Where can I move in Northern California to be close to surf spots and somewhat close to the mountains?

My fiance and I live in Atlanta and we want to start over in a beautiful place. I am dying to take up surfing and I want to teach her to snowboard. We are also interested in most outdoor activities like camping and rafting. We have been reading about a place called Morgan Hill and it sounds great due to it’s close proximity to Santa Cruz, Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. We need suggestions as we know nothing about Northern California. I have been reading that it can be expensive, we are young and have a combined income of around 80k.

I hope you realize that the water in Northern CA is really cold and dangerous year round. The water temp never exceeds 60 and there dangerous rip currents and lots of shark attacks in NorCal. You should be a really good swimmer if you plan on surfing the Northern CA coastline; a surg legend actually drowned this morning off Pebble Beach b/c right now CA is getting huge waves. The coast is also really cool and foggy year round, it is nothing like the warm sun drenched palm tree lines beaches of Southern CA that the media usually shows.

Santa Cruz would is definately the best beach town in Northern Ca and isn’t as cold and foggy as much of the coast there b/c it faces south rather than west.

Morgan Hill is a cool town, pretty average suburb. And yes it is really expensive and you probably won’t be able to buy a home on $80k unless you have a large down payment. Although wages are much better in the Bay Area than anywhere else, so depending on what you do $80k in Atlanta could be $100k or more for the same job in the Bay Area, but even then a $100k income won’t get you the median priced home. I read an article recently that said $77k a year is what it would take to live a middle class lifestyle in the Bay ARea. So you’ll get by fine but probably won’t have as much disposable income. But Morgan Hill would be a good location for being near the beach and close to the mountains. Hollister is also a cool town near there and might be a little cheaper since it’s more rural. If you want cheaper then look at communties in the Central Valley like Sacramento, Stockton, Tracy, ect.. but those towns are pretty boring and not scenic at all but they are halfway between the ocean and mountains, about 2 hours in each direction away.

Also look at Sonoma and Marin Counties. Those ares are very nice and close to the coast. You can surf at places like Stinson Beach, Bodega Bay, ect… and still be within 3.5-5 hours of Tahoe and Yosemite. And the area north of there is really pretty and scenic with mountains, lakes, redwood forests ect….

Northern Ca has really nice mountains and it’s inland parts are nice and scenic but it’s coast is cold and foggy, not the typical beach weather you’d think of. Southern CA has much nicer and warmer beaches and a better surfing culture, but the mountains and skiing are not as nice b/c it’s drier there. So it’s kind of a trade off between NorCal and SoCal, one has better beaches and one has better mountains.

Lake Mendocino; Local Flavor – Rest & Relaxation, with lasara Firefox, aka @yoga_mama

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