San Simeon State Beach

Clean beach, awesome pier, Flush toilet restrooms, little discovery science center for kids and info seekers! Love it here! Saw humpback whales in cove and sea lions!

Beautiful park with amazing views of spectacular beach. Pleasant hiking trail. I was there in the off season and the entrance kiosk was closed.
Small pier to walk on. Easy beach access. Dog friendly.
Not to be missed.
Really close to hearst castle.

THIS SPOT IS SO AWESOME. It was very quiet and serene, and we were there at sunset which was beautiful. Since there weren’t a lot of heads, we let our little cute dog off her leash and she had an excellent time frolicking in the sand and rolling in a seal carcass. Definitely would recommend this beach after a Hearst Castle tour, it’s beautiful and clean.

Quaint little beach with a great wooden pier. Very quiet as it is not in a residential area. Got too see lots of pelicans fishing and even a seal swimming. Was a nice little stop on our way to San Francisco. Could be a good spot for a quick picnic.
It is just across from the entrance to Hearst Castle.

Amazing how many more stars you can see from the beach at night than across Hwy 1 at the cheap motels. Beautiful place.

Very nice beach, expect to see some Jelly Fish, and sometimes Dolphins. I would NOT recommend swimming, it can be pretty cold sea water even in the Summer months and there may be Sharks, as well as Jelly Fish. It is a very nice beach for picnics or a romantic evening watching the waves. Also great for walking. There are hardly any tourists at this beach, it is very quiet.

Every time I’m in the area I have to stop at this beach. The entrance is directly across the street from the Hearst Castle entrance and has free entry. There’s a guard shack but it’s never manned.
This beach is truly a hidden gem. Even though the entrance is in plain site nobody is ever here. There maybe one or two other people and that’s it for the 14 plus years I’ve been visiting. It’s within the boundaries of Santa Rosa Creek Natural Preserve and San Simeon Natural Preserve which includes coastal wetlands and riparian forests. I’m reading online there’s a 3.3 mile trail that encircles the nature preserve, I must look for that next time! If you want to play in the sand and ocean you’ll pretty much have the whole place to yourself.
This beach has one of the longest piers I’ve seen and the view is breathtaking at the end of it. Since this beach is in a cove with a forest on one side it feels like you’re in a movie. It has that picturesque pirate movie feel to it. I’m just waiting to see a giant Galleon sail into the cove. Almost every time we visit we see tons of pelicans diving for fish, sea otters floating on their backs, and occasionally dolphins.
You’re allowed to fish off the pier and the beach itself has picnic tables, public restroom, and a small visitors center.

Beautiful and clean beach. Great views. Great way to stretch your legs and check out the area when visiting Hearst Castle.

Moon Stone is the name of this beach. We stop by in a rainy day, yet we could go down and walk close to the water between rocks and stones. This beach is known for having gems like Jade. Also, according to mi Bebe there are some stone that you can compare with the moon, that’s why its name. She taught me about this particular stone and gave some. In addition, I got some jade too. In our way back home we stopped againg to get more jade, but it was high tide and we couldn’t go down to the sand. well, well next time.

We camped here for a week. It was great. The wind was a little rough, but what can you expect on the Central California Coast.
I saw this said swimming — I wouldn’t. This is more of beachcombing, looking for moon rocks, and just chilling. We used this as a jumping off point for the 50 mile area around here and loved every minute of it.
We also got this really good laugh at the people who couldn’t set up their tent because it was not aerodynamic enough and kept getting flattened by the wind. HA.

A couple was here taking their engagement photographs by the bluff. Despite the wind, the sand was warm. Hearst Road crosses over the lagoon. I enjoyed my visit here. It was a good walk over smooth stones.
My friend and I walked to the lagoon, away from the kite surfers. People also brought their children to play on the rocks. A couple of kids climbed to the top the big ones. The view north of the lagoon is dramatic. There are also bleached trees on the beach.

This is a great beach to visit, especially on a nice day. Great location with a pier and lots of vegetation. Parking is usually ample. Great place to chill after a castle tour.

We visit this beach every time we are in the area. The views are spectacular.

Very nice beach to visit. This beach has a lagoon that gets warm though the ocean water is cold. There’s a pier on the beach. If I ever go back to San Simeon, I will be sure to visit this beach again.