Living / Climbing near Cambria / Central Coast

Not sure if this should be in the Northern or Souther California forum but I'll ask anyways.

I have a job offer near Cambria and before moving my family out there and accepting I wanted to know more about the area. Anyone live near there?
Is there anything to do? Climb? How affordable is it?

Any tips at all for the area?

Thanks

Are you 65+ , retired , and looking to watercolor more? Cambria is for you .

If not , it might be a little on the slow side for a younger person. The nearest climbing is in San Luis Obispo about 40 minutes south . You are at the doorway to Big Sur to the north though .

Why not live in San Luis and commute north? Pretty nice drive up the coast... Paso is much more family oriented and cheaper I would imagine .

My experience : grad school at Cal Poly and working for a short time in Cayucos and Paso Robles.

I live in SLO county and climb regularly at Bishop Peak. There is also a lesser, but closer to Cambria crag, called Cabrillo Peaks.

Bishop Peak is good fun climbing. Living in SLO county is nice.

Frank

My sister lived in Los Osos (just west, on the coast near SLO) for a number of years and her husband's parents relocated to Cambria as well. Cambria is beautiful but slow paced, which isn't bad if you're OK with that. Definitely more in SLO. Closer to the climbing, great road biking and also good mt. biking at Montana del Oro SP and elsewhere. Close to the coast and Morro Bay. Not far from the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley. Big Sur is not far too the north. Lots of the benefits of California living without alot of the drawbacks such as traffic, smog, etc. Definitely far worse places to land a job offer.

Partington cove is a bit north and is a really nice place to boulder. There's not a ton but its RIGHT on the water. The rock is super sharp granite, crystally as hell but solid. Theres not much on MP about it, but there are quite a few problems, including a nice V1 highball. Multiple pads are probably necessary for whatver you do there because the landings are all sharp and rocky. Most of the rock further north is crumbly and weak up through to santa cruz. There might be some adventurous stuff to check out in the Partington area but lots of loose rock and sandy ledges. Speaking of which, Pinnacles is probably around 4 hours from Cambria for a winter fix, but I'm sure SLO is way better.

Plenty of climbing in well known and hidden climbing in the Central Coast. I cut my teeth climbing at Bishop's Peak and Cerro Cabrillo. The area is gorgeous, Big Sur is one of my favorite, magical places to camp, access to outdoors is pretty damn good. Depends what lifestyle you're looking for.

San Luis Obispo is predominantly a college town.
Los Osos is right by Montano de Oro State Park, is pretty nice and quiet, but foggy most of the summer.
Morro Bay is pretty affordable for the area and is about half way between SLO and Cambria.
Cayucos is the closest thing to an old beach shanty town and is a cool small town to live in.

Also, J-Tree and Yosemite are within reason (5-8 hours) for those extended weekends/short vacations.

Heyo,
The central coast is a great place for climbing. I actually live in Cambria, and there is plenty of good climbing near by. Like other people said, Bishops peak and Cerro cabrillo are close by. There is actually a craig in Cambria itself, but access is questionable (I have not climbed there myself).
As far as stuff to do, Cambria itself really is full of mostly older retired people. But there are a few younger people around. If your into cycling or mt biking, it's great for that. Surfing also is not to bad. Like others have mentioned, there are plenty of other places near Cambria that you can commute from. Affordability in Cambria (housing) is not that bad. certainly much cheaper then SLO

Had family living in Cambria for a bit. Cool place and pretty chill. Very few things open very late. Scott Rock is the local crag north of the HS. Has some cool climbs and good bouldering around it. Watch for p-oak. Park at the HS and hike. Have to jump a fence bit the land owners were always OK with it back then.

On this note, anyone know anything about the bluff in the ridge on the north side of 46 as you drive from 1 toward Paso Robles?

Yes I talked to the people who own the land that it is on. They said no way ever will that be open to climbing. I tried to get a reason for this harsh decision and the lady I spoke with said "we own it!" That was that. Sad, looks like a lot of fun.

Man I don't think anyone will shed too many tears for the chosspile Scott Rock .

Poison oak everywhere , low angled slabs , and ancient bolts . It definitely looks more impressive from far away . JMO ...

Dang, that bluff looks really good. I always stop and check it out.

Yup. And from what I understand climbers used to climb there and supposedly some locals do still. But the impression I got was that the lady I spoke to hated climbers. She was not very happy with me, and I am a customer service genius and know how to make people happy.

I always look at that crag on 46 and wondered about access to it....

just out of curiosity , is that the crag with the giant water pipe running along its base ... ?

I'm working on bolting that crag on Santa Rosa creek road called Scott rock. Some fun TR problems and one lead for the time being. If you climb it just don't go through the stables on your way up and go under the barbed wire across from the football stadium.

In reference to the other questions you asked, kinda expensive, fun surfing and hiking and stuff, and overall a cool small town, pretty quiet though.