United States
California
Carmel By The Sea

Garrapata Beach

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
4.5
8 Reviews
Garrapata Beach
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Features

Wildflowers
Romantic
Family Friendly
Easy Parking
Wildlife
Beach
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About this place

Added by Abe Blair

Garrapata Beach has easy beach and view access off of Highway 1 near Big Sur, California. This is a great spot for whale watching and wildflowers with amazing photography opportunities at sunset.

A wonderful roadside beach and state park. Easy parking on both sides of Hwy. 1 with short access trails. There are almost 2 miles of coastline trails heading north and south from the parking area. The north end of the beach is great for swimming and surfing when the sea is calm and the south has some large rocks that make for great photography and wave watching. In the winter, there are great viewpoints for whale watching also!!

You can also catch amazing sunset and sunrise photography and beach combing. Spring brings great blooms of calla lillys and ice plant along with many other smaller flowers.

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Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and be sure to follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly.
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Natalie Van Allen
12/21/2024
This is a sacred stretch of the coast, and a locals’ beach. Respect tbe highway traffic; speed limit is 55, its not a tourism ...
Less Crowded
Easy To Park
Good Views
Adequately Maintained
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Andy
10/22/2020
Beautiful spot in Monterey
One of the most beautiful spots in Monterey. It can get very crowded. The water here is beautiful.
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Lucas Bremer
Club
9/22/2020
nice stop
An easy stop along the PCH. Be sure to catch this at low tide to reveal lots of cool tide pools and rock formations.
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Margo Schmiederer
8/14/2020
Garrapata has so much to offer
Whether it's the beach or the park, stop by. In the summer, the park will be especially beautiful with all of the wildflowers in bloom
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Elena P
7/31/2020
Great stop on HWY1
This is a great place to visit when going to Big Sur or Carmel. Hwy 1 is beautiful and this is just one ...
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Natalie F
7/30/2020
Gorgeous
Garrapata Beach is so pretty! It's so much fun to just watch the waves and relax to the sounds of nature here.
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Macie Shelton
7/11/2020
Beautiful!
Large beach with beautiful caves. The walk down is surrounded by calla lilies and is right next to a little stream.
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Michael Wigle
4/10/2015
Doud Creek makes a winding gully through the sand in the spring, and there is usually a hidden waterfall at the upper end of the beach.
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