Bandon is one of our favorite places in the world to take a holiday.  It has great beaches, delicious food, and Bullard Beach State Park is an awesome campground that we stay at because it’s centered between Port Orford and Coos Bay where we like to hangout.  We feel most relaxed when we go, and we feel so fortunate that we are only a 2 ½ hour drive away.  The only thing that is hard is that swimming at Bandon beaches is pretty much impossible.  The ocean is pretty rough and honestly not very safe for kids to swim so we always go visit Sunset Bay State Park.

We always pack a picnic lunch and cut out a whole day to spend there.  The beach is so great for kids to build sandcastles and the water is super calm.  In fact the water is really shallow making it fun for kids to walk out really far.  We also take our kayak and SUP and feel pretty safe with the kids going out on the water by themselves since it is so shallow.  They of course wear their life jackets when they are on the water.

Another thing our kids like to do while at Sunset Bay is to explore the tide pools.  When the tide is low you can see starfish, sea anemones and crabs skittering along.  It is a bit slippery so be careful!  It’s such a gorgeous view you will find that you won’t want to leave.  There are bbq’s on site as well as sand volleyball courts so lots of fun things to do to wile away the day or you can do what we do and just sit on our rumps and watch the kids play! Of course if you can hang, stay for the stunning sunsets, they live up to the parks name!

If you want to visit the area for multiple days you are close to many more cool things to do including Shore Acres State Park a beautiful estate and gardens that you can tour for free if you are camping at any state park, Cape Arago State Park has a great hike down to tide pools, and the South Slough Reserve includes a very cool hike through almost jurassic surroundings and freshwater wetlands.  If you want to drive into Charleston it is a cute little fishing town that has a Marine Life Center that is interactive and fun for kids, and just a little up the road is the town of Coos Bay where you can check out the Oregon Coast Historic Railway and the Coos History & Maritime Collection.

As always please Leave No Trace and clean up after yourselves and maybe even pick-up a little extra.

We have so many other things we want to explore at the southern Oregon coast so stay tuned for more stories as we discover all the fun and unique things to do.  You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see our day to day antics as we find the fun in the everyday and eat our way around southern Oregon!