Association Reviews
Pacific Beach--Beautiful, relaxing, tranquil
We tied a few days on the coast to a trip to Seattle for a conference. Pacific Beach is SMALL, and the weather was much cooler than we expected due to constant haze and a steady wind (not breeze, WIND) off the ocean. It's about 20 degrees cooler than Seattle in the summer, not factoring for wind chill, so bring sweatshirts and a jacket.
But it was exactly what we wanted--no crowds, no cell phone service, no phone in the room. The beach is amazing--not manicured, just nature doing its thing. We sat on driftwood logs watching seagulls and crabs for hours, found beachglass and shells, then would head back to the cabin to warm up. The beach is long, flat and wide; you could spend all day walking if you chose.
Theplace we stayed in was very well appointed, and looked to be either extremely well maintained or newly renovated. We could have cooked every meal there but chose not to because we were being so lazy. Full size fridge, full size stove, microwave, and coffee maker. It was a two bedroom, but we felt it would have been tight quarters with two more adults.
And even though we joked about it when I made the reservation, The fireplace was very welcome in June (ok, we're from Texas--it was 95 degrees ehre when we left). The beach was about a block away, and it was visible from the front porch.
The home blocked a lot of the wind, so we used the porch when we still wanted to be outside but get out of the wind. The manager onsite was extremely friendly and helpful on recommendations.
The units are dog friendly, too, and we wished we could have brought ours-they would have loved the beach. From the seciond floor I'll bet the ocean view was amazing. Definitely stay in a cottage for creature comforts, though.
The coffee shop up the block had wonderful pastries for breakfast, and also internet service if we felt like seeing what was happening in the rest of the world. All the restaurants in town (4 or 5) shut down pretty early, so plan ahead.
The restaurant at the old Navy base was open latest and has a bar, and the food was simple but very good. Falcon Nest had excellent shakes and onion rings, and make sure to try the salmon burger.
We went up to the National Forest one day and hiked around. Amazing how a 30 minute drive totally changed the terrain as well as the weather! Sunny and warm inland, while overcast and very cool on the coast. We ate lunch overlooking Lake Quinault, and saw the world's largest spruce tree and several waterfalls, too.
We also drove down to Ocean Shores another day, but not much to see there except tourist-y stores.
Not a resort area by far--just a sleepy, quiet town on the beach. It was wonderful. – Anonymous, Texas