One of the West Coast’s best sea caves has its own elevator. The other two make you earn it.
Sea caves aren’t rare on the West Coast. Sea caves you can actually get inside — no boat, no wetsuit, no permit lottery — those are the rare part.
Here’s the range across three states: an elevator ride in Oregon, a several-mile beach walk in Washington, and a century-old smuggler’s tunnel in California.
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Oregon: an elevator straight into the cave
Sea Lion Caves, eleven miles north of Florence, holds the title of largest sea cave in the continental U.S. — a two-acre basalt cavern about the height of a twelve-story building. You don’t hike down to it. An elevator installed back in 1961 drops you 208 feet straight into the grotto.
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It’s also a working Steller sea lion rookery, though the sea lions run on their own schedule. Winter is when they’re most likely to actually be inside the cave; in summer they tend to haul out on the ledges outside instead. Admission is $18 for adults ($12 for kids 5–12, free under 5), and it’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
This is the easiest “wow” on this list, and there’s no shame in that — not every great cave needs to be earned.
Washington: earn it, one muddy mile at a time
Point of the Arches, at the far north end of Shi Shi Beach near Neah Bay, is a stretch of sea stacks and rock arches that Washington’s coast doesn’t get enough credit for. Getting there takes effort: the forest trail down to the beach itself runs 6.7 miles round trip with about 583 feet of climbing, rated moderate by AllTrails, and it’s muddy enough to ruin clean shoes.
Reaching the arches themselves means several more miles of walking up the beach past that, and it’s worth timing around low tide since the tide pools along the way are half the reason to go. The only pass needed for a day hike is the Makah Recreation Pass, $20 per vehicle per year, sold in Neah Bay at the marina, the tribal center, or the cultural museum.
California: through a gift shop and down 145 stairs
Sunny Jim Sea Cave in La Jolla is the one on this list you reach by walking through a gift shop. The Cave Store has run self-guided tours down a hand-dug tunnel since 1902 — 145 stairs each way, about five minutes down and five back up, no reservation needed.
L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, is credited with naming the cave after a cereal-box mascot its opening was said to resemble. Tours run 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, tickets are sold at the door only, and admission is $13 for adults and $7 for kids 3–17.
Three sea caves, three completely different ways in — and that’s honestly the fun part. Anyone made it out to Point of the Arches yet this summer?
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get between these three, and lock in a hotel before the good rooms are gone.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
