Quaint little beach area and park just south of Cannery Row where you can catch some beautiful sunsets and listen to the sea lions in the distance read more

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A news release and television report in late August 2025 talked about a sea lion takeover at this beach. When I checked into my hotel, the reception person mentioned the sea lions were still on the beach so I walked here shortly after putting my luggage in my room. Being my 1st time in Monterey, I wanted to make the most of my time while here. About three blocks from my hotel, it was an easy stroll on Cannery Row that took about ten minutes. With the sun fully shining, most of the sea lions found refuge on the shady rocks with many already sleeping while other sought a cozy comfy spot (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=120&select=297vYH9CqB5Uk6Zu8NT59w). The smell is distinct aside from the obvious saltwater aroma. There were not many on the actual beach, sea lions or people, mainly observers like me standing along the railings above the rocks (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=96&select=1qFPLvh2p35M1YrzeafGMg). Though I've seen them many years ago at Pier 39 in the city where I'm from, but I've yet to be this up close and personal with sea lions. With the aquarium about fifteen minutes away, it's easy to see why Monterey is a landmark for people who appreciate sea life. read more

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This is steps away from cannery row and there are always resting animals. We went early in the morning for a nice walk and enjoyed nature! read more

San Carlos Beach - Seal - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

Stunning spot to watch thriving wild life, see the pictures. Was also not crowded so did not feel rushed. Wonderful experience. read more

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such a nice beach: very clean sand, lots of sea lions to watch, nice views. affordable parking for $2/hour or whole day for $14. reccomend if you're in town! read more

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Love this beach it's so peaceful.. pet, family friendly. Fair parking price, there's also restrooms. read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

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Not sure if it's because of the position or the direction, it's extremely cold and windy here on the beach even though the weather is actually very warm. The sand is very soft and moist. read more

We went last weekend, September 7th, and the beach was full of sea lions! Theresa great green area right by our he beach area and wonderful areas to sit. read more

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Very beautiful beach. I stumbled upon this beach when I was walking near downtown Monterey. I had finished checking out the Cannery Row Antique Mall and decided to go straight down the street and ended up at this beautiful beach. A small one, but has all the vibes of a great beach. Beautiful views, cold water, soft sand. read more

This small beach is a lovely spot with a grassy area, plenty of parking, and a clean restroom. There's also a small park nearby, making it family friendly. While it seems more suited for enjoying the view and watching sea lions, we did see a few people swimming when we went. In the winter, sea lions often gather and lounge along the shore, which is really fun to see. It's a nice walk from the aquarium to the beach, and it's a great place for a picnic. Plus, there are restaurants close by if you want to grab a bite after. Overall it was a nice outing coming here! read more

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Beautiful "hidden" beach, not well traveled and in a surprising location. The first hidden beach on Cannery Row is right behind Ghiradelli, McAbee beach is a wonderful place to go after lunch. Keep going down Cannery Row and right next to Monterey Bay Inn is San Carlos Beach, another hidden beach that also has a hidden cove. The former San Carlos Canning company stood here and those are the concrete and rusty metal elements that still stand at certain parts of the beach. There are a lot of kelp forests here and its very common to see scuba divers come in and out of the water here. If you have binoculars you are almost guaranteed to see sea otters at this beach. To the far west of the beach is a cove made of rocks and pebbles, I often see a local resting under a tree here, it's another area scuba divers use to gather and dive since less people come here. There is a large hill made of boulders that people love climbing on for selfies. Looks tropical and nice but this is Monterey so water is COLD. read more

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This is a beautiful beach. It's not safe for swimming in my opinion but great for watching waves. Experienced divers go out here frequently. There is a park here with picnic tables and benches where you can sit down and have a bite. It's usually kind of windy here so I would advise bringing a jacket. read more

Located next to the Coast Guard Pier is a very cute beach with easy access public parking. There is also a bathroom here. The beach here has a nice large grassy area if your not keen on sand. It is a huge spot for families to come as the water access here seems to be a popular swimming beach. I don't swim here, well, because I don't swim much since moving here. The water is cold and there are sharks. LOL, but I have seen people swimming and it looked nice. It is also a popular beach for scuba diving too. See my review of the Coast Guard Pier. Be careful and watch your parking though. Monterey is no joke for the parking attendants here. Nothing is worse than a parking ticket. The sand section here is small and this beach can get crowded on hot days. But it is gorgeous. Cheers and happy Yelping adventures. read more

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Sea Lions are everywhere! They are playing and frolicking in the water and on the beach. It was fun!

Beautiful and calm beach with outstanding views and almost crystal clear waters. There is plenty of parking space and there seems to be a lot of snorkeling taking place from the pier. This place is fairly clean and a good place to bring the family or a date. It's close to some restaurants and a coffee place on Canary Road. read more

Walked here from MB Aquarium with 3 kids and it was a nice and short walk through the town. This beach is nice, pretty small, and wasn't too crowded. Good beach for families. There is a large grass area next to the parking lot and restrooms, and then a hill leads down to the beach. The waves were calm and water was shallow for a good distance with rocks for the kids to play on. It was really beautiful being able to see the Bay and surrounding area, we were even able to see otters and jellyfish in the water. read more

This is our go-to spot for scuba diving. We park in the adjacent lot and are able to set up our gear and make the short trek to the beach. When the tide is high, the water comes all the way up to the side stairs. There are always a lot of scuba divers around, which is tons of fun! The beach itself is not very large, as it's a small cove surrounded by the breakwater wall on one side and the rocky coastline on the other. However, I've seen fitness classes happening on the beach next to the water when the tide is lower. There's a public shower fountain right up the stairs with a low and high shower sprayer to wash off feet or body. read more

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This is a small, protected beach that is great for scuba diving and is located right next to Cannery Row. Parking is available near the grass area or by the dock and you are required to pay for a parking pass as soon as you arrive. Parking is strictly enforced so don't forget to pay! In regards to scuba diving there are three sections of this beach: big pipe, middle reef, and the wall. I think I like the wall the best just because there is so much marine life all around you so there is always something great to see! (if vis is good and you can actually see). Most of the time you can see an otter and/or sea lion up close. It's amazing! If you swim out a little past the wall there is a "barge" to explore and on a good day you can see some pretty cool fishes. The big pipe is also fun and is covered in starfish. If you can reach the end of the pipe there is a huge metridium field! So pretty! I recommend this beach and recommend you go early or later in the afternoon if you go on the weekends since there are usually scuba diving classes that take up most of the beach. Scuba divers usually meet around 7 am so if you do go later, parking could be a little harder to find. read more

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Ida and I were sitting on a bench overlooking the beach and the beautiful water of Monterey Bay beyond watching the birds and other wildlife when she spotted divers in the water. At first I thought it was a strange place to dive but then I got a blast from the past. It was where I did my certification dive somewhere around forty two years ago. What an amazing memory of backing into the water because the waves were high that day. It was supposedly the highest tide in history so I don't know what a bunch of inexperienced divers were doing but we managed without anyone getting injured. I probably would have remembered right away if the waves would have not been so high and there would have been a beach there 42 years ago. Apparently there is a really nice beach when there isn't a record high tide. The rest of my dives were always around salt point so I had never had the pleasure to go back when I could really appreciate San Carlos Beach. It is so beautiful and provides access to a pier that juts way out into the bay and provides protection for the boat harbor on the other side. As we slowly walked along the pier next to the beach, a small bird jumped out of the water and onto a rock below with a sea urchin in its mouth. It dropped the sea urchin on the rock and proceeded to peck at it thinking it had found its dinner. Unfortunately for the poor bird, it wasn't very long before the spines sticking out of the urchin got the best of him. The frustrated bird then flew off leaving the sea urchin stranded on the rock. The urchin waited a few minutes before beginning to ever so slowly inch its way down the rock. We began to wonder if it would win its struggle and make it back to the water or simply wither up and die. That was when hero bird came out of nowhere landing on the rock and flipping the urchin back into the bay. Next we came across a fairly large flat looking fish that seemed to be struggling to stay alive. It fought ever so valiantly for its life but its struggle slowly faded and a couple of gulls decided it might make a good lunch only they were too skittish to do anything about it. They would try to peck at it but the gentle waves kept rolling in and making the fish move which caused the gulls to jump away in fear. We would have liked to stay longer but Seventeen Mile Drive impatiently waited. read more

I love that this beach is small and is somewhat protected. My daughter really enjoyed running up and down this beach for a little bit. I wasn't crazy about all the junk that washes up that just sits there, but it's nature, so let it be. The grassy area is nice and is very clean. Metered parking. The public bathrooms are very clean in comparison to most public restrooms. It's also within walking distance to just about everything and was the middle point from our hotel in Cannery Row and the pier. read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

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Day 1 of Scuba Diving Certification, Breakwater-San Carlos Beach http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=BnvwTJGP5lY1EWE55veMzg (Our dive group--me on the far left of the picture, quite hard to tell however.) After my month long scuba certification class, the day finally arrived to take that first big plunge into the big blue. Upon arrival at San Carlos Beach, we arrived about 30 minutes before 8:00am to assure that we got a good parking spot. Word of advice to divers and others looking to enjoy the water at San Carlos Beach, the best time to get a good spot is before 9am. Scuba divers will fill up the parking area available that extends on the actual marina pier because of the vicinity to the beach entrance, and for the seawall that helps with preparing gear. An all day parking pass is about $10-$12. Not bad. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=Z-YgEDd6sn_4Wt0qbkGVNA http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=sm2ki-9jfPeiKm3M50QILw The sandy beach entrance-way into the water is a pretty limited and a short distance from to the actual water, but this is a good thing for us divers that have to lug around 50+ pounds of crap. But once in the actual water, there were endless possibilities and sights to see. Thankfully, we started our day off early enough that there wasn't too much foot traffic to interfere with our entry into the water. San Carlos Beach is a great beach for beginning divers since the waters aren't very choppy within the protected cove of the pier. There is an abundance of kelp that can cause for a headache when swimming out past the pier, but of course the best option for divers is to just descend and swim out rather than swimming on the surface. But hey, that's California's coastline for you. The water clarity and temperature on the day we dove was surprisingly very clear and warm. I was definitely afraid of the water temperature considering this is no Hawaii and all, but thankfully my 7mm wet suit provided enough warmth. Of course, the deeper you go, the colder it gets. The deepest our group descended down to was at a max of about 45 feet. All I can say is that it just akes about going down at least 20 feet to see some really great stuff, but 45 feet down into the deep blue was definitely an experience. At 25 feet down, we saw some pretty amazing creatures from crabs and a starfish looking thing that had 20 arms. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=9EUBC00p0G5lmzfPXWHJnw http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=wWlWwY4Ts5JGJJbJUlyPBg As we were descending down to 40 feet, I was also able to view some amazing jelly fish floating all around. This was quite a scary sight especially since it was getting darker the deeper you go. I was afraid I was going to get stung by their incredibly long tentacles or whatever you call their arms. Such an amazing sight none the less. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=_GtoorIKqc_bRyRhVUFAkQ http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=8LOUl272j1OJ9GqbhsA-Uw http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/JXIkNlxz9dXPoIBIFczU9Q?select=B168kBcxn4nkkHE9qx3pPg But the A B S O L U T E highlight of my 1st dive in Monterey has to be when we saw a sea lion spiraling by our eyes. AMAZING SIGHT. From that moment on, I knew I was in love with scuba diving. Unfortunately, no pictures of this amazing sight since the big fella was swimming so fast. In addition to the abundance of incredible sea life at the Breakwater, there is a convenient dive shop right on the pier of the marina, a cafe, restrooms, and hot/cold showers for rinsing. Best of all, San Carlos Beach sit just down the road from the Cannery Row excitement. Minus one star for the limited beach sand and spacing, but this is all easily ignored once you get into the deep blue and see those amazing sea creatures, zillions fish, starfish, crabs, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, and the cute cute cute sea lions. Until my next dive... read more

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This is a small little beach located up the street from the hotel we were staying at. We had ate some dinner then walked up here to let the kids run around and get some wiggles out. Its so beautiful in Monterey anyway, this little beach doesn't disappoint. There's some interesting sculptures to look at and let the kids climb on. We also explored some rock out crops for the more adventurous of children and parents to explore. We really enjoyed walking around here. Its great for kids or a romantic walk with your honey. You can walk and hold hands and pretend you don't have kids like we did. read more

It's one of those rare days - the central valley is scorching, the Bay Area is toastie and Monterey is absolutely perfect. The sun has just about set behind me and I'm sitting on a bench overlooking this beach basking in the perfect weather for t-shirt and shorts watching the twilight reflect off the bay. Then there's the sense of history - look at post WWII photos of this area and the place was covered in Canneries (there's an old time photo conveniently placed on a plaque next to the beach) and there are concrete and steel reminders of those canneries littering the beach into the ocean. Sitting on the bench for five minutes and I've seen pelicans, sea otters, cormorants, seagulls, sea lions (which are also heard too) and the top of the kelp forests on the ocean surface - with sailboats in the background. How come this isn't getting 5 stars? Well tonight it does, but normally this beach is also the launching point for lots of divers. I'm no six pack abs kind of guy (nice little pony keg for those keeping count) and maybe the wet/dry suits exaggerate the effect, but on the weekends, this beach is a haven for divers, and for whatever reason (I have my theories), most divers seem to be the last set of people you want to see in skin tight neoprene. I've always liked the idea of diving, but seeing these folks slowly trudge their way from their encampments on the beach's grass park to the ocean weighed down by all the gear it takes to dive, all the time it takes to get all that gear organized and the amount of time it takes to get back to the encampment after the dive (complete with filling in log books etc.) and I just can't get excited about the concept. Give me a week day evening like tonight, no divers, lots of wildlife visible from the shore, gorgeous light and I'm a happy camper. read more

San Carlos Beach - Looking out over San Carlos Beach towards Seaside at twilight - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

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A nice little beach for watching the scuba divers take off fo the deep blue sea. I used to dive here occasionally and it was an excellent beach to do so. Easy entry in calm waters. Beautiful beach for just sitting and sun bathing. Never a bad day when you are at the beach. Rain or shine. A great place. read more

POPULAR DIVE SPOT (3 stars) Tropical waters vs cold waters. I really can't compare and say which I like best. Ok I lied, tropical dives you don't have this much weight, it's less of a workout getting in the waters, and visibility is clearer. But cold water dives are still amazing. They both offer something different. If you are a certified diver, I highly recommend that you get to experience both environments. HOW WAS IT I finally decided to dive/take a plunge for my FIRST COLD WATER DIVES... And honestly, it wasn't cold as I expected. Thicker wetsuit, head cap, boots, and adrenaline made it feel like nothing. Imagine washing your face in cold water, that "brisk refreshing feeling" is what I felt on my face the first time descending and then after that didn't really feel it. That's it! WHAT DID YOU SEE Did two tanks (break water site and middle reef site). I went when conditions were slightly below average, surge, rough entry, and visibility was max 10ft but water temps was mid-50s. Cold water environments has some different things to offer that I didn't see in my tropical warm water dives. I got to see some kelp forest, lots of fish, several huge crabs, gazillion star fish, and a bunch of random stuff. I was hoping to play with seals and get them on my GoPro3+ but they were playing with other divers in the area. The kelp forest was SO phenomenal and beautiful. I literally blew my mind away. Unfortunately, I got tangled and stuck, lost my dive partner and couldn't surface for several minutes. When I surfaced I couldn't get my head above the tips of the kelp. (Scary shit!). While all this was happening I missed that rare opportunity to dive with the dolphins. They swam right in the area we were in. I'm bummed by that and would have done anything to dive with the dolphins and catch that on the GoPro3+. WILL YOU BE BACK yes. I'll be getting 4-6 more dives in here the next 2 months to prepare myself for other sites to see more kelp forest and prepare myself with shore entry (rough entry) to build strength. JABA APPROVED. Until the next review.... read more

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What a nice little surprised while visiting Monterey. Monterey always has a special park of my heart. It's so close to home and you can either be touristy or just take a stroll along the beaches. It's so close to bathrooms, parks, and canary row itself. You can easily just sit, people watch, walk around, or watch people snorkeling. read more

This beach isn't huge, and it shrinks down to even less during high tide, but it's still a nice place to play in the sand, run around, and watch the sunset. If the tide's low, play on the rocks and check out the numerous sea anemones, starfish, and other tide-pool type critters. I'm pretty sure dogs are supposed to be on leashes, but generally people disregard that rule. This was the first beach I let my puppy off-leash on because it's generally enclosed and I knew it'd be difficult for him to get away from me. Above the beach there are a bunch of picnic tables and benches. And behind that, a nice grassy lawn. Public restrooms are nearby. On the weekends the lawn is packed with divers and all their gear. If you wanna come here at night, there are enough lights nearby that you'll still be able to see pretty well - don't worry about getting left in the dark after watching a sunset! Watch out for the seagulls. They steal things!!! One of them snagged my puppy's ball and flew off with it! PS, this is a great place to watch the 4th of July fireworks, but be warned, people get here VERY early in the day to stake out spots! read more

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Came here for freediving level 1 certification. The beach itself has remnants of some metal structure so be careful upon water entry! Also, parking was pay by the hour. With regards to places to leave gear, most scuba and freediving folks left their gear ashore on the lawn facing the ocean or the picnic tables. There was also an outdoor shower to conveniently wash off that salty water and bits of sand! Great place! read more

San Carlos Beach - Got freediving certified here today! Viz wasn't the best but the currents weren't too bad! - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

Came here to picnic twice and both times it was so pleasant. One was a sunny day and another day it was cloudy. The restrooms are clean, plenty of tables, beach and grass. It's the perfect spot. read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

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Quick, easy access to the beach and the Monterey Bay. A nice big grassy area for the dogs to roam around on or for sunbathing. Connects to the Cannery Row Walking Path. Plus: Restrooms with flushing toilets. Cons: smelly, dirty homeless people, many of whom appear to have mental problems, seem to frequent this park and the restrooms. Albeit for the homeless issue, this park would have received 5 stars. Also, every time we make the drive to Monterey, we always stop at San Carlos Beach Park. The dog loves roaming around the grassy areas and the kid cannot get enough of walking up and down the steps to the beach and playing in the sand. read more

San Carlos beach is a great place to come and enjoy with the family. They have clean bathrooms and also have a large area of grass to relax and enjoy the sun. Their is also plenty of tables with benches to sit down and enjoy a nice lunch or picnic on the beach. They have plenty of benches facing the beach. Their is also a big statue in a form of a tree great to take pictures for the Instagram or snap chat... read more

CLEAN. SPACIOUS. GREAT VIEW. Nice large lawn, usually clean. Restroom and Benches. Tide pools, clean sand. Hosts events. Good spot for Picnic. read more

Small beach that is not crowded at all which is a plus. Very clean, quiet and peaceful. read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

Popped my open water scuba dive cherry here! You always remember your first...open water dive! Sure it's friggin' cold...and the visibility is $hi#...but you're DIVING! As in...under the mofo' water breathing n' shizz....werd! Not sure where that came from... This beach is pretty much where most divers in the Bay Area cut their teeth on diving...beach access, minimal current and a slow and steady drop. On any given weekend you'll see all of us crazy folks, with our diving gear and chattering teeth, slogging our heavy diving equipment and selves down to the murky depths of the Monterey bay. No matter how murky it is, the further you go out, the better the visibility. I saw a mommy otter and her pup taking a nap on our dive buoy, a starfish the size of a manhole cover, and an octopus...not bad for my first 'deep sea' adventure! Plenty of parking and coin operated show facilities over by the boat launch (bring some slippahs...cuz da buggah be nasty). read more

A great little beach for those rare days that are both sunny and warm. I've also gone to this beach for a nighttime stroll. The beach is not very wide, but as long as it's not high tide, it's wide enough. The waves are usually gentle enough for kids, and there are some tidepools for them to splash in and explore. The water is ice-cold year-round, but most kids don't seem to mind. This is one of the most popular spot for divers; they all use the east end of the beach (near the pier). Walk out to the end of the pier and take a gander at the sea lions and birds hanging out on the jetty. You might want to plug your nose, though. There's also a grassy field above the beach, and some benches overlooking the beach, too. A great place for family fun. read more

Easy to overlook beach. Small and doesn't look clean compared to most other beaches around here most of the time since kelp washes up on the sand constantly. Thing is what really makes this beach 5 stars is what happens right off the beach in the kelp nearby. Plenty of divers can attest to the abundance of sea life living under the water there, but even at the surface plenty can also be seen! Saw my first sea otters here! Not only otters but plenty of other marine animals seem to just love the kelp; it's like a free salad bar for them so you can see them constantly munching on the stuff all the time. This makes it a great spot to get awesome pictures of it all from this beach! read more

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I didn't even know this super cute little beach existed until my boyfriend and I walked from Fisherman's Wharf to Cannery Row one afternoon on our recent visit to California. I really enjoyed this beach. It's literally right by Cannery Row as well. The beach is small and had somewhat of an intimate feel to it. I wonder how many people go there during the peak times. It's evidently winter in California (they don't know what cold is... us Midwest gals sure do) so there weren't a lot of people out. The views were pretty nice as well. Overall, nice, cute beach and I definitely want to visit again in warmer weather. read more

A tiny little beach, but very little foot traffic so it's nice to walk at low tide. It's right off the Rec. Trail, so it's great to incorporate it on a walk. There are always scuba divers here, and I like to sit on the grassy hill above the beach and watch the ocean. read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

This is such a cute little beach thats hidden inside a little community, it's super hidden and it was always too easy to miss. My boyfriend and I came here around noonish and the beach was nearly empty, perhaps it was the overcast weather that kept beach goers at bay, but it was nice to have the beach mostly to ourselves for our wonderful picnic! read more

San Carlos Beach - Beaches Near Me - Monterey, California

Beautiful and relaxing beach. I truely enjoyed our time here, be aware that there are a lot of divers in this area so most of the bench are occupied. Otherwise, this is a perfect spot for a family picnic:) read more