garrapata beach

WOW! Free parking and beautiful blue water. Make sure you park the car and go down to the beach its a very nice spot. There are no washroom. what to expect in the end...The water is so blue and the sand was very white and soft creating a pleasant experience on California coast.This is why you need to drive on Highway 1!

The park is very nice and offer trail with views of the ocean from high vistas. You could get a chance to see whales, sea lions, sea otter, dolphins. Depends on the season, the flowers and cosatal vegetation could add more to the wow factor.

I spent a month in Monterey and got out each weekend to explore the natural beauty of Central California and this was my favorite beach! It was a huge stretch of sand, great cliffs, very few people and I even saw dolphins just off shore. It can be a bit hard to find and not a place for kids to play in the surf...but perfect for adults looking to escape the crowds at Carmel and catch a sunset. :)

We accidentally stopped here along the coastal hwy 1 drive from Cambria to Monterey. The views were just spectacular! You can view it from the top of the road or climb some stairs and pathways to get down to the beach. Be aware that this is VERY dangerous surf. This was not a spot for wading or swimming. It is not recommended that you climb on the rocks either. We took many wonderful photos and videos here of the coast and the large wave breaks. Enjoy, but be careful.

This is one of my favorite beaches. The surf can be very dangerous so please watch your children. Please also keep this beach clean and beautiful for everyone. If you see trash pick it up and take it to the garbage cans by the highway. Doing just a little will keep the beach a gem for all to enjoy!

Got to see a lot of natural phenomena on our hike.....beautiful and not....a fisherman catching a nice sized fish and telling us how the sea lions that cruise the shores love to rob him of fish! Dead birds and a dead seal gave testimony to the circle of life in the Monterey Bay.

Being an outdoor painter Garrapata Beach is a great place for me to pant or just visit. It's a rugged and colorful part of the Pacific. Every time I've been there its windy and cold.

We didn't go out of our way to see this beach. We were doing the Highway 1 drive and my husband saw cars and pulled over to see why they were there. We were treated to one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen! Gorgeous wildflowers blanket all the surrounding mountains, leading up to a beautiful sandy beach. It's simply breathtaking! Make sure to stop and see this if you're driving along Highway 1. You won't regret it!

I found this beach because I wanted to introduce my dog to the ocean. I was hoping for an off leash beach but alas it failed in that but that only. It is hard to find but easy to get to once you find it. The directions on the website suck. So if you first don't find it, try try again. The waves, in Feb of 2014, were rough. Enough that there was a boat that got beached. The Coast Guard was trying to figure out how to get it back in the water. So I wouldn't recommend small children but my dog loved it! It is free if you park in the turn outs. Not sure where the gate of the actual park is or if that costs money.

great leg work out love the outdoors and a awsome view, worth the hike and believe it or not people need to be careful as going . no little kids if your planing on doing the whole route

Our family visited on a beautiful December afternoon. Beach is very clean and you can find your own area with privacy. Waves were very large, so you need to be very careful. Saw a family letting their young children run into the surf and one got knocked down onto her knees and was crying. Looked pretty dangerous.

It's worth it to walk down to the shore here. We saw several oil painters hard at work, they were amazing. The shore with its pools and sea life is amazing. There are brief exhibits describing the sandstone, but you can see the layers for yourself. The first part of the walk is over beautiful scrub terrain and then you're down at the beach, with rocks to climb and tidepools for the kids.

We were there on a near perfect afternoon in late October. There were only a half dozen people there at the time. Easy parking on the edge of the highway and a good path from the edge of the highway to the beach. Great photo opportunities

After spending 10 bucks to use the rich and famous' roads this was by far much better than the 17 mile drive - and this one for being free it certainly expands far more than that...

Nice sand, lovely colors of water, boulders, a sea cave that can be entered during low tide. Fun to walk and run around. Far enough from Highway 1 so traffic cannot be heard.