Hidden Coast of California: Including San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Mendocino (Paperback)
Review
The Hidden guidebook series hot-peppers its pages with little arrows that point to a multitude of off-the-tourist-track sites.
Product Description
No other guide offers coverage of this fabled shoreline as comprehensively as Hidden Coast of California, focusing on the many miles of unspoiled beach-long famous stretches to dozens of hidden pockets along the way. Award-winning author Ray Riegert introduces travelers to the unique personalities of three of America’s favorite oceanside cities. He leads travelers to bohemian coffeehouses near the shops and theaters of San Francisco’s Union Square, traces the roots of the movie industry at famous film sites around Los Angeles and brings the entire family to San Diego’s world-famous zoo and animal theme parks. Along the way the author suggests a visit to small fishing towns and international shipping ports, Victorian neighborhoods, and oceanfront mansions. He details how to best enjoy the state’s popular coastal retreats — including sunbathing in Santa Barbara, beachcombing in Mendocino and relaxing in a bed-and-breakfast inn near Monterey. The ultimate beach lover’s travel guide, Hidden Coast of California covers 175 beaches: 123 surfing beaches, 48 camping beaches, and even 21 nude beaches. A virtual bed-and-breakfast guide, this book recommends over 150 small hotels, guest cottages, and bed-and-breakfast inns. Perfectly suited for out-of-state visitors, this guide also offers locals countless suggestions for weekend getaways.
Ray Riegert has devoted a lifetime to travelling the coast of California and finding favorite restaurants, bed & breakfast establishments, and cataloging some of the finer museums and beaches. This book has a little something for everyone, but a lot more if your idea of hidden travel is visiting the large cities of the California Coast. San Francisco receives nearly 100 pages of coverage alone and the clear emphasis is upon urban areas. In these places, Riegert has found some of the best eating establishments, listed the finest gay friendly nightclubs, discussed local parks, and, of particular interest to me, included a number of popular and classy neighborhood bookstores. However, what I consider California’s truly hidden coast, its wild and scenic parks and open space areas, receive decidedly less coverage. A few trails are listed, though the trailhead locations are not identified, and only Point Reyes National Seashore gets the full coverage it deserves. On the positive side, Riegert does not neglect the many rural hostels of California where budget travellers can stay often at cheaper rates than at nearby campgrounds.
The reason I am only giving this book 3 stars is that it has a lot of text, well over 500 pages, and all of it is in small print. This makes for difficult reading. The lack of photos also detracts a bit from a travel guide. On the whole, I think the author tried to be a little too comprehensive with the book and the result is that while everything was mentioned, almost everything could have used a fuller description. Still, if you want 3 day weekend tours of California’s largest cities along with adequate descriptions of nearby smaller tourist destinations (Laguna Beach and La Jolla in southern California, Big Sur, Mendocino, and Eureka to the north) this is a nice book.
There are enduring reasons why California has been a premier tourist destination for more than a hundred years. A compact, easily portable, 550-page travel guide specifically focused on its Pacific shoreline communities and environs, “Hidden Coast Of California” by travel expert Ray Riegert is a superbly organized and comprehensive compendium of information that includes recommended historic inns, scenic drives, beaches and parks, weekend getaways, prospecting opportunities for gems and precious metals, and even whale-watching! Covering the sights and recreational opportunities of San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Mendocino, “Hidden Coast Of California” is illustrated with occasional maps, peppered with traveler tips, provides an ‘Outdoor Adventure Symbols’ chart for ease of use, and so much more. Of special note is the opening chapter covering a variety of issues ranging from California coast geology, Native Americans, coastal plant life, animals (both on land and in the ocean), a calendar of events, visitor centers, traveling with children, disabled and senior travelers, women traveling alone, foreign travelers, camping, permits and more. Now in an expanded and updated eleventh edition, “Hidden Coast Of California” is the ideal resource for planning itineraries and for taking maximum advantage of what California has to offer travelers and vacationers along it’s spectacular coastline. Also very highly recommended for both personal and community Travel Guide reference collections is Ray Riegert’s companion book from Ulysses Press: “Hidden Southern California: 10th Edition” (9781569755396, $19.95).