Hotel at a Glance: Clarion Surfrider Resort

If you stand in the backyard of the clifftop Clarion Surfrider Resort, you can see (and hear) the Pacific Ocean’s waves crashing against the rocks below. There’s a wooden staircase, so you can walk down to the beach for a closer view and to feel the ocean mist. And it’s not just the views that connect this resort to the ocean; the onsite Surfrider Restaurant & Lounge celebrates the sea by serving locally caught seafood and oysters.

• Oceanfront dining: Almost every seat at Surfrider Restaurant overlooks the ocean.
• Relax in style: King and queen rooms may offer private balconies that overlook the Pacific, or in-room fireplaces. Select king rooms have jetted tubs, so you can unwind after a long day out by the ocean. 
• Swim in the sunshine: Natural light pours into the indoor saltwater pool from windows overhead. 
• Stay connected with free WiFi throughout the resort.

Depoe Bay, Oregon: Whale Watching next to the World’s Smallest Harbor

Through a narrow, rocky chasm along Oregon’s coast, you can find the world’s smallest navigable harbor; it’s just 6 acres wide. Depoe Bay, the town that contains this harbor, is tiny too—it has fewer than 1,500 residents. A natural sea wall protects the little town, and its main shopping streets closely follow the coastline and have nice views of the Pacific nearly everywhere you look.

There are a number of natural phenomena drawing visitors to Depoe Bay. One is the Spouting Horn—a natural underwater cave that transforms incoming waves into a powerful spray that often soaks Highway 101, which runs through Depoe Bay. The area is also a destination for storm watchers who listen for gale warnings and then pull up and park along the seawall. The powerful storm systems relentlessly pound the shoreline in hopes of moving on to fight tougher tracts of land in the middleweight division.

A pod of gray whales swims through the bay 10 months out of the year, making the area popular for whale-watching excursions. There’s even a state park, the Whale Watching Center, which sets up visitors to watch and understand whale migration. Close to 20,000 whales swim past the center before June annually.

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