Seacliff Beach Pier - Aptos, CA
Posted by: DougK
N 36° 58.293 W 121° 54.763
10S E 596779 N 4092268
This Seacliff State Beach is known for its fishing pier and concrete freighter, the SS Palo Alto. Unfortunately, the ship is unsafe and closed to the public. Only the pier is open for fishing.
Waymark Code: WMB2K2
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/27/2011
Views: 6
The cost to drive into Seacliff State Beach is $10. There are many parking spots on the street just outside the state beach entry that can also be used at no cost.
Excerpted from the state beach website:
Seacliff's most obvious attraction is its odd pier. This pier begins traditionally enough with a 500-foot long wooden structure protruding into Monterey Bay; its extension, however, is something to behold. The wood pier connects to the scuttled Palo Alto, a World War I-era supply ship. A group of coastal entrepreneurs purchased the vessel in 1929, then sank the ship at the end of the pier. The Palo Alto was then remodeled into an amusement center complete with carnival booths, dance hall, restaurant and swimming pool.
The renovated plank part of the pier is popular with anglers hoping to hook halibut, perch, flounder and more. The pier's far end is reserved for resting and roosting seabirds, including pelicans and cormorants. Migrating California gray whales can frequently be glimpsed from the pier.