Rio Del Mar Beach – residential side

i fucks with rio del mar, especially the residential side. the parking isnt bad at all. youd figure in a residential area you woudnt be able to find parking so i was surprised. after walking down some stairs you hit the beach. clean beach with plenty of space. when i went it wasnt crowded at all so thats dope. great beach and i definitely come back here again.

My friends and I were looking for a place to have a bonfire, and once we got to Santa Cruz we went to 3 different beaches and all the bonfire places were taken! But I mean we did arrive there around 8:30. So we decided to come check this beach out and let me tell you… looking for this place was difficult!
Aptos, Ca 95 001 will lead you to the stores around there and not the beach. Just keep on driving till you see nothing. Haha. Once we saw a store on the left side we made a right and went straight down.
If you’re coming here for just a bonfire its fine. We had a blast. We were really lucky that one family was leaving and got a bonfire pit.
We got there around 9:00 and most beaches in Santa Cruz closes at 10 including this one, but for some reason there were no rangers or cops around trying to kick us out. So we stayed until 11:30 ish.
Bathrooms are dirty. Bring toilet paper just in case! Hand Sanitizer is a must.
Parking lot was empty but again we came there around 9:00. The beach Is alright looking, but it was super dark! :)
Overall, great beach for bonfires!

Nice. Tucked away. Too many people there anymore, but the memories from High School … that takes it from a 4 to 5 star rating. ;-)

This beach is really nice. However, it is not a place for bonfires. The pits are in the back towards the bathroom, and parking lot, AND then it’s separated by this weird growing puddle of water that all the nasty seagulls are hanging out in.
The beach itself is beautiful! And you can set up your gear not too far from the water. Instead of some beaches where you can barely see your things if you go out into the water.
It’s a nice place for all… Families… couples…
Definitely a nice place to have a picnic.
Boogie boards, skim boards. You will have a good time.
It’s a nice place hidden away in a residential area.
The parking lot is really small. We were fortunate enough to get there early, but if you come later in the day you may have to park up the hill, and walk down. Which isn’t so bad, but after a relaxing day at the beach, a climb uphill is something not everyone is happy to do, especially if you have small children…

I would have never been able to find this place if I didn’t have someone giving me exact directions. You basically park in a residential area and take a path leading to some stairs that take you down to the sand. I went at night and the sight of all the stars was great, even good enough for me to see the milky way for the second time. It’s much better than the bay area view, but only a fraction of what you could see in the more isolated areas of our planet. The best part of this beach was that our bonfire wasn’t kicked off the beach at 10:00pm like other beaches. I don’t know if it’s because we were invited, or because police don’t come to this one, or what. We stayed out there until around midnight. After that we went to some bars in Santa Cruz.

Its a good beach but sometimes way over crowded! And depending on where you are more than likely you have to cross over a big puddle of water not the best when you have babies.

I too have many memories in my youth on this side of the sinking Cement Boat. While my family had property on the other side, I liked the beach here just a little bit better. The waves tend to be larger, but there are more jellyfish. Also for some reason, you can find Sand Dollars on this side, but not on the other side. The beach is largely private, but I believe there are some picnic areas.
The Cement Boat is called the USS Palo Alto, and is one of only 3 cement ships to be built for World War 1. I have been on a small portion of this ship before they closed the enitre ship for safety.

i hold this quasi-​hidden beach close to my heart because i’ve many memories here since my first visit in 2002. this beach is accessible in a residential neighborhood. a great beach to catch waves — they usually peak during 3pm to sunset. many have attempted bonfires here, but somehow the po’s always check in to let you know that it’s not allowed. the climb down and up on the stairs isn’t too long and there is a rest/​viewing area at midpoint just in case you need to catch your breath.
take the 1 south and exit rio del mar, go towards the water (duh!) and stay left on the fork.