Make a weekend of the 80th Pismo Beach Clam Festival, October 17–18, 2026: the Friday wine walk, the best parade spots, chowder with or without a ticket, the Kids Clam Rescue and where to stay.
A Pismo clam takes about seven years to reach legal size. It spends most of that time buried in wet sand, siphoning plankton out of the surf, doing very little that a person walking the beach would notice.
If you’ve ever wondered what that’s actually about, here’s some information to appreciate one of our local critters.
Inland is roasting. Pismo Beach isn’t. While the valley climbs past 100, the coast is sitting in the 70s with a breeze off the water, which is the whole reason this town has been a summer escape for a century.
National Pollinator Week, held during the last full week of June, is the perfect time to appreciate these critters. Here is a quick guide to who they are, where to find them, and how to help.
Something’s different downtown this summer. The energy is up, the sun has been out, and Pismo Beach just claimed the title of #1 Beach in California from USA TODAY 10Best.
May is National Bike Month, and Pismo Beach has a lot to celebrate. With a stretch of California coastline built for riding, trails cutting through ocean-view hillsides, and paved paths through creek-side greenery, this is a destination that rewards visitors who get out of the car and onto two wheels.
It has been a busy few months for the Pismo Beach Stewardship and Educational Outreach Program, and we wanted to take a moment to catch you up.
April and May on the Central Coast have gotten out of hand, and we mean that in the best kind of way.
Step outside on a clear night in Pismo Beach or Shell Beach and look up. There’s genuine darkness, something increasingly rare on the California coast.
