It kind of looks like Maui on the California Coast. This secret spot between Ventura and Santa Barbara on Highway 101 is The Cliff House Inn (cliff-house.net), 6602 W. Pacific Coast Hwy. Mussel Shoals, CA. The hotel is next to the busy road but seems like a world away when you sit in lawn chairs between the swimming pool and the Pacific Ocean, watching the waves go by. It’s the ideal spot to stop for lunch at the hotel restaurant, or spend the night catching a sunset and listening to the ocean hit the shore. In January 2014 the hotel is having a special “January Wave” with rooms as low as $90-120 per night. While the main activity on the property is the beach plain & simple, you can head just a few miles north or south to grab the best of two coastal gems. Santa Barbara and Ventura both have piers, shopping districts, gourmet restaurants, nightlife and whale watching cruises. Aloha California! It’s the next best thing to Hawaii–and some of us actually like our mainland coast and Channel Islands more than Hawaii’s shores.