Point Arena is the perfect spot for a honeymoon, a family vacation, or an adventure. I should know; I’ve spent so much time on the Mendocino coastline that it’s like a second home.
In fact, my husband and I honeymooned there in 1996. Point Arena is one of California’s smallest cities and overlooks the Pacific Ocean, just a 90 minute drive north of San Francisco via the famous Highway 1. Everywhere you look is picture postcard material.

The Point Arena Lighthouse is one of the most enticing locations in Mendocino County. The Lighthouse sits at the western-most point of a 2 mile peninsula and provides a number of lodging options for those wishing to stay there. Tourists can climb the lighthouse and enjoy a unique vantage point of the ocean, especially when the whales pass through. The majestic California Gray Whales migrate each year from the warm Mexico currents northward past Point Arena between December-April. These 50-foot mammoths of the sea swim close to the shorelines, where the mother whales nurse their calves.

You’ll enjoy a number of simple pleasures around Point Arena: antiquing, diving, deep-sea fishing, art galleries, historical sites, theater, music, dining, wine tasting, and golf in peaceful surroundings are just some of the highlights of visiting this area.

When you get ready to visit Point Arena, visit these web sites:
- Point Arena Lighthouse and Museum
- Point Arena Lighthouse
- Lighthouse Photo Album - Point Reyes
- Point Cabrillo Lighthouse Station

By guest writer Kathleen A.