Montara State Beach

posted: August 8th, 2007

Great spot!

Though beach access can be a little tricky due to erosion, this is a fantastic beach pretty much year-round. Warning -- the little "natural pond/stream" that someone else mentioned as being a good place for kids to play at unfortunately seems to be a rainwater drainage, and at numerous times during the year there are signs posted at it warning people to stay out due to pollution, though common-sense would tell you to try to avoid this often stagnant water. It's a fairly popular spot for some of us 'locals' to walk our dogs at, though thankfully not as popular as some of the other beaches in the region. State Parks rangers do not seem to routinely patrol the beach, other than maybe pulling into the parking lot occasionally, and chances are good that if you & your off-leash dog(s) are respectful, they'd issue you a verbal warning instead of a citation with a hefty fine if you're caught with the dog off-leash. Plenty of state beaches do not allow dogs at all, so we really need to make sure our dogs aren't causing any problems on Montara Beach. Here's the State Parks web page for Montara State Beach: http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=532 Certain times of the year (like now), you'll want to make sure that your dog doesn't try to eat any of the jellyfish that have washed ashore. Also at some times of the years, little things called "By the Wind Sailors" (see http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/default.asp?inhab=465 ) wash ashore by the millions, and dogs seem to love eating them, but thankfully, they don't seem to be harmful. On nice days, especially weekends, the small parking lots at the S & Center sections of this beach fill up very quickly, so finding a space, or even just manoevering your car in the center lot can be difficult, and parking along Cabrillo Highway (aka Highway 1) is illegal. The beach & parking lots open at dawn & close approximately at dusk. Unlike at some other state beaches, there's no parking/entry fee.

1 pet found this review helpful

edited: July 5th, 2007

George is right. It

We had a great time with Moxie at Montara. Lots of soft sand. Plenty of parking even on crowded days (though watch those No Parking Anytime signs). It is a leash-only beach and there are lifeguard on 4-wheelers so I bet they will give a ticket for major off-leash playing. The upside side is that you can sit and take in the sun, picnic, etc. and not have to worry about a frenzied dog pack running over your card game or sandwich. But yes, it is leash-only so it's only as fun as that offers... We also found there appears to be a middle walk down to the beach, at a easy slope. There's also a small natural river pond in the middle of the beach, good for exploring kids.

edited: February 23rd, 2007

Fun Fun Fun

Very nice beach surfer and fishermen beach that is very clean and has great sand to dig in. There are two access points to this beach and they both have VERY steep staircases. Oops almost forgot you "should" be leashed!

1 pet found this review helpful