Avila Beach Fish Market Friday

We've been to Avila a number of times. It is on a section of the coast which is south facing and therefore it's one of the few swimable beaches in the summer in this area. The warm air coming down from the surrounding Irish Hills keeps the fog away. The water at the west facing beaches is pretty cold all year long.



Avila is coming back after having its entire commercial district torn down and excavated to clean up a huge underground oil spill. The cleanup t00k from 1998 to 2000 that's why the entire center of the town is brand new. About 65% of the town center is rebuilt already. The price of our oil dependency has left some parts of the hillside unbuildable because of the pollution from the oil tank farms that Chevron had up there. They have some spectacular views but whoever develops it will have a real challenge. The town was named for Miguel Avila, who was a corporal at the mission in SLO and a Spanish land grantee.



On Fridays they have started to hold a Fish Market in the center complete with vegetable stands, local restaurant offerings, arts and crafts, other produce including nuts and fruits plus live music. Last night they had a decent band playing many popular rock and pop tunes. It was a warm evening and the place was packed. Here is a video of the scene taken from the pier.