We camped in Big Sur Campground in Big Sur, CA. It was in a wooded area amongst Redwoods and along a river.
Here is the van in our campsite to show the scale of some of the tall trees. It seems the Coastal Redwoods are pretty common.
This was a few yards from our site.
In the morning we drove through Carmel, CA and stopped at a public beach.
We looked for whales again but did not see any. We did see a few Sea Lions in the distance.
The Monterrey Penninsula has the most beautiful beaches I have seen.