Walk or drive straight down Ocean Avenue, from the Cabrillo Highway to Scenic Road, and you'll find yourself at the glorious Carmel Beach.
Stretching from Carmel Point and Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Walker House on the northern end, to the Pebble Beach Golf Links on the southern end, this mile-long stretch of sand and surf is the chief reason why Carmel has been labeled "One of America's Top Beach Towns." Its size is comparable to big commercial beaches like those of Santa Cruz or Santa Monica, but its atmosphere, with its rocks, driftwood and lush surrounding greenery, is more akin to the countless small rustic beaches that dot the California coast. Both for people who prefer the natural beauty of those rustic beaches and for those who prefer the width, breadth and sheer fun of the big ones, Carmel Beach truly provides the best of both worlds.
Picnic, surfing, swimming, volleyball, sandcastle-building, relaxing on towels... anything you can imagine doing at the beach, you can do here. Not only that, this is a dog-friendly beach, where your canine family members can run and play off-leash. Expect to see dozens of dogs at every visit.
If you come in the late afternoon or evening between 4:00 and 10:00 PM, use either a city-supplied fire pit or your own propane device to build a cozy bonfire on the sand. Just be sure to follow all the rules for how to build one.
Overhead stand beautiful bluffs covered in wild grasses, flowers, bushes, ice plants and cypress trees, with charming seaside houses beyond them. If you want to walk the length of the beach but would rather not walk on the sand, opt for the Scenic Bluff Pathway – a flat, shady gravel path with benches, public restrooms, and magnificent views of sand and surf. The sand can be accessed by eight staircases down from this path, or else from the towering sand dune just past Ocean Ave. This dune is also a prime spot for sitting and watching the water - or for children to roll down, as this blogger did many times from ages 3 through 12.
No lifeguard is on duty, so be sensible about whether or not the water looks calm enough for swimming.
A small beach parking lot can be found at the bottom of Ocean Ave., but parking is allowed all along the Scenic Pathway too.
This isn't the only beach on the Monterey Peninsula, but it's probably the most popular by far, and with good reason.
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