Pfeiffer Beach — Attraction in Monterey

The beauty of this place is greatly overrated. Purple sand, practically nonexistent. The entry fee is $ 12 and is non-refundable, no matter what time you arrive. After turning off the freeway, the road is very bad. I had a very unpleasant experience. it was already 7 pm when I got there and after the turn, there was a man who stopped us. He said that he could not let us go further, that there were many cars there. Two cars left, I asked to let us through, but he told us to try it in a couple of minutes and did not allow us to wait on the road. This is after many hours of driving for this beach. I returned to the freeway, turned around and came back, after that, he said that I was lucky and could go. This is complete nonsense. The parking lot was practically empty. What's the point? Why couldn't I get through? For the money they charge, the road could be better. Now I understand why the money is not refundable. This is a lie. Purple sand only in photos, after good editing. You have to search well to find this sand. It was a very sad experience. I do not recommend going there. There are many more worthy places to visit along this road.

Красота этого места сильно переоценена. Фиолетовый песок, его практически нет. Плата за въезд 12$ и ее не возвращают, не важно в какое время вы прибыли. После поворота с фривея, дорога очень плохая. Я имел очень неприятный опыт. было уже 7 вечера, когда я добрался туда и после поворота, там был человек, который остановил нас. Он сказал, что не может нас пустить дальше, что там много машин. Две машины выехало, я просил нас пропустить,но он сказал, чтоб мы попробовали через пару минут и не разрешил подождать на дороге. Это после многих часов езды ради этого пляжа. Я вернулся на фривей, развернулся и приехал обратно, после этого, он сказал что я счастливец и могу проехать. Это полный бред. Парковка была практически пустая. В чем смысл? Почему я не мог проехать? За те деньги, которые они берут, дорога могла быть лучше. Теперь я понимаю, почему деньги не возвратные. Это обман. Фиолетовый песок только на фотографиях, после хорошего редактирования. Вам надо хорошо поискать, чтоб найти этот песок. Это был очень грустный опыт. Не рекомендую ехать туда. На этой дороге есть много более достойных мест...

When traveling, your experience can be negatively affected by the weather, so with that in mind, I give Pfeiffer Beach 4 Stars.

We were here in August, 2013. There's a fairly steep paved road that takes you down to Pfeiffer Beach. In many places, it's too narrow for 2 way traffic, but there are little extra wide places here and there, where you can duck onto, and wait for car coming from the other direction to pass, or vice versa. The day we visited, it was one of the most windy places I'd ever witnessed. A sign when we entered read "No Refunds," for what then was a $5 Day Use Fee. The price to enter now is $10 per car, per day.

Wind was chaotic upon arriving here. Doors to our car flew open when we pushed outward, an inkling of what was to come. When we ventured toward the beach, the wind assaulted my wife and I with frenzied purpose. Sand became our enemy, as we learned quickly not to look westward for too long, or our faces would get sand blasted.

The beach was large, with a massive rock formation straight ahead, and sea carved arch at the bottom of it, perched like a mighty giant, spread out at the waterline. To the west, jagged rocks stood guard, both just offshore and along a spine of the Santa Lucia Mountains.

I saw at least 20 hats get blown off of people's heads and down the beach. I also saw a baby in a stroller get blown into a large basin of water, created perhaps from rain, or an extra high tide. Mom pulled the baby in stroller out, just as back stroller wheels were going in the water.

We fought Mother Nature for a while, as I'd never been to this place and I wanted to explore it. After taking more sand crystals to the face, finally I decided I'd had enough. I found the edge of a bluff that blocked most of the wind, and we ducked behind it. I would pop out periodically and snap a pic or 2, then quickly take cover behind the bluff edge.

Pfeiffer Beach was beautiful, though not welcoming, the day we went. Timing is everything in life. Hope to go another time, when weather...

Reviewing a beach?!? This feels so weird, but trust me, this beach is worth a review. Pfeiffer is a somewhat “hidden” beach in the Big Sur area. The turn off isn’t well marked and it is a bit of a long crazy drive from CA-1. That being said, it is a state park and it’s well appointed with paved lots and camping style hole in the ground toilets when you get there. They limit the attendance based on the amount of parking spaces so while the beach won’t feel crowded you may have a tough time getting in on a busy weekend. There is someone stationed at the top so you can’t even drive down unless there is available parking, but there is also no where to wait if there isn’t. So you might have to circle out to main road and back a few times.

As I’m sure you are aware, the highlight is the purple sand - and it’s legit. It’s not the entire beach, it’s in sections formed by some sort of magic run off from the rocks after it rains. It’s really amazing. Lots of other great photo spots as well, it’s an Instagram friendly beach so you will see many more folks taking photos than enjoying the beach, but it’s really cool, feels somewhat secluded and special even though it’s popular. Worth going out of...