seacliff state beach

Nothing to dislike about this beach even on a stormy day! There is a huge parking lot where there are access stairs down to the beach, so no charge ($). You can access that by taking the little road immediately to the left of the road that goes to the ticket booth (if you want to go park AT the beach, way down below the regular road, then you would go through the booth and pay the fee). The 'free' stairs are very cool and although a few stories up/down, they are well built, pleasing to the eye, a few benches on each level so that you can rest (and get out of the way of people exercising up and down the stairs) and have railings to hold. The beach has a long pier which at the end has an old cement ship that was once used as an attraction with restaurants, bands, dancing and the likes. There are plenty of restrooms, the beach is clean and has a board walk some of the way. This is a fabulous place to walk, sit, ride bikes, fish and picnic. Looks like they have a very large snack shack for summertime with lots of picnic tables. You can ride or walk to an enclave of pretty ooh-lala houses and a darling little town on the beach with restaurants and shops. This is a great place for all ages! It can be quite windy but it can also be quite still and warm/hot.

Seacliff Beach State Park is on a gorgeous section of Monterey Bay, and the beach alone is worth the price of parking. What makes this special, however, is the SS Palo Alto, one of three ferro cement ships built as tankers in World War 1. Since steel was at a premium during the war, the ships were made of concrete over rebar, but they never saw "action" in the war. The SS Palo Alto was purposely backed onto Seacliff Beach in the 30s, and a pier was built out to her as a tourist attraction. You can read more about this online on Wikipedia, etc.Back to Seacliff Beach. This is a virtually unbroken beach that runs from New Brighton State Park about 1.4 mile to the north, to Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough about 15 miles to the south. Assuming you wander over the Highway 1 bridge at Elkhorn Slough, you can rejoin the beach for another 15 miles or so down to Monterey Harbor.The beach is white-gray sand which is about 100 yards wide, depending on the season and the tide. While some of it is private, owners virtually never impose their property rights, so it's very accessible. From New Brighton, it's 1.4 miles to the Cement Ship. From there it's 0.4 miles to the termination of Aptos Creek into Monterey Bay. Then it's another 1.25 miles to the unattractive seawall at Seascape, which was installed in the late 1960s and which can be seen from all over Monterey Bay. From the start of the seawall, it's 2.3 miles to La Selva Beach. From there it's 6 miles to the Pajaro River, which may not be passable due to the season. Finally, from the river it's a little over 3 miles to the Elkhorn Slough.Have fun!

We walk here every day, a few miles round trip from the parking lot near the Rio del Mar Cafe to the "memory wall" at the other end, and we go up 152 steps to the upper lot. Best free gym in the world and you can't beat the view. It's even a great place to push a wheelchair, if you have somebody who's chair bound.

Noisy and lots of noisy visits who don't respect nature or the park or beach. They leave trash, smoke all kinds of stuff, and drink until you wish they'd leave. Pets not on leases and poop everywhere, particularly the parking lots and paths.

I randomly found this spot by messing around in Google Maps. I had no idea this sunken ship was here! It’s a fun spot for bird watching and seeing the sunset. There is a parking fee, but you can also use the rest of the park for barbecuing, hanging in the park or playing in the surf.

Seacliff is a wonderful family beach. Lots of picnic tables if you get there early. Also wonderful for viewing wildlife. The brown pelicans are so much fun to watch. Much of the year you can see dolphins swimming by and if you're lucky you'll see them surfing. That is a joy to watch. And then there are the whales! Watching them from the beach or from the cliff above is very special.

I enjoyed the cement ship, the pier, the sand, the sun, the views, the paths, the people and good vibe.

Assuming the wind is blowing in the right direction, you have a Great place to walk along the beach (pavement or sand). Plenty of wide open beach- go south to Manresa or north to Capitola. Check the tide schedules for low tide since it is a lot easier to walk along the water break. For more strenuous exercise, consider walking and/or running the stairs (over 150 steps).

Lovely sand with views of the bay where there always seems to be something moving. We've seen whales, porpoises and, of course, brown pelicans dive bombing! On summer weekends, it is full and, for some, a little unpleasant, but most days it seems to a peaceful stretch by the sea.

Our friends were in RVs and we just went for the day. The weather was particularly warm & pleasant--perfect for sitting, talking, watching the wave & people walk-by. It was extremely tranquil & relaxing. After a BBQ dinner we returned home.

All of the sudden, there were dolphins within 20 feet of us. What an unexpected treat. Truly offset the horrible fishy smell on the pier.

just south of Santa Cruz, 5 miles on Rte 1, is Aptos, where you can look out over a fabulous beach, or descend to walk the beach, on sand or walkway.... Monterrey Bay and points south..Big Sur!! Either way, depending which side of your body needs sun, and excellent to relax after going "over the Hill" from Silicon Valley, SJC or SFO, or San Francisco city. Santa Cruz is where the hippies huddled after being chased out of the city in the 60s, now 'gentrifried' with ageless acid heads providing color... Nearby village has good little restaurants, nearby amazing wine, what more? I love the area and especially, the beach.

My uncle was a Park Ranger here in the 50's. I loved this place... Back in the day you could fish from the freighter extension of the pier. Now it's a great place to photography birds... up close. The beach is still nice and fishing from the pier is still exciting, but the memories make it best.

Tranquil, easy walking, panoramic view of Monterey Bay, historic cement ship.Weather was perfect this time of year: a little morning fog, sunny afternoons with gorgeous sunset and no wind. Restroom and shower facilities. Close to small local eateries, etc.

Definitely a cute beach with a nice little walkway/bike path. Very convenient next to a restaurant/food shack - perfect for families if you need to grab a bite!