15 Top-Rated Beaches in Northern California

Author Brad Lane has enjoyed several road trips up and down the Northern California coast, most recently in early 2022.

The rugged and beautiful coastline of Northern California offers beachgoers an extremely wide variety of options for their beach experience. From the coastal splendor of Carmel and Monterey to the shores of Crescent City, beaches in Northern California deliver stunning ocean scenes.

An amazing array of beach environments awaits within only an hour of San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. Among the collection are vast deserted beaches, like the 11 miles of The Great Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore, and crowded archetypal amusement beaches, like Santa Cruz, with its wooden boardwalk, vintage roller coaster, and carnival games.

Other scenic beaches, like Baker Beach, are almost directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge (easily accessible via public transportation) and remote, wild beaches, like Centerville Beach, await along California's fabled Lost Coast. And there's even more sand to explore farther north, traveling through the equally revered Redwood Country.

By law, all beaches in California are free to access and publicly accessible, and most in Northern California also have free parking. Check out the top places to visit with our list of the best beaches in Northern California.

1. Santa Cruz

Highlights: Family-friendly beach with a boardwalk and tons of space to spread out

If you're looking for a family-friendly beach with a lot of things to do, you can't beat Santa Cruz. It's a big beach, wide and flat, with soft, golden sand and reasonably gentle surf. It's also home to the iconic Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, one of the top attractions in Santa Cruz.

Beachgoers have enjoyed the Santa Cruz Boardwalk since its opening in 1907. Shops, carnival games, and amusement park rides line this old-school, mile-long wooden boardwalk, including two rides: the Giant Dipper roller coaster and the Looff Carousel, both listed as National Historic Landmarks.

After enjoying the rides, there's plenty of natural scenery to admire. The ocean in front of the beach is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Dolphins, otters, sea lions, and whales are often spotted from the shore.

2. The Great Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore

Highlights: Pristine natural shoreline in Point Reyes within an hour's drive from San Francisco

Within an hour of San Francisco, you can find yourself on a vast, deserted beach that stretches for over 10 miles. The Great Beach, aka Point Reyes Beach, is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, a national park only an hour from downtown San Francisco.

If looking for vast expanses of deserted, wide sandy beach, complete with heavy, pounding surf, this beach delivers. The Great Beach is 11 continuous miles of undeveloped, unspoiled wild beach. Access is easy, with two drive-up parking lots at either end, right at the sand. Because of the rough waves, this beach is better for walking and exploring than it is for swimming.

Aside from the beautiful beaches in the park, be sure to visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It's down a 300-step staircase that leads down the rocks to the lighthouse, built in 1870. It's a particularly beautiful spot come sunset.

3. Three Rocks Beach

Highlights: Beautiful beach in Half Moon Bay with tide pooling available

Three Rocks Beach delivers on the key ingredients for a great beach. It's in Half Moon Bay, about 30 minutes south of San Francisco International Airport and less than an hour from downtown. The beach is relatively undeveloped, with the nearest homes set back a few hundred yards from the sand, yet it's easily accessible by automobile.

This beach has wide, flat sandy sections and other areas with huge boulders and rocks (great for photos). The rocks create a lot of tide pools, which are fun to explore with kids. The surrounding tall cliffs are also fun to explore, with hiking trails leading to their precipices.

Three Rocks Beach is a public park, but it's almost a part of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. The luxury resort is perched on top of the cliff adjacent to the beach, with dramatic views of the coastline in both directions. The building has the feel of a Victorian seaside resort done in a modern, luxurious style.

4. Baker Beach

Highlights: Beach in San Francisco with a Golden Gate Bridge view

If searching for a beach near downtown San Francisco that's easy to get to, Baker Beach is a great place to visit. This mile-long beach is part of the Presidio, a former military fort and now a public park and commercial development. The big draw here is that it's right next to the Golden Gate Bridge, offering postcard-like views of the iconic structure. You can also see the Marin Headlands and Lands End.

Beyond the sand, Baker Beach has a picnic area with barbecue grills and picnic tables. This is more of a walking beach — the water is rough and cold with extremely strong currents and not really suitable for swimming or wading. Baker Beach is one of the closest beaches to San Francisco: it's within the city limits and also easily accessible via public transportation.

5. Centerville Beach

Highlights: Secluded beach on the Lost Coast, great for getting away

This nine-mile-long, windswept beach is part of what's called the Lost Coast. This vast stretch of raw, undeveloped Northern California coastline stretches through both Mendocino and Humboldt Counties.

Centerville Beach is a county park and has tall cliffs with many hiking trails. Both horses and dogs are allowed on the beach, as are vehicles and ATVs. It's a wide, flat beach, but the water is both very cold and very rough, making it not the best beach for water sports.

Centerville Beach is near the charming Victorian town of Ferndale, about a 4.5-hour drive north of San Francisco.

6. Trinidad State Beach

Highlights: Massive boulders stand out of the wake at this beautiful state beach; great for sunsets

Trinidad is a quiet coastal town approximately 25 miles north of Eureka on the 101. It's one of California's oldest seaside cities, and yet, it holds a bit of a secret gem quality along this stretch of coast. And there's no better example of this diamond-in-the-rough attribute than at Trinidad State Beach on the city's shoreline.

It's a short walk down a forested bluff to reach Trinidad State Beach, and the dramatic coastal beauty hits the moment after emerging from the tree line. Enormous sea stacks punctuate the wide-reaching beach, with birds and trees flourishing atop these massive boulders. This wild landscape really tends to shine during sunset.

Other popular activities at the beach include hiking, sunbathing, and exploring tide pools at low tide. South of the beach, the jutting Trinidad Head is also a popular place to visit in Trinidad. Here, atop the imposing head, hikers gain an excellent perspective over the entire beach scene.

Read More: Top-Rated Things to Trinidad, California

7. Monterey State Beach

Highlights: Long stretch of public beach spanning north from Monterey's Cannery Row

Monterey State Beach is a wide, gently sloping, and curving beach across the bay (a 15-minute drive) from the popular Cannery Row tourist area of downtown Monterey.

It's one of many great beaches near Monterey, and it's separated by a north and south segment. The water is cold, but the surf is gentle, so it's great for brave swimmers. It's one of few beaches in the area safe for swimming. Monterey State Beach has several areas of restrooms and showers.

8. Drakes Beach

Highlights: White sandstone cliffs backdrop this beautiful and quiet beach in Point Reyes

Northern California's answer to England's White Cliffs of Dover, this beautiful, wide beach has the similar striking, white sandstone cliffs as the English coastline.

Drakes Beach is another beach that is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore and is almost adjacent to Point Reyes Lighthouse. The waves are rough, and the water is very cold, rarely above 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). People do surf and enjoy some water sports here, but a wetsuit is necessary for any extended time in the water.

The beach has easy parking, with drive-up access, a visitor center, restrooms, and a small beachside café. It's a popular spot for beachcombing and photography. Expect to share the sand with other people on any given sunny day.

9. Main Beach, MacKerricher State Park

Highlights: A lot to explore alongside an expansive beach; railroad trestles, tide pools, and a glass beach

MacKerricher State Park is a hot spot of ocean activity just north of Fort Bragg. It encompasses several miles of shoreline and ocean-adjacent environments. These varied landscapes include shifting dunes, retired railroad trestles, and bits of trash-turned-treasure at Glass Beach.

The Main Beach at MacKerricher, next to Lake Cleone and the park's dense collection of campgrounds, is a stunning wild beach bookended by Laguna Point. Here, stroll the long arc of sand that leads to tidal pools on either side.

Farther south in MacKerricher, beyond the iconic Pudding Creek Trestle, Glass Beach tends to catch the eye of those who visit. This beautiful and fascinating beach is unique, as it's a former bottle dump. It's now a protected state park beach, but centuries of pounding waves broke up the bottles and then smoothed the fragments into small, rounded glass pebbles.

10. Bodega Dunes

Highlights: Shifting dunes reveal a sprawling shoreline with a popular campground nearby

Bodega Dunes is a classic, sandy dune-backed beach on Bodega Bay, sloping gently into the ocean. Bodega Bay is in Sonoma County, about 90 minutes from San Francisco and close to Napa Valley. Hitchcock and film fans will recognize the small town from its role as the setting for the horror classic, The Birds.

As you move away from the shoreline, the wide beach of Bodega Dunes becomes a series of low, grassy dunes, broken up by walkways and the occasional wooden boardwalk. The beach is one of several attractions in Bodega Bay, also including the nearby Bodega Head jutting out into the ocean.

The Bodega Dunes campground has almost 100 spaces (for tents, campers, or trailers), with hot showers and restrooms. It offers a great, camp-on-the-sand experience. For a much more luxurious beach getaway, the beachfront The Lodge at Bodega Bay resort has a popular spa and its own golf course.

Read More: Best Beaches in Bodega Bay

11. Gold Bluffs Beach, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Highlights: Quiet beach space backdropped by redwood trees and tall cliffs

Gold Bluffs Beach is a wild and wondrous beach found along Highway 101 in Northern California, better known as the Redwood Highway. It's part of the larger Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which itself is part of the larger Redwood National and State Parks, co-managed by the state and federal government.

It's a steep and narrow five-mile drive on a dirt road to access Gold Bluffs Beach. RVs and larger vehicles are prohibited. Make the drive, however, and the beach offers a picture-perfect example of Redwood Coast. It's also home to the primitive Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, where overnight visitors sleep next to the sound of the ocean.

When visiting, take the time to drive to the end of Gold Bluffs Beach Road, where the aptly named Fern Canyon invites exploration. Ferns of many shades of green drape down the side of this 50-foot-tall creek canyon, offering a lush corridor to travel through. Water shoes are recommended for a Fern Canyon adventure.

Read More: Best Hikes in Redwood National and State Parks

12. Carmel Beach

Highlights: White-sand beach popular with locals and kite-flyers

Carmel Beach is the main beach area for the picturesque Northern California town of Carmel-by-the Sea. The small town is a great place to visit, filled with locally-owned shops, foodie-friendly restaurants, and art galleries. It's a very picturesque three-hour drive south of San Francisco.

The dog-friendly beach (leashes required) is a wide, sandy beach with bright white sand. It's popular all day and into the evening, especially with the public wood-burning fire pits. You can light a campfire in the fire pit and enjoy the cool sea air (spring and summer only, 4-10 pm.). Propane grills can be used year-round.

Activities include strolling on the beach, playing volleyball on the public courts, and surfing. It's often windy and a popular place for kite flying. The beach is backed with dunes and a line of cypress trees along the bluffs. There's a great walking trail here that runs along the entire area.

13. Fort Funston

Highlights: Steep beach in San Francisco, typically less crowded, beautiful sunset views

With a name that sounds like an amusement park, Fort Funston is actually part of the massive fortress-like 19th-century defenses that surround San Francisco.

Mainly built in the 19th century but used through the Cold War, the area is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a national park. Steep, 200-foot-tall cliffs border Fort Funston Beach, and the area is typically very windy.

The cliffs and the wind make Fort Funston Beach one of the most popular places in the Bay Area for hang gliding and parasailing. The surf is rough and not suitable for swimming. It's also a very steep hike to access the beach from the parking area.

14. Stinson Beach

Highlights: White-sand beach near downtown San Francisco, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge

This beach seems to be Marin County's best-kept secret. It's only 35 minutes from downtown San Francisco, yet it offers a true, Northern California, rural beach experience. No big hotels or modern beach mansions line the shore, just some cool, mid-century residential developments and some great local stores and restaurants.

The white, powdery soft sand is perfect for sunbathing, and the surf here is gentle, making this a great swimming beach. The beach itself is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. When you're done enjoying the beach, Stinson Beach is right next to Mt. Tamalpais State Park and the giant redwoods of Muir Woods National Monument.

15. Battery Point Beach, Crescent City

Highlights: Lighthouse accessible only at low tide, home to a museum, beautiful ocean scene at high tide

Battery Point Beach is a small beach in Crescent City in far Northern California. Its shores stretch on either side of Battery Point, with sea stacks jutting out in both directions. This ocean scene is spectacular enough, but the real appeal of the beach is the Battery Point Lighthouse and Museum just offshore.

The lighthouse, still an active navigation aid after over 160 years of operation, sits on a small island 200 feet offshore. High tide covers the access road to the island, meaning visitors need to time their museum travels when the tide is low. The official website offers tide tables to plan a visit.

Read More: Top Things to Do in Crescent City, California

Map of Beaches in Northern California

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Best Time to Visit the Beaches of Northern California?

While the Northern California coast enjoys a moderate climate throughout the year, the best time to visit for a beach vacation is the extended summer season, including June, July, August, and September. These months offer the year's longest days and typically the warmest temperatures. Visitors should expect moderate temperatures this time of year, with daytime temperatures rarely cresting past the upper 70s Fahrenheit.

September and October are great times to visit the coast, outside of the most popular tourist seasons. Many cities, like Santa Cruz and San Francisco, experience some of their best weather in September and October. The only downside to these seasons is the widespread fog that really begins to settle in during the mornings and the earlier sunsets.

Similarly, April and May offer good times to visit to beat the usual tourist traffic. Expect less sunshine and an assortment of weather this time of year, including rainstorms and cloudy skies. Temperatures, however, stay moderate in the spring and average in the 60s Fahrenheit.

What are the closest beaches to San Francisco?

Ocean Beach and Baker Beach are both within the city limits and easily reached on foot or via public transportation. Ocean Beach runs along the city's western edge and is a popular getaway spot for city dwellers.