Pillar Point Harbor — Attraction in Half Moon Bay

We loved this place. Our favourite thing in the world, was to take the boat out past the harbour & out into the open sea & go fishing for 25 species of beautiful Rock Fish, Ling Cod, Flounder, Halibut, Ocean Perch, Mackerel, Bonito, Dorado & Sea Bass. My husband has since passed away & the boat is destroyed & will never run again, but those were the very best times of our lives, out on that boat, fishing on the open sea. If you decide to fish out of Pillar Point, you may purchase a year round fishing license, which permits the dropping of crab nets & traps during the daylight hours . You need to mark your traps with your name & phone number on your marker bouys. Also available to the fisherman that is only visiting this area, is a 1 day fishing permit, available as well is a 3 day weekend permit. In order to comply, with the current species restrictions & bag limits, one needs to ask the surf & bait shop for the local area fishing guide, which provides information on: identification of fish species, seasonal regulations, designated marine preserve areas that forbid any fishing at all, bag limits, size requirements, toxin load the fish carries & warnings which fish, medically fragile persons should not consume, tidal charts, which methodologies of capture/fishing are allowed for each species, what times of year certain breeding species are off limits, which areas that certain species can be bagged or which are to be avoided, etc etc. These guides are extremely comprehensive & rendered in immaculate detail. I highly, highly, recommend you take one with you when you go out with the intention, to do more than just the catch & release methods. PLEASE BE AWARE, THAT THE CALIFORNIA FISH & GAME WARDENS, DO CHECK BAG & SIZE LIMITS ON A REGULAR BASIS, SO BE SURE TO BE ACCURATE & MINDFUL. This is an actual, enforceable, example: A LING COD THAT IS EVEN 1/4" inch UNDER THE SIZE LIMIT, CAN EARN YOU A MANDATORY FINE, OF UP TO $500... EASILY. I also must warn, inexperienced boaters, or visitors, unfamiliar with this stretch of water & shoreline, that when the fog begins to roll in, it is time for you to roll in as well. The fog rolls in quickly, obscuring visibility to just a few feet & the shoreline & open sea become mysteriously indicernable from each other. It's a good way to wind up on the rocks or become forever lost at sea. My favourite thing in that area, are the 3 tone Bell Buoys. I can fall asleep, listening to the soothing, random music, of these unique Bell Buoys (as most only have one bell, or one tone) combined with the motion of the waves, rocking the boat like a mother rocking a cradle, the warm sun on my face & back, the clean salty , misty , breeze on my cheek & I'm gone.ZZZzzzz. This is a good activity if you're into social distancing. I will always miss those days as I know, I will never be able to go do that, on our boat, together, ever again. I reccomend doing this activity, in this place, if that is your joy & pleasure in life, as it is mine & was ours. Go make some pleasant, misty watercolor memories, for yourself, like we did. I am forever grateful for those memories, as they sustain me now, like food...

It was my first time going here. I went here because the news had shown that boats were selling their catch of fresh Dungeness crabs. I've driven by before to go to local restaurants, but this time, i actually parked at the pier and stopped and asked someone where we could buy crab. He was a little grumpy, but he said you better catch them before they leave. I walked up, and the people were super friendly and helped me before they left. This boat was from Seattle, I believe.

We went to another one, but it seemed their fish were frozen like a rock. They had a big banner on the boat that they had tuna, salmon, etc.

The last one we went to was funny. It was the lady's first time handling crab and selling them. She said she was helping her friends who went back out to catch some more. She was so terrified of the crabs and getting pinched. The crabs they were selling were the cheapest but not as big as the first one's I bought. This one is the first one you see when you enter the pier on your left hand side with a flag of crabs for sale.

The view was so pretty and a first for me to see an...

We truly enjoyed coming to this Pillar Point Harbor! We have been coming to this place for many years! This is Absolutely our Happy place! We’ve spent a lot of times and have too many wonderful memories here. The ocean is definitely Amazing, Peaceful and Beautiful! There are so many boats here that I truly loves watching. Walking around along this Shore brings warm feelings of Joy to my heart, a mixture of emotions that I will never forget! Just Gorgeous Settings and a Lovely Breath of Fresh Air! I'm always super Excited and Happy everytime we are here. My Sweethearts had launched our boat here and also went out for lots of Crabs! Definitely Amazing!!!😍 I also love that there are many great Restaurants around here as well! Some of my favorite places to eat includes: Miramar Beach Restaurant, Flying Fish Bar and Grill, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Barbara’s FishTrap, Harbor Bar, my favorite Moss Beach Distillery and many more!!! With many Delicious Seafood Restaurants , the most Amazing Views, and absolutely best Sensational Settings, are definitely some of the reasons why we keep...