Pacific Grove Travel Forum

Hi. Would like to know thw best places in PG for sunset viewing and the best beaches to walk along....would like a hotel on the beach with west view, am willing to pay more for the beauty of the view!!

The entire coast along Pacific Grove is beautiful. The sandy beaches around Asilomar are perfect for ocean sunsets. There is free roadside parking, but be aware that a lot of others will be doing the same thing.

There are several B & Bs along the coast in Pacific Grove, but I think your best viewing would be simply by walking on the beach or along the tidepools.

I wouldn't bother paying to go on the 17 mile drive for sunset views.

I agree that Asilomar is a great and very popular spot for sunsets... and really the only place in PG to see a sunset. From the southern end of Asilomar you can walk into the Pebble Beach community to the great Moss Beach at Spanish Bay which is a beautiful spot for a walk.

Less busy beaches for nice sunsets and sandy walks include the big sandy beaches of Monterey and Sand City near the Best Western Beach Resort along Sand Dunes Drive (Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Monterey,+CA,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=36.613392,-121.859622&spn=0.017637,0.02532&z=15&om=1)

Carmel is often voted as Monterey County's best beach to watch a sunset.

BTW - there are not many PG hotels with a beach view to the west. The Asilomar Conference Center (http://www.visitasilomar.com/) has some rooms that face west a few hundred yards from the water, with easy trails connecting you to Asilomar Beach and Moss Beach at Spanish Bay.

The Beachcomber Inn (http://www.montereypeninsulainns.com/home.html) is also just off the Asilomar Beaches, but I don't think any rooms face the water. This seems to be pretty basic lodging.

Another option is the lodge at Spanish Bay if you don't mind spending $500 a night!

From this page (http://www.montereypeninsulainns.com/) the opening photo shows the beach at Asilomar and the golf Links at Spanish Bay. The cluster of buildings at the center of the photo is the Asilomar Conference Center, and the L-shaped hotel at the very bottom center of the photo is the Beachcomber Inn.