Garrapata Beach — Attraction in Monterey

After four and half months, we finally got a 3 day weekend. Yay. We woke up early still undecided where to go. All I knew that I wanted to go to a beach where I could hike and also take our fur baby with us . It's was still early so I was excited to go outside bay area for a day trip. Thanks to Google, the decision was easy. The reviews and photos of this place was convincing enough for my idea of a perfect day. I was sure not to be able to witness the recent flora and fauna ambience reviewers had recently posted but I was just as excited. From central valley, it was a full 4 hr drive. Parking was extremely easy to spot. We made our way down the beach and set up our little tent. The stairs down the beach was a big plus. Took some pics and were ready for our hike. All I have to say that this place is majestic. The flora was still in full bloom and the carpet of colors was just mystical. The 360 views were just magical. The light fog on the mountains, the sound of the huge waves crashing, the crisp cool breeze, the little whispering creek, and the floral decorated trails was beyond what I wished for. To top all this, we got a little adventurous and took a trail that looked unexplored and we discovered a waterfall that streamed onto the beach. The joy from the excitement was of a little child. After wrapping our time here, we returned to the trail about 3.5 miles ahead of this location for another hike and 200 pics. What an amazing day it has been and I couldn't feel more grateful for this gem of a place and my family for making it...

Garrapata State Beach is a beautiful shoreline at the northern end of Big Sur. There are numerous trails around the beach, leading to steep mountains, rugged coast, and century old redwood grove. Soberanes Point and Whale Peak is one of my favorite trail, which is only 1.8 mile long and moderately trafficked. The sandy beach is pretty, but treacherous: the unpredictable waves is very dangerous if you don't pay attention to them. Swimming, wading, or camping at the beach are strongly discouraged by the park ranger. You can stroll along the beach, explore the small caves or coves in the rock. The Garrapata creek flows in the sea in the south end of the beach. The north end of the beach is less visited because that is where clothing optional visitors hide. There is no formal parking lot, visitors just park along the roadside of highway 1. You won't find any sign or marks for the beach, but there is a short trail (Garrapata Beach access trails, Gates 18 or 19) that leads you down to the beach. If you visit beach at spring or early summer, you will be amazed by the wild flowers near the coast line around the beach. In the fall or winter, the beach is often blanket by thick chilly fogs, but if you are lucky, you may spot the migration whales in the sea. There is no restroom at the beach, couple of honey buckets was placed at the start of the beach...

Not only is this a dog friendly beach, but it’s one of the best beaches I’ve ever been to. The bluffs are nice to walk along, it’s easy to access the beach, there’s surfers to watch if you want to sit on the beach and just relax (not my style), the sand is comfortable to walk barefoot on, but the best part are there are some cool rocks to explore. If you walk down the stairs and go left, there’s a couple of little caves to check out and a peak-a-boo rock at the end of the beach. People tend to stay near the stairs, so you can go 100 feet away and feel pretty secluded from others. There’s a pretty cool opening in the rocks with a sun roof :) that if you take a photo at an angle, it looks like you’re in a cave. If you go down the stairs and to the right, the surfers hang out overs there, but the sand gets more rocky and uncomfortable. Not pleasant to walk on.

I went here in late fall over multiple days in the course of a month, and the waves varied in size and danger. On nice, calm days, I felt comfortable allowing my dog to go in the water, but beware of dangerous waves, weather, and surroundings. Know how close you are to the water at all times, and watch when the waves start to creep up. On the rainy days or bad weather days, the waves came crashing down higher on the beach, and pets, children, and even adults should keep...