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Palm Beach
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
4 reviews for Palm Beach
What the beaches of central Monterey Bay lack in striking backdrops (unless you really love you some farmed floodplains), they make up for in continuity. Take Palm Beach, which is really just the southern part of Sunset State Beach (creative naming department, eh?), which itself is just part of a single unbroken 12 miles of sand all the way up to New Brighton SB. However, if you walk about a mile south from the parking lot, the condos (which actually blend in pretty decently) fall away and you wind up on a spit backed by the mouth of the Pajaro River, which will eventually block your progress in another mile. And that's the end of the Bay Area (hey, if northwest Sonoma county is part of it, so is Santa Cruz. 10 counties forever!)
But yeah, there's sand, sea, sky, and lots of it. So come on out and walk to your heart's content.
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Oddly Named, Let's Call This Dune Beach Instead
Palm Beach is a great locals beach where even on a summer holiday weekend it was not too crazy. Parking in the official lot was $6 with a dog but looks like many grab free spots along the road if you get here early. Having a shower to clean off after a tumble in the giant sand dune was cool however you may want to bring your own toilet paper for this restroom.
Dog Friendly - Four paws for an on-leash dog friendly beach with dunes and a soft sandy shore. Outdoor shower could be used to hose down the pet if needed.
People thought this was:
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Wel. . .huff. ..pufff. . .if . . . .you can make. . . .it. . .over. . . ..the. . huff, gasp. . .giant. . .DUNE. . .between. . . the. . . .whew. . .hufff. . .parking lot. . . .pufff. . .and the . . ..beach. . .
It's a great beach. There is plenty of parking, toilets, showers - and a few rusty looking barbecue set up and picnic tables.
I'm not a sit on the beach and veg king of gal - I tend to be walking, running, or getting wet. The pajaro dunes condos are kind of close in some areas, which I consider a bit of a bummer, but. . sigh. . .I guess I'll let the people that live there enjoy the view. There are high dunes flanked by eucalyptus between the parking area and beach, in case you didn't get that before. . .and the tops of the dunes are fun to explore - there are lots of little trails in the high beach grasses up there. You can get to another part of the beach with a slightly less steep incline by just continuing on foot where West Beach Road ends.
The waves can be absolutely violent here, so be careful - and watch for stepping on jellyfish when they are! Lots of great seaweed to play with, and sandpipers running up and down with the surf.
As with all beaches, the atmosphere, sand structure and wildlife are different every time depending on the tide, weather, and what dead thing may have washed up - but in general I have found this beach to be pretty clean - and one of my favorite destinations in Watsonville.
Haven't yet figured out the name though. Lot's of eucalyptus and beach sedges - one would be hard pressed to find an actual palm tree there, however. Unless they named it after the part of the hand. . .I'll just let that one go.
People thought this was:
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I agree with Kathy S. This is a great beach, plenty of parking, toilets, etc. It's also sort of off the beaten path. As you will see it's not listed on google maps as a formal park and you literally have to drive all the way from the center of town on West Beach (if you see farmlands, no worries, just keep going until you see Eucalyptus trees ahead and what looks like a condo park - usually about 15-20 minutes from downtown). I happened upon it just driving down Beach to see where it took us and found this place next to a bunch of ocean front homes. It was empty and seemingly not visited so there is plenty of parking, so in a way we should be thanking those folks living off the beach for making this place such as nice private getaway for the locals. The beaches and eucalyptus wooded areas are always nice and clean and it's a fantastic place to take a date to watch the sun set. Yes, don't be fooled by the huge dune between the parking lot and the beach (actually I found a couple other ways over that aren't so "breathtaking", just go north a bit of the lot). There is a sign at the entrance of the park, last I checked with it's actual name, but Palm Beach seems pretty darn close from what I remember. And for it's location, being so out of the way, Park Rangers do stop by often to make sure everyone is A-OK. Great place. Definitely check it out.
