When I first heard there was a Sunset Bay in the Bay Area of Oregon, I was a little skeptical. To me, Sunset Bay sounded like a place that belonged in Hawaii, with warm waters and never-ending sunsets. I pictured hula girls swinging their hips in grassy skirts and a big bonfire with a roasting pig on a spit.
Our first visit to Sunset Bay was a surprise – a good one! While it wasn’t the Hawaiian tropics that I had imagined, it is a wonderful little beach, tucked in a cove between two massive cliffs on either side. The cliffs protect the beach from the wind and the climate there is very moderate. The waves are small and sometimes non-existent, giving the cove an appearance of a lagoon. The water is fairly shallow and therefore warmer than it is on the rest of the coast. And the sunsets are never-ending and absolutely stunning.
I recommend putting together a nice picnic dinner from one of the local markets or picking up some burgers, fries and drinks to go from Vinny’s and heading over to Sunset Bay about 15 minutes before sunset. Park your car facing the water so that you are facing the sunset and enjoy a nice little picnic dinner either inside the car, or out on the sand if the weather is nice and the tide is low. Be sure to roll the windows down if you do stay in the car to experience the rush of the ocean against the sand, that lovely salty smell, and the breeze against your skin. The sunset lasts forever as you sit and linger, watching it go from warm pink and orange to a more subtle purple and twilight blue. Sunset Bay is like a drive-in theater for the coastal sunset and I highly recommend it!
