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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Avila Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Avila Beach and the surrounding area.
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above
website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed
sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above,
we pass this GPS location for Avila Beach:
- 35.180025, -120.731978
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Avila Beach
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected San Luis Obispo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Luis Obispo County
- Since Avila Beach is near San Mateo County and also Santa Barbara County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Mateo County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Barbara County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Avila Beach
Curious and Interesting Names Near Avila Beach ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Edna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Edna is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
- Fairoaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Fairoaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairoaks
- Grover Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Halcyon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Halcyon is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halcyon
- Miles
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Miles is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
- Oaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oaks is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
- Reeds ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Reeds is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds
- Shell Beach
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sycamore Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Sycamore Springs is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs
How Far From Avila Beach to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Avila Beach to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Avila Beach and extending to:
- San Luis Obispo, which is the Seat of San Luis Obispo County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 238 miles [383 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Avila Beach to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,399 miles [3,860.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,549 miles [12,148.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,318 miles [13,386.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Avila Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <4> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Avila Beach to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Avila Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1800, Longitude: -120.7320 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.475 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.931 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.115 degrees. |
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