Start from 35 curated places around Half Moon Bay, CA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Pasta Moon
A handmade-pasta institution on Main Street going since the late 1980s, the place locals book for a proper dinner out. The kitchen makes its own pasta and bread daily and the clam chowder is a quiet local favorite.
It's Italia
A San Francisco-style trattoria and pizzeria on Main Street with a wood and mesquite grill, more casual than Pasta Moon and good for a group. The gourmet pizzas and rotisserie meats anchor a long menu that keeps a table of mixed eaters happy.
Trails & outdoors
Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail
The flat paved path along the bluff above the state beaches, with separate lanes for walkers and bikes and benches at the overlooks. It is the easy, stroller-and-everyone walk that links downtown to the beaches and runs for miles with the ocean the whole way.
Cowell-Purisima Trail
A gravel bluff path south of town where coastal farmland meets the cliff edge, the most popular hike around. The roughly seven-mile out-and-back is mostly gentle, with wildflowers, seabirds and harbor seals along the way.
Things to do
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
The harbor-front brewpub at Princeton that has anchored the local beer scene since 2000, with a big dog-friendly patio, fire pits and live music. It is the casual all-ages spot to land after a harbor walk with a pint and the water in view.
Hop Dogma Brewing Company
A small-batch craft brewery in the Princeton harbor village, the serious-beer choice on the coast and a recent small-brewery-of-the-year winner. The taproom rotates experimental ales and lagers and leans more beer-first than the bigger brewpub down the road.
Landmarks & sights
Pigeon Point Light Station SHP
A 115-foot 1872 lighthouse on a bluff south of Pescadero, one of the tallest on the West Coast. The grounds and the rocky shoreline below are the draw, with tide pools and gray whales offshore in winter.
Pillar Point Harbor
The working fishing harbor at Princeton where the charter boats, the seafood shacks and the breakwater all meet. It is the staging ground for everything coastside, from crab season to whale trips, and the breakwater walk gives you the Mavericks headland in the distance.