Tier 2
Point San Luis Lighthouse
Point San Luis Light Station
Avila Beach · San Luis Obispo County · Central Coast
One of the most architecturally intact Victorian light stations on the California coast and one of the only ones where you can both hike in and ride a shuttle. Volunteer docent-led tours are the primary experience.
Labels
- Tier 1–3
- Editorial browse cues for prominence and context—not circuits, checklists, or achievements.
- Active aid
- The light currently serves navigation. It does not mean the tower, grounds, or interior are open to visitors.
- Public / restricted access
- Some approved visitor access versus a legal viewpoint, special arrangement, or no ordinary public entry. Always check the official guidance.
- Flagship 12
- The curated statewide circuit. It is separate from the editorial tier labels.
Your lighthouse passport
Stamp my passport
Check in at Point San Luis Lighthouse to collect your digital stamp. Add your name if you like.
Lighthouse Circuit is here to inspire real visits. To collect a location-verified stamp, you’ll need to be at the lighthouse with location access enabled. Need help adding past visits? Email us and we’ll be happy to add them manually.
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From the field
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Visit essentials
Access
Current hours
Tours
Reservations
Fees
Accessibility
The light
Year first lit
Current structure built
Tower height
Focal plane
Optic
Light characteristic
Stewardship & location
Owner
Manager
Coordinates
National Register
The story
Built 1890 above Avila Beach. The original third-and-a-half-order Fresnel lens is reported to be in place — an unusual size and a near-complete original installation. The 40-foot tower has a 116-foot focal plane. Stewarded by the Port San Luis Harbor District; still an active aid to navigation.
The visit
Visit by docent-led hike or shuttle on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The hike departs Port San Luis around 8:30 AM and takes approximately two hours round trip. Advance tickets are recommended through the Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers.
Make a day of it
Base yourself in
Nearby lighthouses
Point Conception Lighthouse
★ Flagship 12Lompoc, Central Coast
Geographically and historically one of the most significant lighthouse sites on the Pacific Coast. The 'corner' of California. Not publicly accessible, which makes it a compelling inclusion — the unreachable lighthouse.
Piedras Blancas Light Station
San Simeon, Central Coast
One of the rare California stations where you can take a structured guided tour of the grounds and outbuildings, paired with one of the largest elephant seal rookeries on the coast immediately to the south. The truncation story is its own piece of mid-century Coast Guard engineering history.
Help keep this guide accurate: report changed access, a broken link, or a factual correction.
Sources
- Officialpointsanluislighthouse.org
- Officialpointsanluislighthouse.org/tickets
- Secondarylighthousefriends.com/light.asp
- Secondaryen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_San_Luis_Lighthouse
- Imagescommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_San_Luis_Lighthouse.jpg
Image rights: Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers images may require permission. Wikimedia Commons has CC-licensed images.
Research confidence: high · Last verified 2026-08-15