluffs that vacationers are likely to miss.
With no main inns and no resorts, that is the place you may spend a day journey to mix in with locals at such locations as Pizza Port, slightly than botox-injected Karens in ritzy Del Mar and La Jolla.
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