I used to think this was a secret beach but it's become a lot more popular and for good reason,…read moreit's the best beach around! I LOVE THIS BEACH. I've spent all day at it many times, it's a great place to get away for the day. There is a long stretch of parking along the side of the road and you walk down to the beach. The small path down to the beach is adventurous, tough for the uncoordinated but short. Still, only bring what you can carry because it will be hard to bring stuff up and down. The main beach is big, tons of space for activities but can get a bit crowded quickly. My favorite spot to go to is off to the left. You have to go under the arch and to another beach much longer than the first one. You will want to come back over before the tide is too high or you will have to calculate running back as the tide reseeds.

The only reason this is 4 stars is because of insane parking and lack of accessibility. The parking…read moreis in a dirt lot, and if you turn your car facing the entrance to the beach, it's quite hard to turn around when you're leaving, especially when crowded. You literally have to scale a cliff to get to and from the beach, which is a little difficult if you're hauling things or very difficult if you're physically disabled. Once you're on the beach though, it's gorgeous. Plenty of room to spread out, and the waves are super big. The Saturday we went (7/17) it was clear and sunny- perfect weather! Would recommend this beach if you are able-bodied and want to get away from the crowds at Santa Cruz and Capitola.

Nude beach side . Calm less crowd and in nature . Sunbath ... It's on north side little hiden u go…read moredown and on right side cross the wall

Not exactly family, friendly. But we're open minded grown-ups it's pretty nice…read more Not an easy walk down to the beach and then back up again to the street. But if you're healthy enough to handle it, it's worth it.

I LOVE to take trips down Highway 1. Local day trips often just take me anywhere from Bodega Bay…read moreup north to Monterey down south, but most times just from the stretch of Pacifica to Santa Cruz. And when I cruise down leisurely down this glorious highway, I won't just gun the vehicle and go from destination to destination. I like to randomly stop at little towns, beaches, roadhouse eateries that's dotted along the way. There are so many beaches on highway 1. I'm still exploring around myself. Pulled in onto this beach as they had a big parking area on the cliffside. This is in-between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, super close to the road that you can take to go to Big Basin. This is not a lying around type of beach. It is very raw and very windy for some reason. Lots of seabirds on parts of the beach, lots of stranded seaweed and due to the wind, lots of white water surf. And a big attraction here actually is due to the surf and wind conditions. Lots of surfers and wind-surfers here that it'll catch your eye even from the highway. Wind surfers are these skilled and brave souls that go out in rough seawater with a parachute like apparatus connected to them, as so they can take flight and take leaps almost at bird level. And they are able to surf more waves without being pounded by rough waves, as they are able to jump from wave to wave via air/wind. Even tho it was too windy for me to sit out there for longer than 30 minutes, it was a blast watching these guys bounce and float around in what would otherwise be dangerous waters. I'm eventually going to knock out all the beaches from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay, and this one was a special one to knock out.

Such a beautiful beach! It was very windy and cold and I imagine it's like this all the time. But I…read morestill enjoyed my 2 mile walk along the beach. This place has bathrooms and parking. It's pretty big so I can't see it getting crowded.

To me and my BF Joe K, there is nothing better than visiting a coastal town or city along the…read morePacific Ocean. Santa Cruz is one of our favorite vacation spots. While we were visiting a friend who lives in said city, he gave us a site seeing tour of a few of his favorite public beaches that were actually somewhat secluded. Davenport is a town just outside of Santa Cruz, where you will find some nice accessible beaches, like Davenport Landing. They almost seem like private beaches, because there are less tourists who are aware of these locations. They are government protected and mostly the locals seem to make use of these areas, because they are a bit out of the way from the more touristy places of Santa Cruz. We spent some relaxing and leisurely time walking in the sand and listening to the crashing waves of the ocean. I never get tired of the scenic views, and contemplating and appreciating what Mother Earth has created. I just wish that all human beings were aware of how important protecting this planet is for our survival....

Spent a wonderful Saturday here! It's not a well-known beach and you have to drive through a…read moreresidential area to get there. There were not a lot of people also because it was on the cooler side. The water can get choppy and aggressive so be careful.

Enjoying this secluded beach starts with a small concrete parking lot with severely damaged uneven…read moresurface and plenty of dips, and no actually "spaces" (just find a way to make your car fit)... an adventure for your car! The trek from there involves following a dirt path among plantlife and walking down a rocky hill, even crossing over train tracks along the way... only a quarter mile, but feels a lot longer (Is that why they call it "4 mile"?!?). It's all worth it once you lay eyes on the beautiful sandy shore, And the moment you enter and step onto the sand, there's a small pond to your right with ducks! What a pleasant surprise to be found at the beach :D On a Sunday afternoon, there were just a handful of visitors, couples and families stretched out on their mats or little tents, enjoying the sunshine and sound of the waves. Surfers doing their thing on the water. A few dogs running free. Surfboards sitting inside a small cave-like tunnel, a cool formation along the mudstone cliffs, that you can actually go inside. A piece of advice, on a windy day, be prepared for sand to blow onto your belongings, especially if you have food or drinks, you may want to have your back to the wind to prevent the sand from ruining a good meal while picnicking. But it's easy to shake off your blankets and tents and such, so don't be afraid to get a little dirty as you lie in the sun and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. One thing I did not like is that there is no cell service here (T-Mobile). But other than that, I loved everything about this place. And if you're not a big fan of all of the crowds closer to the Boardwalk but you want to be near the water, Four Mile Beach is definitely worth checking out.

Absolutely appalling. A nude beach -- with zero warning signs posted anywhere. How is this even…read moreallowed? We saw families arriving with young children, completely unaware of what they were walking into. Two different families set up early in the morning, only to pack up and leave within the hour -- we quickly realized why, I'm sure they didn't want their family around all this. Nudity shouldn't be allowed on a public beach with zero warnings. As noon approached, the beach filled with fully nude adults, many of them elderly. Even if they stayed in their own area, they were still completely visible to everyone on the beach. It was disturbing and frankly disgusting. We didn't have kids with us, so we stayed a little longer, but it ruined our Sunday morning. There should be clear, visible warnings -- this should not be allowed in a public space without them. I attached pictures of the signs...not a single warning or disclosure that nudity is allowed.

First time in the area, very beautiful hike and views. We took the trail from shark fin cover and…read morefound this beach. Had no idea it was partial a nudist beach. Until we saw them from above (no big deal) we thought it was cool. We kept on with our hike and on our way back we see a 3some going on. Two guys and a woman. Broad daylight, there's kids and families to the left of them about 100 feet but it's an open concept so I'm sure it was visible to them. Just wasn't expecting to come across that on a Monday evening. Rules should definitely be enforced specially since it's also gonna be a family beach.

This beach is picturesque, but dangerous and difficult to access. It's not recommended for children…read moreor anybody who can't handle the steep incline. There's no bathrooms, jellyfish are abundant on the shore and wash up and back with the waves...with violent riptides even near the shore. Out on the rocks people are able to fish for perch, but the whole area is very windy and when lying down you'll be inundated with sand. The parking area is the second one past Laguna when driving north on PCH. It's far easier to navigate the steep cliff going down in shoes. Many of us were barefoot or in sandals and it really slows you down. As such, you're not going to easily get large objects like cool chests down to the beach. You'll not likely want to make multiple trips to the car either. The trash is still a concern as young people leave cans and bottles everywhere. Like some Yelpers have posted, I didn't experience any nudity, nor did anyone ask me to have sex with them, however, I suspect this area is not patrolled often because of it's limited access. I saw people drinking beer without impunity and so it's not hard to imagine, given this beach also appears in nudist beach listings in search results. In my experience, it was younger adults in groups, everyone was dressed. Two people were fishing. There's an arch in the cliffs which leads to another beach to the left, and then rock formations you can carefully walk out on to the right and fish from. It appears high tide covers these areas, so keep that in mind. There were at least 60 people on the beach, so I don't understand the posts about being quiet and secluded, either. This property used to be owned by a dairy company and was ceded to the state, which explains it not having a long public history and the abandoned railroad tracks paralleling PCH. Nobody was surfing or out in the water and that's good, because the riptides are especially fierce and very close to shore. If there's no jellyfish you can walk in the surf washing up but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend going into the water and wouldn't stay on the other side of the arch on the beach when the tide is rising. I also noticed there's no cellular reception, either.

Beautiful, hidden beach with crashing waves and nary a soul. Park at the dusty little lot straight…read moreoff of Laguna Rd on Hwy 1. If you can't find it, the coordinates are (36.986927, -122.156281). From there to the beach, cross the road, go over the railroad track, past the field of poison ivy and down the sandy, rocky ledge. Needless to say, this path is not for the handicapped. The waves are rough and the wind strong; swimming is not advised. But the sand is warm and untouched. Walking further along, there's a lagoon of waste water surrounded by seagulls (and seagull poop!) Along the cliffs at the edge of this small stretch of peaceful and picturesque, tide pools with sea anemones and sea snails can be seen at low tide. This is your chance to go off the beaten track and take the road less traveled. At least until this too becomes popular.

Greyhound Rock is one of my favorite stops along Highway 1. There's lots of parking, the beach…read moreitself is massive, and it's easy to spread out and explore. The tide pools are fantastic, and there's so much marine life to find -- I even saw my first octopus here, which was incredibly exciting. The beach is full of different little areas to wander, and it's a great spot if you enjoy exploring and looking for critters. That said, the access is a real problem. The trail down is very steep and not elderly-friendly at all. The main path has collapsed toward the end, and while there's an alternative route, it's not well set in or particularly safe. The trail is also very overgrown, which makes the descent even more difficult. The park service really needs to address the access issues, because the beach itself deserves better infrastructure.

To me and my BF Joe K, there is nothing better than visiting a coastal town or city along the…read morePacific Ocean. Santa Cruz is one of our favorite vacation spots. And what is even better, we can visit a marine conservation area. While we were visiting a friend who lives in said city, he gave us a site seeing tour of a few of his favorite public beaches that were actually somewhat secluded. Davenport is a nearby town outside of Santa Cruz, where you will find some nice accessible beaches, like Greyhound Rock. It doesn't look like a Greyhound to me, but it is grey. It almost seems like a private beach, because there are less tourists who are aware of this location. There is plenty of parking in the lot with restrooms nearby. It is government protected and mostly the locals seem to make use of the area, because it is a bit out of the way from the more touristy places of Santa Cruz. We spent some relaxing and leisurely time gazing from the look outs and listening to the crashing waves of the ocean. I never get tired of the scenic views, and contemplating and appreciating what Mother Earth has created. I just wish that all human beings were aware of how important protecting this planet is for our survival....