Kahului, HI
Opened 1939 as a military airfield. Maui's primary airport. Hawaiian Airlines, Mokulele, and inter-island carriers connect the island to the rest of Hawaii and the mainland. Whale watching, Haleakalā volcano, and the Road to Hana drive heavy tourism.
The foggiest spot on the Pacific Coast and one of the most dramatic lighthouses in California. Point Reyes juts 10 miles into the ocean — a triangular wedge of land carved off the continent by the San Andreas Fault. Tomales Bay, the long thin water cut to the east, sits directly on the fault line. The entire peninsula rides the Pacific Plate and is creeping north toward Alaska at about 2 inches a year. The 1906 earthquake shifted the peninsula 20 feet in a single morning — a fence in nearby Olema famously offset by exactly that distance, still preserved as evidence. The lighthouse was built in 1870 at the tip of the headland, with 308 stairs down a sheer cliff because the cliff-top was almost always above the fog layer. Crews logged more than 1,400 hours of fog per year — twice San Francisco's average. Decommissioned 1975, now an NPS museum. Original first-order Fresnel lens still installed.
The famous 17-Mile Drive winds through the gated Pebble Beach community along the Monterey Peninsula's coastal cliffs. The Lone Cypress (a Monterey cypress on a granite outcrop, the trademarked symbol of Pebble Beach) is the most photographed tree in North America. Pebble Beach Golf Links — five-time US Open host — sits along the coast. The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance each August fills KMRY with Gulfstreams and the fairways with the world's rarest cars. From the air, the cypress-clad coast, white sand beaches, and emerald golf course greens make for postcard flying.
Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful drives in the world — and one of the most beautiful flights. Granite cliffs drop 1,000 feet straight into the Pacific. Bixby Creek Bridge (1932) is the iconic photo. Sea otters, elephant seals, and gray whales (December-April migration) are visible from low altitude. Fly the coast from KMRY south at 1,500-2,000 feet on a clear day for one of GA's great experiences. Watch for the marine layer.
One of the world's most iconic skylines from the air. The Golden Gate Bridge (International Orange paint, 1.7-mile span, opened 1937) is unmistakable. Alcatraz sits in the bay. The financial district's pyramid (Transamerica) and Salesforce Tower anchor downtown. The Bay's GA-friendly vantages are over Marin (Sausalito and the headlands to the north) and the Presidio (south of the bridge). The bridge towers stand 746ft above the water — dramatic from any angle.