Years ago, I drove from Florida to a new job in Portland thinking the Pacific, cold and nasty, wouldn't be worth bothering with.  Turned out 50º air and 50º water and actual waves were enough to get me out of town.  

The southern Oregon coast, roughly Bandon down to Crescent City, Calif., is lovely.  There was a tendency by at least a few Lincoln City people to keep driving all the way to Santa Cruz.  Steamer Lane was crowded, but. . . 

The northern Oregon spots are fairly easily recognized as places where the coast sticks out.  Yaquina Head, Otter Rock/Devil's Punchbowl (a cute easy spot with peak and convenient rip, a naturally-occurring wave pool), Cape Kiwanda is too popular for its own good, but I think Pelican Brewing Company still has its own surf cam.  Cape Lookout is evidently a particularly ambitious lava flow.  Oceanside's beach is more interesting than it looks at first glance.  Back then, you needed to keep an eye out for hang gliders.  Tillamook has the cheese factory and they should still sell curds.  Short Sands (Oswald West State Park) is lovely, as is Ecola State Park (a bit of Point Break was filmed there), and Seaside's version of Raglan, NZ is visible on Google Maps. 

Farther south, Monterey is worth a look; if you can get a room at Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds.  Looks like it's gotten expensive, but the location is perfect.

Also check Crescent City, where surfing has been taken seriously for a long time.  As in Greg Noll.