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I realized that I talked plenty about the cities along the Oregon Coast that I visited, but I never shared about the beaches. And boy are the beaches beautiful. When most people think of beaches along the Pacific Ocean, they think about California – Laguna Beach, Santa Monica Beach and so on – but no one considers the beaches of Oregon and Washington. With the right weather, they’re a joy to visit. Here are the ones I saw on my recent road trip:
Seaside Beach
I didn’t like the city, but that doesn’t mean I can’t like the beach. It’s huge and stretches out so far. I love how far inland the sand goes too. There is plenty of space so even if there are lots of people, it feels fairly empty. Also, be sure to check out the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale nearby.
Cannon Beach
Cannon Beach, a 30 minute drive from Seaside, was definitely my favourite beach that I visited. The city itself is really cute and quaint. I wish we had more time to see it. The dominating feature at Cannon Beach is Haystack Rock – a 235 foot tall sea stack. At low tide, the rock can be reached by foot, but it was high tide when we were there.
The couple of hours we spent at Cannon Beach were pleasantly warm so we did as any beach dwellers do. Put down a mat, lay down and soak in the sun. I also went for a wander down the beach to see Haystack Rock from another angle, stopping along the way to take in washed up wildlife. One of my traveling companions is a biology teacher and he had so much fun telling us about all the interesting creatures we encountered.
Forget about swimming or going too far into the water. It’s extremely cold! I lost any feeling in my feet after only a couple minutes walking in the water. Even walking on the sand that just had water on it was cold.
Lincoln City Beach
In Lincoln City we had a the great fortune of staying at a hotel that looked out directly at the beach. While the weather wasn’t the best with a lot of fog, you couldn’t get more oceanfront than that.
This was from our hotel room! Amazing
It was quiet and relatively secluded with most people that were staying or living nearby using the beach. We wandered the rocks and poked in various tidal pools and tossed a frisbee around.
A Bonfire on the Beach
Surprisingly, in Oregon, you can have a fire on the beach! Something like this would definitely not be allowed on the beaches of Vancouver. There are a couple of common sense rules (see #14) when it comes to beach fires, but otherwise, you’re free to do as you please. While we were in Lincoln city, because of our proximity to the beach, we decided to build a fire for dinner. We bought wood and fire starter from a nearby Safeway, but plenty of gas stations also sell wood. You’re required to have a bucket of water nearby as well to put out the fire. Burying it isn’t allowed.
The evening we decided to do this, it was incredibly windy and foggy. It took us an excruciating long time to figure out how to get it started. Anytime we got the tiniest bit of a fire going the wind would extinguish it quickly. We were prepared though and had lots of matches and wood and finally we were able to get it going.
I have a massive fear of fire. I don’t really know why because I’ve never really been burned or been in a fire. I think I’m afraid of it because I can’t control it. I kept my distance and as a result I got really cold really fast. The 4 layers I was wearing definitely was not warm enough. We ate dinner by the fire, but the wind meant sand was getting in everything. Crunchy cold pizza anyone?
Theses are the main beaches that I visited during our drive along the Oregon Coast, but there are plenty more beaches to visit. Every town we passed through had some waterfront area and we passed through some secluded beach areas that were stunningly beautiful. If only we had more time to stop at them all!
Have you visited places where you found something unexpected?
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I would guess it’s the warmer waters of the Southern California beaches that make them more popular than the cold beaches of Washington or Oregon. But these are sure are pretty. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely! I don’t blame people for wanting the warm waters. It was too cold!
Yes, the California beaches are better for swimming and surfing, but I love walking on beaches any time of the year so these would be great for that! The bonfire also sounds very nice in the evenings.
Walking along the beach is definitely possible in Oregon. The sand is even slightly warm, but walking in the water is a little chilly.
Those beaches look gorgeous!
Amazing pictures Adelina. I love the idea of a bonfire on the beach! The whole wind in your hair, sand at your feet, Pizza and Beer in your hand and a warm fire burning… its a delightful combination! 🙂
Have been a little out of touch with #SundayTraveler off late, but looking forward to catching up again 🙂
Thanks Upasna! It definitely was a cool (and cold) experience! Looking forward to seeing your future posts 🙂
Amazing photos – the beaches look incredible! I think I’d prefer those to the California ones – they look much less crowded and a bit wilder :).
Definitely less crowded! I do wish you could go in the water though. That would make it perfect.
Cannon Beach would be my pic, that rock formation has me mezmorized. Great post Adelina! I want to bring my bf and do the bonfire. He makes massive ones!
You definitely need someone who knows what they’re doing to get the fire going under all that wind! None of us really knew what we were doing so it was really hit or miss. I’m surprised we made it work.
looks like a stunning coastline! Beautiful pictures 🙂
Great post! We will be spending a considerate amount of time in Oregon in a few months, so will be bookmarking your article!
Awesome! I love Oregon. It’s so beautiful. Where abouts are you staying?
Looks like you had some good weather to enjoy the beaches. I was there in June and it was pretty cold and windy. I skipped Cannon Beach and regret it. Hopefully next time I’m in the area I’ll make it there!
Yes, you definitely need to go back to Cannon Beach. It’s a lot of fun to explore.
The beaches are beautiful, Haystack Rock in Cannon beach is a standout.
It’s weird that I miss living near the beach since I rarely ever stepped foot on it. I think I just liked looking at it and knowing that it was an option. Oregon’s beaches are indeed beautiful in your photos. Those are some interesting things you found on Cannon Beach. I also like the rule that you can’t just bury the fire but must put it out with water. My son went on a camping trip and one of the other boys burned his feet on hot sand from a buried fire that had not cooled off.
That is exactly why they don’t want you to bury it. I can’t imagine how painful it would be. There is no one monitoring the beach so it really is just self policing. Hopefully people have the foresight to do it properly!
What a beautiful place – and one I’d never thought of visiting. I really love that rock too. Gorgeous (though shame the water was too cold!)
It would make the perfect vacation spot if the water was warm too!
Adelina, what is that red thing on the sand? (5th picture)
I think it’s some kind of jelly fish? There were a bunch of them in the sand.
Can’t go wrong with Cannon Beach! We came through mid-week in September and it seemed like we had the whole town to ourselves. Looks like I now have a few more Oregon beaches to visit!
All the beaches are so beautiful! I wish I had more time to explore more of them though.