San Diego to San Francisco Trip

Point Conception is the spot to worry. We usually did

San Diego
Catalina
Santa Barbra
Morro Bay
Monterey ( sometimes if taking time..not much to see)
SF

You will be going up hill. Leave early before the wind.

I also like Half Moon, large anchorage and the lowest price for fuel. If crab season is open, then keep a watchful eye out for crab gear. North of Conception, they use double buoys that will foul your props, if travelling in the dark make sure you are in 600 feet of water or more to minimize the risk of fouling your props. 2x for Conception, morning passage is generally helpful.

Don't plan on a schedule. It can get ugly enough north of Conception to keep you hunkered down in Santa Barbara or Cojo anchorage.
Check with the Pacific Missile Test Range before heading through the Channel Islands from Catalina.
Be sure to have 3 good helm operators. When it gets lumpy up North, you have to be ready to pull back the throttles to keep from pitching into a deep hole between waves.
Although you can stop at Port San Luis, Morro Bay, or San Simeon, there's nothing after that until Monterey, and that can be an unpleasant stay with a lot of surge. Expect to travel day and night.
Interview some weather routing services. If they don't have a dedicated West Coast analyst, they'll just lead you into trouble.
I check in every morning with the NOAA buoy site and check the Santa Maria buoy every day, here at home. I go straight to "Details" and look at the 24 hour history because it shows wave data. Clicking the buoy doesn't always show wave data in the pop-up. 'Details' also show pictures taken from the buoy, but pictures rarely show cresting waves even if it's blowing 30. It must be like dolphin pictures that I take The Buoycams are fun to look at, and you can tell more by how much the buoys yaw when taking the picture than trying to see sea state. The horizon on the shots will be at every angle on a bad day. It's surprising how many buoys have cameras, on them.
If you check Windy everyday, you can get a feel for the conditions, but bear in mind that the sea state can come from up the coast and isn't necessarily locally created. I've seen quite a few good travel days along the coast a week ago, but it's been unpleasant since. If you look at Windy, be sure and click on "Waves" after getting a feel for the breeze.

None are great.
Cojo is just an anchorage with rocks and kelp, no shoreside attractions.
Port San Luis has no marinas, just mooring balls. There may or may not be a water taxi. Gaviota Beach is a nearby tourist destination, but no places to leave a dingy (that I know of).
Morro Bay has only mooring buoys, unless you can arrange something with the yacht club, which is usually unmanned. I love Morro Bay as a destination, but best done with a car, although the train to San Luis Obispo and the bus to Morro Bay was a great busman's holiday for us. Getting ashore from a boat has never worked well, for us.
San Simeon is an open anchorage that can be rolly.
It's all beautiful country, but there's little shoreside attraction. Good for surfers, divers, or bottom fishing, and meals aboard. If there's weather, expect to do a lot of reading.
Monterey has facilities and is a nice town to visit on foot.
If I can make it to Monterey, my next stop is always San Francisco, but I wouldn't hesitate to explore other harbors, like Half Moon, if the situation permits. I'm usually doing deliveries, so don't have the luxury of time.

Morro Bay was one of my favorites. Less touristy with some really fun pubs and better dining. Did a Boga class...beer + yoga.

Mooring field was super clam. Took tender into town which was about a 45 sec ride.