Avila Beach is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, USA and located about 160 miles (257 km) northwest of Los Angeles, and about 200 miles south of San Francisco. The ZIP Code is 93424. The community is inside area code 805. The population was 1,627 at the 2010 census.

The name Avila commemorates Miguel ￿ila, who was granted Rancho San Miguelito in 1842. The town was established in the latter half of the 19th century, when it served as the main shipping port for San Luis Obispo. Around this time, Luigi Marre built a honeymoon hotel here and steamboats brought customers from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Although Avila Beach still has a working commercial fishing pier and the inland areas have extensive apple orchards, tourism is now the main industry. There are few historical structures remaining; among the oldest is the Point San Luis Light, built in 1890 after a series of shipping accidents.