This place is known by everyone but not visited by everyone. Some people get a little freaked out when they come to San Luis Obispo County and hear about “nude beaches”. They shy away and unfortunately never discover how beautiful they can really be. We started out on a little hike on Cave Landing trail which lead to awesome views, even though it was overcast. I loved it! Then we did the short walk down from the parking lot to the actual beach which is an adventure in itself. Since it was overcast nobody was naked, but it was awesome to be on a beautiful beach with hardly any people (that’s really a privelage that some people pay big bucks for, but we were just unconcerned by other people’s nudity).

The actual beach at Pirate's Cove on a sunny day

This beach isn’t the easiest to access but definitely work the short walk down. It is usually uncrowded, although you may have more people when it’s warm and sunny (they will probably be naked) and we also got to see seals playing pretty close to shore. You can also take another trail from the parking lot that leads to a cliff with views in the other direction towards Avila beach:

View from the top

I only learned about this place from my friend who lives in the area, but if you find yourself near Pismo Beach or Avila Beach you may want to venture away from the tourist traps to see something gorgeous, you can easily spend a whole day here.