Is this why people buy that insurance?

July 29, 2018 11:00 AM

I'm due to go to a retreat in northern California in a couple of weeks and the site is evacuated due to wildfires at the moment. I may end up with a plane ticket and no retreat to go to. Help me come up with a contingency plan vacation in/starting from the Bay Area that can be deployed on fairly short notice.

I fly into SFO on a Wednesday and out of Oakland on Monday night. My plan is to drive to the retreat with someone local, so I do not have a rental car reservation. (Renting a car could be an option for something you suggest, though pricey as I don't have my own liability coverage as I don't own a car.)

I suppose I'm looking for somewhere "relaxing" I could sit around (perhaps outside?) and do not much (knit and read, I suppose) for a couple of days. I went to UC Berkeley, so "see San Francisco" doesn't hold a lot of allure. I've never been to Yosemite, but fire is an issue there, too. The Central Coast (Monterey?) seems like a possibility, but I know almost nothing about it.

If I could pull off this mini-holiday for less than $500-600, that would be ideal, but I realise that may be a tall order. (I've been googling California youth hostels while writing this question and there are some possibilities.)

With respect the title, the credit card I used for the plane ticket does offer travel insurance. It's unclear to me whether "not going because your final destination burned down, but your plane ticket is to the nearest major city a couple hours away" is a covered situation, but, rest assured, I will enquire.

posted by hoyland to Travel & Transportation around California (11 answers total)

Not a vacation idea but some credit cards offer insurance on rental cars. This article seems pretty thorough but I'd check with the card company. If I remember correctly you would have to rent the car with the relevant card.
posted by Botanizer at 11:36 AM on July 29, 2018

The Marin Headlands are really nice. You can sit in the hostel or get a bike and bike around, or take hikes, or go into Sausalito for dinner. I have not stayed there, but I have gone on day trips nearby. You can get to Muir Woods pretty easily from there, too-- there's a park and ride shuttle nearby. I think you could do it for $500 and even have a private room.

Marin is not currently on fire-- the fire's in Shasta--but the wildfire danger is high. I'm not there right now so I can't tell you if you'd be seeing drifting smoke. It should still be fairly pleasant, and if all else fails you can go into the city.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:36 AM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

There is a lighthouse hostel, if that might be of interest.
posted by gudrun at 11:50 AM on July 29, 2018

Response by poster: Re: credit cards and rental cars, it's liability insurance specifically that's the issue (and not offered by credit cards). My understanding is that rental car companies provide you with minimal liability coverage, but a wise person would purchase the supplemental liability. (Or at any rate, that was AskMe's consensus when I asked a few years back.)
posted by hoyland at 11:51 AM on July 29, 2018

Monterey is a nice town to spend time in, and accessible by public transport. It was the first capital of California, and has a hostel for a less-expensive stay.

Here's another much more remote hostel by a lighthouse at Pigeon Point; it has a fine hot tub by the ocean. But you'd need a car to get there.

It's pretty hot further inland this month.
posted by anadem at 12:04 PM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

You could take Amtrak from Emeryville to San Luis Obispo on Thursday morning (return trip is 3:30pm Sunday afternoon, so you can sleep in). Lots of lazing options there, with coastal possibilities up in Morro Bay and down Avila Beach, Pismo and Arroyo Grande. Downtown SLO is mellow, especially in the summer, and there is enough good food to last a long weekend.
posted by rhizome at 12:51 PM on July 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

The Central Coast is great. Would be challenging with your budget but might work if you are willing to do a room in a somewhat inconveniently-located AirBnb. You would need a rental car.
Santa Cruz is good for sitting on the beach and also has some great hiking (Ohlone Trail at Wilder Ranch State Park -- OMG.). Monterey has a world class aquarium. I was actually just down there yesterday and you can go kayaking surrounded by otters and pelicans, and Point Lobos and Limekiln are both breathtaking state parks. The Central Coast is one of the places where you can get to see beautiful beaches and redwoods in the same place.

In the other direction, the suggestion of Marin above was also good.
posted by phoenixy at 1:14 PM on July 29, 2018

If you cancel your flight the airline usually gives you a credit you can use for up to a year. So check into that.

There are actually a ton of retreat type options within 2 hours of SF. Your only limit will be price and availability. Places like Green gulch in Marin tend to book up fast but you can try. Costonoa in Pescadero has camp sites and wall tents and as such is slightly reasonably priced. I would NOT go as far as SLO because I trust Amtrak to get me back on time about as far as I could throw the train. You can get a bus from the airport to most towns then Uber it from there.
posted by fshgrl at 2:59 PM on July 29, 2018

I just drove through big chunks of Sonoma, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda Counties, and there is really only a bit of smoke in the air. It seems from looking at the news that the whole state is on fire, and while this is a historically bad season, that's not at all true. So I would have confidence that you will be able to find a good place to go, even without a car. You're right that having liability insurance is important unless you just don't have assets. You might consider taking one of the airport shuttles that operate scheduled service from SFO. You can get from there to Sonoma Couty or Monterey for $80-100 round trip and then take a Lyft for the last segment. You can schedule a Lyft to pick you up at a specific place and time, even if you don't have a data connection at your retreat.
posted by wnissen at 4:14 PM on July 30, 2018

Marin Headlands or Asilomar (near Monterey) are great options. Asilomar is my go-to quiet reflective resort. You can get all your meals there if you don’t want to venture into Salinas or Carmel or Monterey.
posted by guster4lovers at 1:10 PM on July 31, 2018

Response by poster: A minor miracle occurred and my destination didn't burn, despite a few days of very discouraging fire maps, so it looks like the original plan is a go (if I haven't just jinxed it).

I'd settled on Santa Cruz as my backup plan--youth hostel, reachable by public transit, food accessible without a car. (I had nearly settled on the Montara lighthouse hostel, but it seemed like feeding oneself would be a pain in the butt without a car. Perhaps not if one were capable of planning food, but I'm often not.)
posted by hoyland at 7:15 AM on August 4, 2018 [1 favorite]