Mitchell's Cove Beach — Attraction in Santa Cruz

We went down here on the beach for awhile to see the ocean then drove on to a overlook area with a big tree and benches at lower tide.

Just passed the tree, walked down newer concrete steps to a small tide pool type area on rocks with small beaches in between where at higher tides the waves break and rush in. Watch the gulls, Pelicans and other birds fly by or dive for fish.

Perfect salty wave action to enjoy and huge rock or sand edged banks. Adults tend to swim or go in with their boards in the most northern break of beach. Beautiful Area. We watch the Sunset if fog and clouds allow, go home refreshed or to the ...

Mitchell's Cove, also known by locals as "Fingers", is a favorite spot for boogie boarding when the conditions are right. Two or three waves will join together to form fingers to ride. Waves will come from either direction - this is not a boogie boarding spot for beginners. It is a nice little locals beach but it does often (most of the time) have a lot of kelp (smell) and flies (from kelp) and dogs (cute). Beautiful place early in the morning to practice a little yoga. There is a giant set of stairs to enter at the North side of the beach. No bathrooms, garbage cans at the top of the stairs (pack your...

This beach is pleasant enough, and only rarely gets too crowded. However, a lot of kelp tends to wash up, which can make walking barefoot somewhat unpleasant and attracts flies. The beach is also somewhat narrow, which means it can vanish entirely at high tide. If you're looking for a dog friendly beach, Its Beach (closer to the lighthouse) is wider and cleaner, but can be more crowded. That said, Mitchell's Cove is great if you want to body board. At low tide, there are also some thriving tide pools to explore towards the west. This also tends to be the wildlife hotspot...