Venice Beach — Attraction in Half Moon Bay

This review is for anyone who runs barefoot. Running at the beach at Half Moon Bay is a real treat. The sand doesn't pack down as hard as at other beaches, and the texture is not rough on the feet as long as you stay away from where bits of shell collect at the surf lines. In general this beach stays very clean, and has hardly any kelp, but do keep an eye out for the occasional bit of glass. Park in the paid lot at the State beach. Or, park along Kelly St in the marked spaces. The shore along Francis beach is a bit steeper and undulates up and down more. As you make your way north, toward Miramar, or south, to Wavecrest, the beach flattens out, making the run a bit easier. Keep an eye out for the fishermen, so you can politely run around the fishing lines extending into the surf. The beach near wave crest is a favorite for people walking with dogs off-leash. The dogs have all been friendly, more interested in the water than in a runner. There is a permanent flock of seagulls at Roosevelt Beach. They will take off and circle around back to their roosting spots. Give them a little room and maybe they won't use you for target practice. If you go in winter, beware that Pillarcitos Creek cuts a mean trough through the beach on the way to the sea. If its soon after a big storm, the current washes a lot of sand out, and its hard to tell how deep the channel is. Also, the churning water might be carrying a lot of urban debris, animal waste or chemicals. So crossing it is not recommended. In nicer weather, you can make it all the way to the north end of the beach where the water comes up almost to highway 1, and watch the surfers. The far south end of the beach has rock formations reminiscent of volcanic outcroppings in Hawaii. BATHROOMS available at Francis Beach. Faucet for washing off your feet at the end of the run is between the restrooms and the picnic tables. Winter temps are usually in the mid 50s. Temps down on the beach are often warmer than on the bluff...

Horrible traffic and horrible town.

We drove from Cupertino and it took 45 minutes for the first 29 miles but another 45 minutes for last 1 mile. This was because parking lot was full but they had not put up any such information until close. Everyone turned into last one lane road (Kelley Av) and then go all the way just to turn back.

Coming back was even bad - 90 minutes to cover the 1 mile within town until SR92. The town has mostly just Stop signs (not stop lights) and not a single police officer to manage the thousands of cars. When each car stops at Stop sign, all cars behind it will rightly brake. This slows things to a crawl when you have few thousand cars. Few police managing the stop signs could have let 20-25 cars on each 3/4 way stops thereby ensuring smooth flow. But there were none.

I call the town horrible because of disgusting public restrooms. The restroom near the beach was dark and super dirty with a long wait. The restroom inside town near a sitting area was just horrendous - Fecal matter all over the restroom including toilet paper. Few thousand tourists everyday and they can't even keep public restroom half-decent.

Town to avoid unless you have no choice. May be locals prefer that way to keep others...

This place is breathless!. Correction I could breathe the most wonderful breathe of air again after all the wildfires. Needed to get away from the humdrum of the city. So headed to the Dunes Beach park. I was awakened and renewed. It is so peaceful and quiet but then I got there early morning and time just escaped. Waves seemed a little calmer for September but the water also looked better if you like calmer waters . Few visitors were either sitting reflecting or striding along the waves. By noon there was more foot traffic and folks carrying tents food etc but not to a point of nuisance. I just opted to leave so as not to ruin that special view and awesome feeling I had experienced. There is a fee of 5 to park but it's well worth it to maintain the park, its exceptionally clean and even have restrooms available. The locals and the rangers really take care of this place and it shows. Thank you for looking after this...