Pismo Caves

San Luis Obispo, CA Print   Leave a comment

Description

The caves, sometimes called Dinosaur Caves, on the northern end of Pismo Beach are so amazing they seem almost unreal. Some are yellow and others are an army design of white and bright grey. The yellow caves are jagged whereas the white ones are smooth and curve in the shape of waves. Venture inside and you can see the sky through windows in the caves. Stairs lead up one wall of white and it looks for a moment like you are in Greece. Sea stacks sit bizarrely in the middle of the sand, surrounded by Cal Poly students playing frisbee and taking secret sips of beer.
There are several public staircases that lead down to the beach and caves. One is on Wilmar Avenue (see directions below).
This is a favorite spot for family photographers, shooting wedding proposals and pregnancy photos, because the sunsets here are spectacular with the rocks silhouetted against the colorful sky.
You can walk north along Price Street to an inspiring lookout where pelicans perch on steep sea cliffs: Shell Beach Panoramic Lookout.
Named after these caves is Dinosaur Caves Playground, on the cliffs above the beach.

Photo Gallery

The Wilmar Avenue stairs.	View of Pismo Pier from the Wilmar Avenue stairs.	Sea stack on the sand.
White cliffs and Cal Poly students.	People walking along the shore at Pismo Beach.	Sea stack and Cal Poly students.
The yellow cliffs.	Yellow pointed cliff.	My favorite- the white caves.
Wall of white.	Window in the white cave.	Gorgeous shapes.
Deep in the white cave.	Stairs on white rock.	Party girl and guy at the Pismo Caves.
Checking out the caves.	The white curves and the stairs.	Jagged yellow rock.
A mom and teenage daughter walk beside the sea stack.	Sea stack and pointed rock.	Pismo Caves, seen from above, from Shell Beach Panoramic Walk (see entry).
Looking through the cave's arch to the ocean.	One of the caves!	The caves, below a hotel.
Looking up at the cliffs.	The rock formations at the beach!	Strange white kelp balls on the shore.

Directions

To find the stairs with your GPS, you can use this address: 311 Wilmar Ave, Pismo Beach CA 93449.
There is plenty of parking along the road because the staircase is long and less popular.
From Highway 101 northbound, exit at Wadsworth Avenue and turn left. Turn right on Price St and go six or seven blocks until you see a "Coastal Access" sign on the right. Turn left there on Wilmar Avenue. Park along the road.
From Highway 101 southbound take the Price St exit and turn left on Price St. Turn right on the third street, Wilmar Ave. Park along the road.
You can also access the beach from the short, public staircase or handicapped lift at Seacrest Hotel at 2241 Price St, just north on Price Street from the Wilmar Ave stairs.

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

Overall Visitor Rating:

Pismo Local 08/05/2021 10:35	"Dinosaur Caves" and "Pismo caves" are not the same thing. There is no more access to dinosaur caves. It's now a park, used to be an open field with a pretty dangerous decent into the caves which was fenced off,and is technically in shell beach not Pismo. The only way now to get to dinosaur caves is by the water, you cannot at any time access dinosaur caves by land anymore, the fence and basically giant hole in the ground to get to the caves has been covered and the whole area turned into a park at least 10+ years ago.
Jacob 09/18/2016 08:35	A great view while I study on the sand.
HJ 11/05/2009 21:18	freakin amazing.
Adrienne 10/22/2009 19:33	i love that cave
Barbara 10/15/2009 14:48	White sand, cool caves, blue water. Beautiufl place to live or visit.
Bryan 10/01/2009 14:20	Aaahhh, Pismo - the memories.