Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove

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Asilomar Beach is a quiet stretch of beach on Sunset Drive. This is a great scenic beach. There are many cliffs jutting out as well as little coves to explore. This is not a beach for partying action, but for the more low key vacationer. There are also some gorgeous flowers which bloom right on the cliffs edges.

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At the end of the Monterey Peninsula between Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach is Asilomar State Beach. The park is just a narrow one-mile stretch of sand, rocky coast and dunes, in most places just a 100 yards wide. The most popular spot in this beach is the beach called North Moss Beach at the southern tip of the park where Sunset Drive turns away from the Pebble Beach community and heads east. The rest of the coastal park is lined with a running trail and bike path on the side of the road. There are several areas where you can pull off the road and park your vehicle. The 107-acre protected area became part of the system of state parks in California in 1956.

Asilomar also offers a cool way to enjoy 17 Mile Drive. If you like walking/outdoors (like me) and you are cheap (like me) you can walk parts of the route. Rather than giving the rich people your nine hard-earned dollars that they would just waste by cutting down more trees and squeezing in more golf courses, you can park at either end of Pebble Beach and walk in. From the north, park along Asilomar Beach in Pacific Grove (next to Fishwife restaurant and the beach where all the surfers hang out), and you can walk past Spanish Bay & Moss Beach to Point Joe. This route takes you right beside the Links at Spanish Bay and Monterey Country Club, and is less than 1.5 miles each way along nice paths. In fact, from here you could keep on walking (or biking) for several miles further along the ocean.

The Monterey County Weekly "Best Of 2006 Readers' Picks" named Asilomar State Beach as the best Surf Spot in Monterey County!