But Pfeiffer is elemental and unforgettable, starting from the turnoff from Highway 1 in Big Sur (good luck finding it many visitors don’t), which winds down through the primeval pines, sycamores and ferns of Los Padres National Forest, past creeks and paddocks full of llamas and a house where Beach Boy Al Jardine once lived. The currents can be treacherous (even for the steely local surfers, who tend to prefer Andrew Molera State Beach, a few miles up the road), and the water temperature is diabolically frigid in high August, let alone mid-winter. Its severe beauty is ur-Northern California. It’s had star turns in From Here to Eternity and The Sandpiper. The sunset through Keyhole Rock on Pfeiffer Beach in California © Alamy
