Friends Of The Elephant Seal Visitor Center and Gift Shop

Take the 1 from San Luis Obispo. After you get out of town, just a couple of miles, it is fast. The country is beautiful. You will pass Cambria and continue to San Simeon. The Friends of the Elephant Seal (tourist information) is located in the Cavalier's shopping area. The seals are about six miles North Highway 1.

The best viewing is just a bit north. There is a sign that calls it a view point. It has a rather large dirt parking lot and a long boardwalk

Yes, the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal viewing area is open daily. Please check our website for directions and viewing guidelines: https://elephantseal.org/plan-your-visit/ Hope you have wonderful visit!

Approximately 4h30...

They never have multiple births.

Gestation period is around 11 months.

Lisa, Thanks for your note! The pups are not born until late December and January. However, there are always some seals in the rookery. September through early December is time for the juvenile Fall Haul-out, so the youngest seals in the colony are now there, including some seals that were born last January. The parking lot is right next to the wheelchair accessible viewing platforms. There are more seals to the north of the parking lot at this point. Check out our website for planning your visit and learning more before you arrive: https://elephantseal.org/plan-your-visit/ Please be safe-plan to wear masks, maintain distance from other visitors and stay on the boardwalks and behind all fences. Bring your telephoto lens and binoculars for the best view of the seals. Hope you have a great visit!

Surprised to hear that! The birthing season began in December and peaked in January, as usual. Similarly the breeding season begins in January and peaks in mid- February, as each adult female comes into estrus and mates towards the end of her 4-week nursing period. Most of the females have left now, leaving thousands of weaned pups behind. There are are more big adult males than females present now. The males lose up to 40% of their weight (could be 2000 lbs for the largest males.). They are thinner, but just as aggressive towards each other, especially as there are fewer females now. Hope you’ll come back soon!

No...you just show up during the day ...

Whole year, september and later the real big ones😉

Yes , there are many seals almost all year long , parking is in a dirt field and is very bumpy so drive slow ! There is a boardwalk so you can get lots of angles for photos , have fun !!!😉

Yes.Births happen in winter.

Absolutely. We were there again last week and there were hundreds of huge seals carpeting their various home beaches. And, across the highway, cars were stopped along the shoulder to view and photograph some of Hearst's zebra herd who were grazing the fence line

Are there alot of seals around Christmas time and what time of year do they give birth? Thank you