North Coast
In general, the north coast is a series of smallish towns along the Pacific Ocean in San Luis Obispo County. They tend to have foggier, windier weather, but are excellent places to escape the heat of some towns in the Central Valley.
Los Osos
One of the unique things about this town is that many of the streets are dirt roads. Other than areas with acreage, this is not typical for San Luis Obispo County. The entire town is on septic, and one day the majority of the town will need to hook up to a new sewer system (we still don’t know when this will go in), and will have an assessment that will be around $25k. For this reason, the homes in Los Osos tend to be less expensive that the other north coastal towns. Vacant land in this town cannot be developed at this time due to sewer and water moratoriums that restrict development. The weather tends to be cooler and windier. The homes are largely smaller beach homes, with the exception of the waterfront homes and homes in Cabrillo Estates and Bayview Heights. (Side note: Cabrillo Estates will NOT be assessed and will not be required to hook up to the sewer system. Also, homes on more than an acre are not going to be required to hook into the sewer.) Cabrillo Estates is immediately prior to entering Montana de Oro, which is a beautiful state park.
Morro Bay
This downtown is oriented around the Embarcadero. Like most other cities, there are different sections of the city that each have different “feels” and pros and cons. The downtown area is walking distance to the embarcadero, shops, restaurants, and cafes, but is also more touristy and congested in terms of foot and vehicle traffic. The hills on the east side of the freeway are homes with lovely ocean views. The homes in Morro Bay tend to have a “boxy” look, which is fairly distinct. The weather, again, is more foggy and windy that other parts of SLO County. Morro Bay is famous for Morro Rock – a massive rock that rises up from the bay. Homes that have views of the rock and bay sell at a premium.
Cayucos
Cayucos extends just north of Morro Bay. The hills are similar to Morro Bay in that the homes on the hills have great ocean/bay views. There are oceanfront homes on Studio Drive that have spectacular ocean views and access to the beach. Cayucos has a quaint “western feel” downtown that runs parallel to the bay. There are lots of antique shops, a few good restaurants, and cafes. But this is a small town, and it has the pros and cons that go along with a small town. Everyone who lives there knows each other. It has an old-fashioned feel. The people are friendly. It can get a bit touristy in the summer. Great quaint town! There is a building moratorium in this town, so lots/land in this town are comparatively cheap and have a water wait list number (or worse yet, no number at all).
Cambria
Cambria is another 15 minutes or so from Cayucos, so it is about a 30-40 min drive from SLO. It is amazing how in those 15 minutes you can be transported to Northern California – the trees and shoreline look just like Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur. The shoreline is spectacular with the rocky cliffs, rocks sticking out of the water, and a pebbly beach (the famous Moonstone Beach). The town’s style is similar to Cayucos (sort of a western feel), and it also possesses many antique shops as well as restaurants and cafes. Both Cayucos and Cambria have large acreage estates on the inland outskirts of the towns, but the majority of the homes in Cambria are either ocean view homes on the hills, homes nestled in the big evergreen trees, or oceanfront homes along Moonstone Beach. There is also a building moratorium in Cambria, where water is the issue. The weather is much more like Northern California – windy, cloudy, foggy, and sometimes stormy. But it is absolutely gorgeous!
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