There is beaty to make poets weep and inspire some of our greatest art and literature. But there are also lazy summer days spent buried in the sand, watching the hypnotic surf, or listening to children laugh as they race the waves up and down the shore. This is the best end of the bay for a day of sun, sand and swimming.
Beaches here are sunny, sheltered and bordered by high cliffs.
The central stretch of the bay is mostly lined with agricultural fields and is sometimes inaccessible to beach-goers. The views around the southern end of the Monterey Bay have a wildness to them. These fog-swept beaches are best for strolling all the better to take in sights of cliff meeting ocean, otters and seals slipping through kelp and the pounding of ocean on rocky shore. And while beset with dangerous rip tides that make swimming risky, it's a great area for diving. Copyright 2000 Santa Cruz Sentinel.