San Carlos Beach

This small sandy beach beside the Coast Guard breakwater has calm, shallow, sheltered water, which is why it is one of the busiest scuba training sites on the coast. Swimmers share it with divers, so watch for dive flags and keep clear of the boat launch. Sea lions haul out on the outer breakwater. The city lot above the beach is paid parking, with restrooms and rinse showers close by.

Directions

Photo: Sergei Gussev · CC BY 2.0

Get your personalized SwimScore

Latest reading · SwimScore 78/100 (Good swim) for a typical swimmer: air 16°C, wind 5 km/h, waves 2.0 m, UV 5. Updated 23 Sept, 18:00 UTC.

Know before you go

Best conditions: Calm, shallow and protected water behind the breakwater; the site lies within the Edward F. Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area.
Getting in: City park at the west end of Cannery Row next to the Coast Guard Pier; stone stairs lead from the parking lot to a narrow sandy beach.
Parking & transport: San Carlos Beach Lot: $2.00/hour, $14 daily maximum, enforced every day 9am to 8pm (pay station or ParkMobile).
Water quality: The Monterey County Health Department samples San Carlos Beach weekly from April 1 to October 31 and monthly from November to March for total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus.
Who swims here: The Monterey Bay Swimming Association uses San Carlos Beach as the Monterey end of its sanctioned 25-mile trans-Monterey Bay swim route.
Watch for: Heavy scuba diver traffic
Boat launch ramp and harbor next door
Sea lion colony on the outer breakwater
Facilities: Two restrooms · Freshwater showers (one free, one coin-operated) · Drinking fountains · Dive shops and a boat launch ramp nearby