Carmel is a charming village at the Highway Number One. Apparently, the people here are "wealthy", and some celebreties have their homes here, too. And we understand why they choose to live here...

Carmel has a fantastic beach with blue-green water and white sand.

The excellent golf courses of the 17 mile drive are just a short drive away, and they are directly at the beach! Cool.

The southern beach of Carmel (Carmel River State Beach) is also beautiful, not as rough as the main beach, and not too crowded in September. The perfect place to be, in my opinion.

Just a few miles south of Carmel you will find Point Lobos State Reserve. While not being as big as a National Park, this is a place of extreme beauty, with sea lions, sea otters, birds and rare trees. There are many trails, and you could easily spend a full day just here. This is "Whalers Cove", where scuba divers can explore the submarine world. Hint: If you look closely, you can find the traces of a scuba diver in the photo! :-)

This is Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park with the famous waterfalls that go straight into the sea. The park can be easily accessed from Highway 1, and there is a short trail that leads you to this scene.

Another impression of the Big Sur coastline. The highway is built along the shore, and it took us much longer to reach the South than we expected, because we were stopping so often to admire the scene (and to take photos). :-)

We finally reached San Simeon, just in time to enjoy another breathtaking sunset at the Pacific Ocean.