I’ve always wanted to stay at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. Your post made me wonder how they are staying afloat in this situation, so I went to the web site. It says they are “now open again” and can be accessed by helicopter! Wow.
Just read an article a few days ago about how spectacular the Orcas are right now off Monterey Bay. May be tough to get a spot and not sure how much will change with migration by June.
I don’t think I could deal with helicopters! I knew some of the roads were out - a friend of mine was at Big Sur the week before the road went. I’m assuming Waze or Googlemaps will deal with it.
Waze and Google Maps undoubtedly know how to deal with the bridge that is out on Highway 1, but the detour involves not driving the Big Sur coast. This is a remote area and there are no other roads. To get south, you have to go inland. The detour starts at Carmel (north of Big Sur), takes you inland to King City, is ~150 miles long, and returns you to the coast at Cambria (south of Big Sur).
This is one of my favorite areas of the country. I second staying in Pacific Grove. Lots of inexpensive hotels. As one of the PPs said, Asilomar is lovely and right on the beach. I could walk for miles along the water. The 17-mile Drive (you have to pay an entrance fee) winds past some of the most spectacular coast in the area and is especially worth it if you can’t get all the way down to Big Sur.
Carmel has great restaurants. I liked Casanova, where you can reserve to eat at the table Vincent Van Gogh had at his last home in France, http://www.casanovacarmel.com. I believe this restaurant also is built around a tree, which towers up out of the roof.
@Cardinal Fang That’s what I figured. The computer version of google maps is showing the road as closed, but doesn’t give you the detour! We did make the drive during our honeymoon, so it’s not the end of the world that it’s out this trip. We clearly have far too much to do for the two or three days we’ll probably have available.
I just pulled up Google Maps. Here’s the detour around the slides on Big Sur: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Big+Sur,+CA/Cambria,+CA/@35.7697677,-121.2460393,8z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x808d8ffb4da45855:0x16a5d7c7f1b7e362!2m2!1d-121.807976!2d36.2704212!1m5!1m1!1s0x80ecd77a7b67481f:0xc4fd49cb873a8956!2m2!1d-121.0807468!2d35.5641381!3e0
Why yes, the detour from Big Sur to Cambria is, in fact, 172 miles, whereas if there were no slides it would be about 55 or 60 miles. Google is perfectly correct and has supplied the quickest detour.
I am a non-fan of the 17 mile drive. We did it once. There were other cars going slowly. I felt trapped. (It didn’t help that we had small, bored children with us.) The lone cypress has a stone and cement wall around it and tons of people taking pictures. I would much rather be walking around outside somewhere (most preferably Point Lobos - is that still north of the slide?)
@“Cardinal Fang” I asked it to take me from Mountain View to the Post Ranch inn and it failed. I clicked it again and now it shows the route. Weird. Anyway I’m thinking we’ll spend the night in Monterey or Carmel. Or we could stay in Salinas in honor of the CC book club. 
The route Google shows me from Mountain View to the Post Ranch in has a section noting that Highway 1 is closed at Limekiln to clear a mudslide. It has been closed for weeks. (Even if the road weren’t closed, you probably wouldn’t want to take that route. I’ve been on Nacimiento Ferguson Road. It’s precipitous and twisty.)
Oh the Steinbeck Center is worth a visit in Salinas! Anyone in your family like auto racing? Laguna Seca is not far away from Monterey and Salinas.
The UC Santa Cruz aquarium/discovery center is not quite as impressive as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but if you are passing through, it’s worth a stop. They have a giant whale skeleton outside. Also if you are in Santa Cruz, at Natural Bridges State Park (not far from aforementioned aquarium) you might get a glimpe of migrating monarchs. I am not sure of their activity/time of year. June may be too late.
And while we are at it on wildlife, a little further up the coast is the Ano Nuevo reserve, where you can see giant elephant seals.
In June, there’s something called the June Gloom (a southern CA term but it happens in Monterey Bay area) when low clouds and fog are frequent. The northern part of the Monterey Bay where Santa Cruz locates, is more sunny than the southern part. Pacific Grove has more fog than Monterey. The fog can burn off early or late morning and rolls back in as early as 5 PM. If you go inland a bit, like in Carmel Valley, it is usually 10 degrees warmer and fog is rare. However, it is hard to predict and you may have all sunny and glorious days.
Here is some information about the wineries in Monterey/Carmel region.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2013/09/11/carmel-valley-five-must-see-wineries/
The storm damaged Pfeiffer Canyon bridge has been demolished as far as I know. We also love the Pacific Grove area. I am not a fan of the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, however there is a restaurant in Santa Cruz that I like called West End Tap House and Kitchen. Further south is Capitola. A little cleaner and more upscale than Santa Cruz, imo. There you will also find the Shadowbrook Restaurant. A little touristy, pricey, and slightly overrated, but scenic and fun, and the food won’t be a major disappointment. You park above and either walk or take the tram down to the multi-room restaurant.
Having spent almost my entire life in the SF Bay Area, you are heading to my favorite region of Northern CA.