Oregon’s South Coast Culture Tour Returns: Food, Outdoor Fun, Creative Adventures

Published 03/29/22 at 5:55 PM PST
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(North Bend, Oregon) – A couple of years ago, the Oregon Coast Visitors Association’s South Coast Culture Tour made quite a splash along the southern half of the state’s beaches. Now, with the pandemic receding, in comes part two of the event, with the latest installment of South Coast Culture Tour coming to Curry County on April 29 through May 1, then continuing in Coos County from May 6 to 8. Celebrating the people, the landscapes and the beach towns themselves, it promises again to be a memorable expedition through the arts, outdoor adventures and culinary aspects of the region. (Photo above: Bandon and Face Rock, courtesy Manuela Durson – see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more)

For visitors and locals alike, the multi-day event allows you to immerse yourself in all things south coast, from Reedsport to Brookings. Here, landscapes are literally breathtaking and dramatic, with some of the most varied shapes and forms along the entire coastline.

There are three categories to South Coast Culture Tour: Taste, Create and Explore. It’s six days of different classes, workshops and activities offered in each category, where participants can sign up for as few or as many as they want.

Taste is all about the culinary experiences. “Digging for Dinner” will be held May 8, and participants will spend the morning in Coos Bay with expert guidance and instruction on sustainably digging shellfish. Participants will collect enough items for their meal and then head to Oregon Coast Culinary Institute, where they will spend the afternoon with an award-winning chef who will guide them through the preparation and cooking process culminating in a delicious meal.

Other Taste events include a sea-to-table dinner at Port Orford’s Nest Cafe, live music at Chetco Brewing, tasting tapas and the making of handcrafted cocktails at Wildflour Public House, and a food and tasting tour of Bandon Rain Cidery. Let your palates glide through explorations at Bayside Coffee, South Oregon Coast Community College’s wood-fired pizza class, or a Mother’s Day experience at Farm & Sea.

Creativity also takes the reigns with the Create portion of the tour a means to fall headlong into hands-on learning. These include a volunteer workshop at Washed Ashore Gallery, a screen printing workshop, a guided painting session of Face Rock at Bandon, and the stellar Create on the Coast – a DIY home décor wood sign class.

Adventures on the south Oregon coast are easy to come by, and the Experience portion of the tour is designed for exactly that kind of exploring. Explore events include hiking and yoga on some of the more dramatic cliffs of the area. There’s a cornhole tournament at Chetco Brewing, an intro to disc golf clinic, scenic bike rides around Port Orford, a Redfish Rocks Mobile Walking Tour at Battle Rock Wayside Park, and kayaking around Brookings. Also look to Coos Bay for a World Tour Paddling Film Festival to showcase some of the best paddling films.

Those who sign up for the Port Orford Whales and Wildlife Boat Tour will see all kinds of wildlife, unique south coast geology, and the amazing Redfish Rocks Marine Research Reserve. Participants will ride on the Black Pearl, a rigid inflatable – a nearly unsinkable vessel like the Coast Guard rescue boats seen all over the Oregon coast. Gray whales, harbor seals, sea lions, and a myriad of seabirds both migratory and local may be seen on this tour.

Get down and gritty with rides at Whiskey Run Trail Head, Sunset Bay State Park and the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor. Something new for these spots will be the voluntourism opportunities.

Arizona Beach,
courtesy Manuela Durson – see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more

A C-TIER PDGA-sanctioned singles weekend-long tournament of disc golf will be held from May 6 to May 8 on two courses in Bandon and Coos Bay.

From April through to the end of May, the festival is hosting the South Coast Culture Tour Geocaching challenge. The perfect combination of high-tech problem-solving and outdoor adventure, geocaching is a global phenomenon that challenges players to find treasure troves, or caches, armed with only a smartphone and their wits.

Anyone taking part in the South Coast Culture Tour will be able to fire up their Geocaching app and search for caches at 20 stops along the way, each containing a secret code. The first 100 people who turn in a completed geocaching passport with all 20 codes will receive a limited-edition souvenir geocoin. Geocaching challenge passports can be downloaded on April 28 at www.oregoncoasttoday.com as well as www.southcoastculturetour.com

For more information about the South Coast Culture Tour or to register for any of the classes and events, go to southcoastculturetour.com. Tickets for most events are limited.

South Coast Hotels – Where to eat – Maps – Virtual Tours

Port Orford,
courtesy Manuela Durson – see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more

Coos Bay, courtesy Oregon’s Adventure Coast

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