Travel: Pismo Beach, California

MIDWAY between San Francisco and Los Angeles is a breezy, easygoing city that is a throwback to endless summers gone by, a time when you could drive on the beach, build a fire in the sand then camp beside it.

It's just about the only place left in California where you can still do all that, and Pismo Beach revels in it. All along the 1,200ft pier hang banners emblazoned with the slogan "Classic California".

It's anti-Malibu, that's for sure: no celebrities, no multi-million-dollar homes keeping you from the beach, no trendy Nobu serving high-end sushi. The mingled scents of fish and chips, pizza and exhaust fumes – residue from an abundance of motorcycles and muscle cars – perfume the streets.

Shopping fare is largely T-shirts and salt water taffy (soft, chewy sweets]. But there is also a lot of laid-back, old-school fun: kites, bikes, barbecue and cold Coronas. And something unique: the ever-shifting Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes complex. These mountains of sand laced with coastal scrub, wildflowers, tidal pools and trails contain more than 100 species of animals. The powdery forms flow along the coast for 18 miles.

"Pismo's kick-back quality lures two million visitors a year," says Suzen Brasile, executive director of the city's conference and visitors bureau. "Most people who come say, 'What California was, Pismo still is'." That's a place where people can cut loose on the beach.

On a Saturday afternoon Dave and Cathy Sullivan, a local couple, harness themselves into a rented neon-orange buggy. Sitting low in the roll cage, wearing helmets and goggles, they prepare to head on to the packed wet sand of a 1,500-acre portion of the dunes complex designated for beach and dune driving.

"We run, we cycle, Dave's a triathlete, but we've never done this before," Cathy, 28, says. "I'm probably not going to go too fast." Orange numbered poles on the beach and along a freeform 'Sand Highway' help drivers navigate.

Up and down the beach that day all-terrain vehicles, jeeps and pickups share the sand with the occasional tow truck summoned to haul out the unfortunate few. Out of a low-hanging fog come five riders on horseback; the animals' ankles make tiny wavelets in the shallows. Four-wheel drives park on the beach and tents are pitched. The whole scene is surreal.

Still, Pismo itself is solidly down to earth. So when it's time for lunch, visitors shake the sand out of their shorts and head to Mo's Smokehouse BBQ. They line up and order the signature pulled-pork sandwiches – the house speciality, which come with generous side dishes for 7.45. – or a half-slab of ribs for 15.95. Ceiling fans keep the delectable aroma circulating.

Insider tip: skip the ubiquitous clam chowders you'll hear so much about. The famous Pismo clams were overharvested long ago, and the ones you'll get are unlikely to be local. For dessert, head up the main commercial thoroughfare, Dolliver Street (California Route 1), to Tomasko Taffy for a scoop of Motor Oil, a delectably sludgy dark chocolate and Kahlua ice-cream created by the local purveyor Doc Burnstein (2.75 a scoop).

Then it's time to stroll back down Dolliver to The Sky's The Limit, a colourful emporium with kites hung from the ceiling, magic tricks, fake moustaches and hundreds of other items. The ever-present breezes make kite-flying a popular pastime and the store sells basic models for 15.99, but it also offers a dual-line stunt kite for 300.

Teresa O'Neill, owner and avid kite-flyer, tells customers where to launch. "There aren't any restrictions on the beach and it's not crowded," she says. "You could never do this in San Diego." Pismo is also a destination for those ultimate kite flyers – kiteboarders – who can be seen skimming the sea and occasionally taking to the skies most weekends.

When you're ready for some retail therapy that's more than candy and sunglasses, there's Pacific Coast Threads. This busy boutique sells stylish jewellery, unusual accessories and gift items, all at modest prices. And if you have got energy to spare, or prefer pedal power to a dune buggy, walk around the corner to Fernando's Hideaway Bicycle Rentals. For 12 an hour you can rent a "banana bike" – a low-slung, three-wheeled bike with a banana-shaped sling-style seat – and peel out on the beach a block away. The owner, Tony Fernandes, also rents beach cruisers for 10 an hour and Surreys for 15 and can suggest other places to ride.

There are several good choices for dinner, but the best view in town is from Steamers of Pismo, and the fish is fresh. Good possibilities are the plentiful seafood salad with shrimp and crab (19) or the yellow fin pepper-crusted tuna (21). After dinner you can walk through town and watch the neon signs light up. In true Pismo style, they might be called retro if most of them weren't original.

The next morning, start the day with a local classic at Old West Cinnamon Rolls. Unlike the faux-local clams, these buns are the real thing. They're worth the wait, and there is likely to be one. They come plain, with nuts, raisins, even cream-cheese frosting, and cost 2.50 to 3.25 each; served warm, with a 1 carton of milk, they're a breakfast of champions.

When it's time to see more of the dunes than you can view from inside a buggy, there are several access points into different areas, some requiring rigorous hikes. First, get the lie of the land with a call or visit to the Dunes Center in nearby Guadalupe. The Oso Flaco Lake area is suitable for almost everyone; it offers wildlife viewing along an easy one-mile level boardwalk that goes over the freshwater lake through wildflowers, dunes and coastal scrub to a windswept beach.

Before you go, pick up a picnic from DePalo & Sons Provisions in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo. No ordinary deli, DePalo looks like a miniature Tuscan villa and sells sandwiches such as grilled aubergine with tomatoes, gorgonzola and avocado on ciabatta (8.99). It also has a wine cellar, and treats such as biscotti, pizzelle, cheeses and fresh fruit.

Thus equipped (and wearing appropriate footwear), make your way to the lake, which lies 20 minutes south of Pismo Beach off California Route 1. If you're lucky, you might spy a blue heron curtsying on the lake's shore, or train your binoculars on the sky for the ever-watchful hawks. Coastal vegetation is now starting to bloom, including wildflowers such as lupine, dunes paintbrush and giant coreopsis in lavender, yellow and salmon.

As the dunes rise up on both sides of the boardwalk beyond the lake, a wedge of foaming teal blue sea begins to appear in the distance. Standing on the beach, visitors can see the hills where Cecil B DeMille filmed The Ten Commandments in 1923, and where a utopian sect of artists and seekers called the Dunites lived in driftwood shacks and tents in the 1930s and 1940s.

There is the far-off buzz of buggy engines, but it seems worlds away from this wild coastline and shifting masses of sand. It's hard to believe that tourists are buying souvenirs and tacky T-shirts only a few miles up the road.

A healthy dose of kitsch paired with spectacular natural scenery? Perhaps this is classic California after all.

Fact file

Where to stay The Cliffs Resort (www.cliffsresort.com) perches on a bluff over the Pacific. Rates start at 179.

Where to eat Mo's Smokehouse BBQ (www.smokinmosbbq.com); Steamers of Pismo (www.steamerspismobeach.com); DePalo & Sons (depaloandsons.com)

What to see and do Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ohv.parks.ca.gov)

Sun Buggie Fun Rentals (www.sunbuggiefunrentals.com)

Dunes Center, Guadalupe (www.dunescenter.org)

Oso Flaco Lake (www.cawatchablewildlife.org)

• This article was first published in The Scotland On Sunday, April 25, 2010