Front Street and Avila Beach Pier

Front Street, in the town of Avila Beach, is the main street overlooking the beach. One block is pedestrian-only. Its buildings are colorful and attractive, built in the 1990s. It's wonderful to walk along soaking up the atmosphere! In both directions are stunning headlands, and below are students from Cal Poly enjoying the sheltered beach while other areas are foggy. At night, Front Street is enchanting, with strung lights lighting up the pretty architecture. Blue Moon Over Avila has a particularly wonderful ambience.

There are some excellent shops once you get over the touristy feel. Footseas has a good selection of shoes. Hats Unlimited will get you looking snazzy fast. And The Sea Barn is a good surf apparel shop.
If you want to sit down by a big window looking out on the sea in an easy counter-service cafe, Hula Hut is your best bet. You can get hot tea, coffee, ice cream, or a cookie. Disregard the knickknacks and focus on the colorful seating and view. There is seating outside as well.
The Custom House Restaurant is in a building where new arrivals from steamships checked in. Now it's a counter-service cafe with fresh salads but the meats aren't cooked fresh on a grill- the tritip is more like roast beef at the supermarket.
Avila Market sells picnic items, not very natural acai bowls, and has clean restrooms.
Kraken Coffee has limited outdoor seating with a great view but no umbrellas. The indoor seating is too noisy because of a ridiculous loud fan.
The wooden pier with its blue curlicue lampposts is lovely to stroll along. You can look back toward the land, admiring the blue sea and the hills in the distance. What a romantic spot!
Kids love to play at the shore at Avila Beach, get an ice cream, play on the pirate playground, and then visit the aquarium. These are all right next to each other. What an outing! Avoid playing where the creek meets the ocean because it has sewer in it.
Live music adds to the atmosphere at Avila Beach. Alapay Cellars has live music Wed and Sun 4-6pm. Teens are welcome if accompanied by an adult. In summer, Fri 4-8pm, there's a farmers market on Front Street with live music. Fri, Sat, and Sun, Mr. Rick's has live music, and you can hear it from the outside seating at The Custom House Restaurant.
At the very end of Front Street, you can take the Bob Jones Trail for a long walk. It's also nice to walk the hilly side streets off Front Street, checking out the town.
Check the webcams to see if it's foggy before you come. Generally the fog stays out at sea- Avila Beach enjoys very good weather compared to the other areas nearby. It's less windy in the mornings than afternoons. If there's a cold wind, you can sit on the beach up against the cement wall where there's no wind.
Have fun in Avila!

Front Street and Avila Beach Pier

Directions

Comments