Waddell Beach

Nice place to sit and meditate; watch the waves and surfers. Sometimes you can catch the sailboarders.

My wife and I like watching the sunset here...

Waddell Beach is a one my favorite stops along Highway 1. This beach is utilized by surfers, windsurfers, and kiteboarders. When the conditions are right you may see kiteboarders skimming across the water or performing freestyle tricks. Some of them are very skilled and are a treat to watch.

The bathrooms can be really bad. My advise is to find another place to use. There are four Pit Toilets and the same two are usually locked up. Toilet Paper is sometimes gone.

It is located 30 Miles South of Half Moon Bay and 19 North of Santa Cruz. It is across the highway from the entrance of Big Basin State Park.

Parking is free in the designated lot and along the highway.

This place is my morning & afternoon commute hang spot. When I need to take a break while on the way to Half Moon Bay or back home to Santa Cruz.

You can park up and down highway one or in the parking lot. I tend to just park along the highway, for quick visits and beautiful views.

Some rad surfing of all kind goes down here, w/ a beautiful cliffside view and a beach that goes on further than the eye can see. My friend even had the pleasure of saying "hi" to a great white shark after he found himself a little too far past the break.

Great place to surf! Big waves. Wind surfing also very popular. Of course you can just lay on the sandy beach if that's what you prefer.
There is ample free parking and a bathroom.

Cons: no place to change, and the bathroom is stinky

Epic beach, you can't miss it. Always a kite or wind surfer tearing it up out there. Perfect sand to build sand castles. Across the highway from Big Basin. If the coast is foggy, there is often a bit of sun at this location. Don't just stop to take a photo. Park, find a nice patch of sand, and stay awhile.

This is my best friend and I's favorite go to beach spot. The views are amazing. I love how the redwood Forrest on the other side of the road. I wish I wasn't so far away or else I would go here so much more often

Surfing/Kite surfing

Sign up here!

I continued this rolling down the State HWY 1 and took in what a dear friend does on a consistent basis in SF: kite surfing. When I use to hang out with him often (he's now married) I'd hear about his exploits running off the minute the wind reports came in to his Blackberry: Chrissy Field, along the Delta, Santa Cruz, Ocean Beach. He was there. Regardless of where he was at. Talk about living in the moment.

So it was only a matter of a few seconds of driving and then pulling over to see close to twenty-thirty people kite surfing, their kites a colorful display in the rising winds. After I pulled in, I propped myself up against my windshield, settling on my hood and watched the entire process of unloading, unwrapping and unwinding, then getting the kite up into the air and then swoosh, off they went. Whipped along the water by the strong winds. I even watched as some of them were airborne 6 ft +. How awesome is that!

A nice beach with lots of recreational potential. Today it was packed with kite surfers, but the guys mentioned that surfers and windsurfers would be out here, slicing the waves. In addition, lots of tourists, such as myself, were pulling off just to catch the players out teasing mother Nature.

Clean facilities and ladies, if you want to see a bunch of rugged good looking men in unzipped wetsuits, this is your place for the wicked wet dream that will pleasantly haunt you well into the evening. Not to mention, especially friendly half naked men. Several guys still wet from the water, saw me snapping away and casually mentioned that there was a BBQ taking place nearby and I was welcome to join them.

I usually don't blush much, but come on! They were half naked, wet, and definitely not something I needed in terms of encouragement. I peeled out of there before consenting to something I would not even trust in my best judgement :p

No dogs allowed here on the beach, however. Boo!

On to the next beach..............

The kite surfers are really what make Waddell special, but on not-so-windy days it's just a quiet beach with lots and LOTS of seagulls. We were there last Saturday, and while there were kids chasing the birds and the occasional surfer on the somewhat tiny waves, the beach was virtually deserted.

Unlike the rocky and pebble-riddled beaches to the north and south, Waddell's a fine-grained sandy wonderland.

I wish I knew how to surf like all these surfers with parachutes!! It's a great sight to see them all above the ocean with the sky as their background. So jealous of their picture perfect adventures.

This beach is absolutely beautiful. My family and I came here after our backpacking camping trip at Waddell Creek. The water was cold and it was really windy, however the kids still had loads of fun. In fact, they found these puddles of water further out in the beach and submerge themselves in them. They told me it was like they were in a bathtub because the water was much warmer than the ocean water.

If you're on Highway 1, stop for a while and enjoy the view.

Great beach along Highway 1. We stayed in Davenport in November and stopped here. It's so different than beaches just down the road and we could have spent hours here looking at rocks. Not to busy and a great place for photos.