Seabright
Started: 2024-03-21 21:10:42
Submitted: 2024-03-21 22:02:08
Visibility: World-readable
My nearest beach
I spend much of my time on this blog talking about the things that Santa Cruz is not blessed with, to set up my expeditions across the state to go skiing or similar. This time I'm going to discus one of the things Santa Cruz is blessed with: its beaches.
The beach closest to my house is Seabright Beach, a half-mile-long stretch of sand between the San Lorenzo River and the Small Craft Harbor. From the top of the cliffs framing the beach one can look out across Monterey Bay to the twin stacks at Moss Landing south-east across the water and the bulk of the Monterey Peninsula, looming in the distance. There's an overlook above the edge of the beach that looks out on Main Beach and the Beach Boardwalk above the San Lorenzo river. The crowds on Main Beach ebb and flow with the season. The people on Seabright Beach are more local; we're here because we love the beach no matter the weather.
Behind the cliffs the beach-front neighborhood of Seabright stretches to the north, through a tiny commercial strip on Seabright Ave and into midtown. None of the street grids in Santa Cruz can manage to hold together for more than a couple of blocks before veering off at a different angle. To travel the two-and-a-half miles from my house to the beach (whether by foot, bike, or car; I've done each, multiple times) I have to traverse multiple distinct grids. When I first moved to Santa Cruz I relied on Google Maps to find my way across town; now I've memorized the geography and the turns, but the street names still confuse me. (Ocean, Water, Pacific, River, and Bay are all distinct streets and I still have trouble keeping their names straight.)
I lived in Santa Cruz for a couple of years before I figured out the secret to parking at Seabright Beach: head for the numbered streets east of Seabright Ave, above the harbor, and look for street parking. There's an overlook at the end of Third Ave with a stair heading down the cliff to the beach, and if it's not a sunny holiday weekend in the middle of the summer, there ought to be parking.
On most Sunday afternoons, if I don't have other plans while I'm waiting for my laundry in the dryer, I'll nip down to Verve Coffee in Seabright and then walk along Seabright Beach from the stair on Third Ave. At the east end of the beach there's a short jetty leading to a low lighthouse at the entrance to the Small Craft Harbor.
The jetty is lined with tetrapods to protect it from the waves, and every time I see them I think about the famous tetrapods on Marine Drive in Mumbai.
Every time I visit the beach I return refreshed from spending time on the sand, hearing the waves crash on the beach, smelling the salt air, and seeing the people who have come to enjoy the water.
