Shell Beach is another Central Coast Gem. (Here’s where we wrote about Avila Beach.) Located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco and just a few minutes from downtown Pismo Beach, Shell Beach is known for its sunset vistas and for watching seagulls and pelicans, as well as whales and dolphins. A quiet neighbourhood, it offers a variety of accommodations, eateries, shopping, and a surprisingly number of massage and facial salons. While it does get busy, especially in the summer, Shell Beach is much more laid back than Pismo Beach and may be the perfect place for you to stay. Come for sure to see the beautiful sunsets.

Quick Links :: Shell Beach History | Shell Beach Activities & Attractions | Where to Stay in Shell Beach

Shell Beach scenes – near Dinosaur Park, low tide at the beach below Eldwayen Park on Ocean Boulevard, and a sunset view.

Shell Beach History

It wasn’t unusual thing for people to come across Chumash artifacts in Shell Beach. When builders excavate land to build or rebuild houses, many have unearthed a range of items. Shell Beach was a Chumash village and the Chumash people called these lands home for more than ten thousand years. This area had the tar or “pismu” used to waterproof the canoes.

The Rancho Pismo land grant José Ortega was given in 1840 was first sold to Issac Sparks in 1846. A few years later, the northern portion, making up of today’s Pismo Beach and Shell Beach, was sold to John Price. The southern portion (now Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande) was purchased by Francis Ziba Branch.

Shell Beach, 41 acres for $45,000, was purchased in 1926 by Floyd Calvert, who lived in Los Angeles. For a long time, these were farmlands, where they grew peas. When he visited, Shell Beach had about fifty residents and Boeker was its one street. It took twenty years to sell all the lots, some for as little as $195. Now, Shell Beach homes rarely go on market and when they do, it’s for million plus.

In 1946, Shell Beach became part of Pismo Beach though Shell Beach is still one of the Five Cities as this area is known. Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Oceano, Shell Beach, and Pismo Beach. (The original Five Cities were Arroyo Grande, Halcyon, Fair Oaks (now part of AG), Grover Beach, and Oceano.)

“Mae West of the Central Coast”

Perhaps the most famous and intriguing woman of Pismo Beach and Shell Beach is Mattie Smyer. Her story is also the history of place.

Mattie Belle Hamilton (1897* – 1983), one of twelve children, was born in Texas. At fifteen, she married Hugh Smyer and together they rode to California on a motorcycle. They had a son named William, whom she raised alone after their divorce.

In the early 1920s, Mattie moved to Pismo Beach, just in time for Prohibition (1920-1933). There, she flourished. Stories abound about her days as a madam and bootlegger. Her granddaughter, Susie Smyer, shared that Mattie picked up liquor from the beach, having been washed up by the surf. Pismo and areas along the coast were hotspots, with abundant coves to hide bootleg booze. Also places like Oscar Thomason Buck’s basement in his Shell Beach house were used. OT Buck ran liquor to many people, including William Randolph Hearst for all his famous parties. OT eventually ran into the law and went into deep debt that led to the loss of his Pismo Beach properties and his Shell Beach saloon.

After Prohibition ended, with a $750 loan from Ed Mattocks, Mattie opened a “beer joint” at 102 Hinds Avenue. She later made a deal with Bank of America which foreclosed on Buck’s saloon. She put down $1,000 cash for the $7,400 property, a mortgage she paid off during the war. In 1935, she opened Mattie’s Tavern, a watering hole for the Hollywood crowd headed to Hearst Castle. As a roadside tavern and restaurant, Mattie’s Tavern also served up home-cooked meals to soldiers during World War II. The menu of home cooking never changed.

In 1943, she married Ed Mattocks and they lived in an oceanfront home in Shell Beach, near today’s Chapman Estate. The only day Mattie’s Tavern ever closed was for Ed’s funeral in 1971. He was murdered by transients who were caught in Santa Maria, further south.

In 1964, construction began to enlarge Highway 101 into four lanes and infringed on her property. With the driveway and the previous highway exit removed, patrons struggled to get to Mattie’s Tavern. This was remedied with the naming of the frontage road to Mattie Road.

Mattie was an integral of the community. People described her as glamourous, in her beaded dresses with perfect hair driving her white Ford sports car. “The fancy lady.” Known to be generous and friends with those who went to her Tavern, Mattie was also the president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Pismo Beach. She hosted the meetings in the early days of the Shell Beach Woman’s Club as well as the Rotary. Residents also shared that in the 1960s Mattie used to give Shell Beach kids a back room to play music and they bought bottles of coke from her.

Mattie’s Tavern lived on as F McLintock’s Saloon and Dining House. Bruce Breault and Tunny Ortali purchased it from Mattie in 1973. The story is that they had to coax her and they only took over the property when she was ready to leave. “They can change the name of the restaurant, but the name of the road will be always be Mattie.”

In the fall of 2024, all McLintock locations closed. The SLO restaurant has since been re-opened.

*Mattie’s delayed birth certificate was signed by her father in 1948. According to this document, her birth year was 1902, not 1897 and that she was the ninth, not seventh child.

For more historical information on this part of Central Coast, look up Effie McDermott. She moved to Shell Beach in the early 1950s and is a historical expert. Effie is the author of Pismo Beach, part of the Images of America series.

Activities and Attractions 

Shell Beach is a few minutes’ drive from downtown Pismo Beach. Its seashore is a popular attraction for visitors and locals alike. A quiet neighbourhood, Shell Beach also has several shops, parks, a gas station, a coin-operated car wash, and eateries, including Zorro’s as the breakfast spot. While Central Coast is not known for its Chinese cuisine, there is a mostly decent one in Mei’s on Shell Beach Road.

For a small neighbourhood, Shell Beach has an impressive number of beaches and parks. Starting from the south end – Elmer Ross Beach (access near The Inn at the Cove Hotel), Dinasour Caves Park, Margo Dodd Park Beach, Eldwayen Ocean Park, Memory Park, Spyglass Park, Silver Shoals Park, and South Palisades Park.

Beaches, cliffs, coves, interesting rock formations, and tide pools in Shell Beach also makes it a draw. Several sets of stairs take you down to the ocean below and while they are small, the beaches offer a nice spot to enjoy at low tide. You can take a kayak or a stand up paddle out. If you’re looking for a beach to hang out at, best head to close by Pismo or Avila. A surfer? There are a few reef breaks in Shell Beach.

Dinosaur Park | Chapman Estate | Pismo Preserve

Dinosaur Park

Dinosaur Park is a popular oceanside park with a playground and walking trails. Monthly Art in the Park is held there, as are other events such as movie nights and concerts. An oceanside walk of Dinosaur Park to Margo Dodd Park Beach takes you through an unofficial bird sanctuary, where park benches give you a quiet place to sit and watch the seagulls and the massive numbers of pelicans perched on the various large rock formations. The Margo Dodd Gazebo also provides shade and shelter and is a popular stop.

For a longer walk, take the Bluff Trail connecting Shell Beach and Pismo.

Located at the corner of Shell Beach Road and Cliff Street, Dinosaur Park has plenty of parking and bathroom facilities. You can get there from Pismo Beach via Price which turns into Shell Beach Road at Cliff. The northbound highway exit is Mattie Road and southbound exits are either Price Street or Shell Beach.

Before this 11-acre parcel was purchased by the government and became a park, the area was a tourist attraction called Caverns of Mystery in the 1920s. The park got its name from a concrete brontosaurus built by Douglas Brown in the 1940s. At fifty feet, the steel-concrete structure was built to attract visitors to his lapidary shop and Caverns of Mystery. The entrance on the side of the dinosaur’s belly led to a 230-foot-long sea cave. Visitors paid 25¢ to see colourful Pleistocene sandstone and visit some of the largest caves in the California coast.

Neighbour protest led to a stop-work order, leaving the dinosaur headless. For a decade.

Over the years, the caves collapsed, the biggest one in the 1970s. What remains can be visited by kayak and on kayak tours. Central Coast Kayaks offer a cave excursion kayak tour.

Chapman Estate

1243 Ocean Boulevard

Take a walk towards the ocean to enjoy the beautiful landscape and architecture, from the casual beach vibe and modern to Italian-inspired. Along the bluff, near Elwayen Park, is the Chapman Estate.

An example of English Tudor architecture, this property was gifted by its owner, Clifford Chapman, to the City of Pismo in 2013. Under the Chapman Estate Foundation, it continues to be open to the public for neighborhood gatherings as was intended. Clifford Chapman was known for being a patron of the arts. He and his partner held gatherings for both friends and neighbours.

At one of their events, I enjoyed live music, complimentary food, and a tour. It was lively and the food was impressive. People were enjoying a glass of wine, sitting at the tables or by the pond. It’s wonderful to enjoy this generous gift from the last owners.

You can book docent tours to view the grounds and the house. If you’re in Shell Beach between April and October, during Open Gate Season, you can also visit Tuesday and Thursdays from 11AM to 2PM and on Fridays from 5PM to 7:30PM. Pack a picnic or on Fridays purchase from food vendors and enjoy a sunset dinner with live music. Entry fee is $5 per person and docent tours are available as well for $5. If you are looking for plants, you can find a selection when available. These are placed on a table outside their gates.

What is now the Chapman Estate began as a weekend home. Many homes were and continue to be weekend and summer homes, as a reprieve from the unforgiving heat of the San Joaquin Valley or an escape from the big cities. The original owner, Arthur Rogers and his wife, Celia, made it their primary home in 1946 and lived the rest of their lives on the beautiful estate they built in stages. Of the total twelve lots that make up the property, the first three cost $10 in 1929 and the remaining nine are believed to have cost $100 each.

The Rogers first built the caretaker accommodations in 1910. The house, along with the windmill and pool, was built twenty years later. In 1934 the seawall was added and in 1945, the garage and lighthouse. Before their deaths, the Rogers began selling the lots back, with 3 to 7 purchased by Rose Chapman and his son, Clifford. The estate today comprises also of parcels 8 and 9. Clifford and his partner, Don Shidler, lived there until their passing.

On tours of the house and the grounds, visitors can view the art collection Clifford and Don created over half a century. Other highlights include the koi pond, Begonia House, the lighthouse, and gardens.

With annual maintenance costs at about $65,000, City of Pismo voted in August 2025 to divest from the property. The City has already invested $2.3 million in its preservation and additional costs relating to work to safeguard the grounds and the Gull Cottage from continued erosion are estimated to be an additional $6 and $7 million dollars. There is a lot of speculation on the future of the Chapman Estate. Neighbours are divided on it. Some are happy to see it turned into a park, with the buildings torn down.

The gifting of the Chapman Estate came with specific terms. One is that the city cannot profit from its sale or use. It also needs to stay a public recreational zone.

www.ChapmanEstateFoundation.org

PIsmo Preserve

Pismo Preserve is 880 acres with more over ten miles of trails that offer amazing views of the coastline. Aside from Vamonos Trail and the Lover’s Point spur, all other trails are opened for mountain biking. Note that all bikes must have a bell to alert hikers with. The trails are also open for horseback riding. As the trails are unpaved and narrow, take care when passing.

For more information about the trails, check out The Official Field Guide to the Pismo Preserve ($10).

Now owned by the Land Conservancy, Pismo Preserve was once owned by Irene Carpenter, who also owned the caves property where Dinosaur Park now is. The Carpenter real estate holdings extended far beyond. According to Effie McDermott, Irene Carpenter also owned Price Canyon property behind the Price House, the Ortega-Price Adobe, most of the land in both Pismo and Shell Beach. She had a beach house where Vista Restaurant is today.

Take exit 191B from Highway 101. The entrance is on the other side of Mattie Road. Parking is $5/day. Opening hours are from dawn to dusk. Freedom Trax is a battery-operated attachment for manual wheelchairs and is free to use. Reservations can be made online with Positive Ride.

Retail and other Therapy in Shell Beach

Here for the weekend, drop by 2nd Chance Furniture and Lighting for your treasure hunts. Their address is 501 Shell Beach Road. It’s at the further end, near Dinosaur Caves Park. It’s easy to spot – the owner displays her items outside her shop when it’s opened. There are so, so many things to look at. I was almost swayed by a few vintage glass bowls and candle holders.

Walking north, there is another shop, next to the neighbourhood barber shop at Capistrano Avenue. Further down, by Central Coast Kayaks, is the boutique and salon La Maeve. The Steaming Bean also has a small retail section.

For its size, Shell Beach offers a surprising high number of relaxing, therapeutic, and sports massages, facial, waxing options. Insider tip: word of mouth – the mom of a kid I tutor highly recommend lymphatic and body sculpting services at The Body Lab. Need a boost? IV Beach House opened in 2025, offering red light therapy, salt chamber therapy, and IV therapy.

Eating in Shell Beach

Shell Beach offers a variety of restaurants and eateries. Walking around, it is clear that dogs are welcomed here. Many restaurants also offer a menu for dogs. Let’s take a walk from the north side of Shell Beach.

At Cliffs Hotel & Spa (2757 Shell Beach Road), you find Marisol which serves dishes with local ingredients. At this dog-friendly restaurant, dogs also have their own menu. Check their website for seasonal dinner events and parties.

Just next door is Lido at Dolphin Bay Resort and Spa. Their menu is also farm to table and their wine cellar has hundreds of vintages. They were awarded Wine Spectator’s Best Award of Excellence.

Kanpai (2665 Shell Beach Road) has a reputation for probably one of the top Japanese restaurants in SLO. Its menu includes sushi as well as cooked dishes such as salmon and rib-eye. You can also order fresh wasabi. Most restaurants actually do not serve it fresh so if it’s available, go for it. Can’t decide what to eat? Try the omakase, which is the Chef’s choice. When in season, Kanpai serves fish flown in from the Tokyo Fish Market. Reservations are recommended.

Mei’s Chinese Restaurant (1759 Shell Beach Road) has been in Shell Beach for decades. Its menu consists of a variety of meat and fish dishes.

Early walkers, friends, and students gather at The Steaming Bean (1651 Shell Beach Road) for a cup of something. The old place serving Italian coffee next to the post office has been showing signs of activity for months. So hopefully, more options for coffee in Shell Beach. Sadly, the smoothie place closed in 2025. Or, if wine is more your speed, there’s Brix Wine Bar & Bottle Shop (753 Shell Beach), a few blocks south, past Zorro’s. It’s opened by friends, including Jasi who owns the hair salon Fringe next door.

From left: a sunrise walk past The Steaming Bean, the Shell Beach Brewhouse, and a meal at The Cape.

Shell Beach Brewhouse (1527 Shell Beach Road) has been around since 2013. The neighbourhood pub, Shell Beach Brewhouse is the spot people come to watch sports. If you love beer, chose from thirty on tap. This 2,700 square foot restaurant has generous seating. Stay cozy in the heated outdoor seating.

Sando’s Deli (1255 Shell Beach) is a popular place to get a fresh sandwich. There are a couple of tables inside and another couple outside. Located at the corner of Esparto and Shell Beach Road, there is parking in the streets and their parking lot. It works like many sandwich shops do, with an order sheet to fill out. You can choose from their menu or build your own. Aside from beer and cider, their fridge is stocked with a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Service is quick and you can call ahead for pick up. Maybe stroll down on a Tuesday or Thursday to the Chapman Estate for a lunch with a view.

Cape Cod (1127 Shell Beach) changed ownership in 2024 and is now Old Slo at The Cape. You may be familiar with their Higuera location in San Luis Obispo. So now the Shell Beach eatery offers Santa Maria-style BBQ as well the old favourites like clam chowder and lobster roll. Also new – kids-friendly movie nights and “kids eat free” Monday to Thursday when you spend $20. Most of its seating is outdoors and while there are heat lamps and fire pits, bring a jacket. It can get cold on the coast. Wednesdays nights, you can also find The Grinning Bear on site. Fried chicken, tacos, smash burgers, and vegan options.

There is always a line at Zorro’s (927 Shell Beach) for breakfast and brunch. This family-owned café and cantina has been an anchor in Shell Beach for decades. Named after the owner’s Blue Merle Australian Shepherd, Zorro’s also offers a doggie menu with dishes like Peitite Pooch and “Bone”-Appetit. They serve a traditional breakfast until 3 PM. Eggs Benedict, Tri-Tip & Eggs, and Special Scramble are a few breakfast favourites.

If you’re staying in Shell Beach, you can grab supplies at two local convenience shops or DaPaolo & Sons at Spyglass. Shell Beach Liquor & Deli at Pier and Shell Beach Road also offers hot food – burgers and Mediterranean cuisine.

Where to Stay at Shell Beach

Shell Beach offers a variety of accommodations. This small neighbourhood has hotels, inns, and vacation rentals. 

Highly-rated inns right in Shell Beach, easy walking to all it offers are Shell Beach Inn and Palomar Inn. Hotels like Cliffs Hotel and Spa and Spyglass Inn are a further from Shell Beach “downtown” and driving into Shell Beach is needed though walking is also do-able. Spyglass Inn, Cliffs Hotel, and Dolphin Resort are at the northern end of Shell Beach, on the way to Avila Beach. There are also many beautiful vacation rentals in Shell Beach, with the ocean just a few minutes away.

Spyglass Inn

Across from Spyglass Inn, you can find a gas station, a liquor and deli, a surf shop, and DePalo & Sons, where you can pick up fresh mozzarella, Italian ice cream, desserts, deli items, and gifts. In this same plaza is Kanpai, if you’re looking for Japanese cuisine. Speaking of Asian food, good Chinese food is hard to come by in Central Coast. Shell Beach has a decent one, Mei’s Chinese Restaurant. Also close to Spyglass Inn is Spyglass Park, which has a kids’ playground and the trail down to a couple of surf breaks.

Dolphin Bay Resort and Spa