Beaches

Platforms Beach

September 13, 2015 by Seb Frey

Platforms Beach is located between Rio del Mar Beach and Hidden Beach, and is accessed via a drive down Beach Drive from the Rio del Mar Beach Round-a-bout. There’s a state beach parking lot that requires that you either pay $10 to park or have a state park parking pass. There are some free parking spots around there, but they are limited and usually fill up before the paid spots do.
Platforms Beach is known for its long, wide and sandy beach, with gentle waves and a long shelf out into the water before there is any drop-off – it’s like you are walking on a platform out into the water. It’s a very popular place for families. There is a public restroom and a water fountain, but that’s it for the amenities.

If you’re coming from the Rio del Mar neighborhood, there’s a trail you can take from Seaview Drive down to the beach.

Pot Belly Beach

January 27, 2015 by Seb Frey

Pot Belly Beach is located between Seacliff State Beach and New Brighton State Beach, on the border of Aptos and Capitola. The beach is partly privately owned (up to the high tide water mark, anyway), with a number of multi-million dollar homes built right up on the sand. As this is mostly a private beach, there are no amenities and most “users” of the beach are just passing through. However, Pot Belly Beach is also known as a good spot to learn to surf, away from the maddening crowds.

See also: New Brighton Beach Web Page

Beer Can Beach in Aptos

December 31, 2014 by Seb Frey

Beer Can Beach is located just to the north of the Seascape Resort, at the end of Clubhouse Drive and down Via Gaviota. It’s a popular spot to take your dog for a walk, as dogs are allowed to run off-leash there. It’s also just a great place to enjoy the beach away from the crowds you’ll find on most other beaches as you move north up the coast. This beach is totally flat, and wide open. In addition to dogs, they also allow bonfires (although camping is prohibited).

There is no parking lot for the beach, so you’ll just need to park your car in the neighborhood (before the gate) and proceed on foot down Clubhouse Drive towards the beach. When you can’t go straight anymore, hang a left and walk down past a few more houses. There’s a flight of stairs there which will take you down to the sand. It’s unclear if you are legally allowed to drink beer on Beer Can Beach, but if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it…does it make any noise? And there’s the beauty of Beer Can Beach.

Beer Can Beach in Aptos is a lovely spot to talk your dog in peace

Hidden Beach Aptos

June 9, 2014 by Seb Frey

Hidden Beach Aptos is located just south of Platforms Beach and a bit to the north of Beer Can Beach. It is used mostly be local Rio del Mar neighborhood residents because the beach does not have its own parking lot. There is some parking available at the Hidden Beach Park and playground, but other than that, you’ll need to park in the street a couple-few blocks away. It does not have a bathroom or any facilities.

The SS Palo Alto (the Cement Boat)

December 15, 2013 by Seb Frey

If there is one image that identifies Aptos, California it would have to be that of The SS Palo Alto (the Cement Boat), the sunken concrete ship on the shore of Seacliff State Beach. A lot of people wonder how the ship got there – and it’s an interesting story.

The ship was one of many concrete vessels built for World War I. Construction was completed in 1919, but too late to enter service in the war. The ship sat docked for 10 years in Oakland, before being bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation, which had big plans for it. The ship was brought to its present site and intentionally sunk, and then retrofit as an amusement ship with swimming pool, dance hall, and restaurant. The enterprise didn’t last long, as two years later the company went bankrupt. The ship originally had a large wooden superstructure which was removed and shipped to Texas. Eventually, several powerful winter storms cracked the ship, and it became unsafe, and has been closed to the public ever since.

The SS Palo Alto is connected to the shore via a 500 foot long wooden pier, and every day of the year you can find groups of people fishing. A range of fish can be caught here, including a variety of perch, flounder, rockfish, salmon, and striped bass.

In the State of California, anyone can fish off a pier without a license – so if you’re interested in giving fishing a try, this is one of the best spots to try it in Santa Cruz county.

Admission to the pier and boat themselves are free. However, you must pay to drive your car into the Seacliff State Beach park. Alternatively, you can park at the top of the bluff outside the park and walk down for free.

Drone Video December 2016

YouTube Drone Video February 2016

Aerial Drone Video from 2015

Video recorded by Archer Koch of MultiRotorCam.com. Best viewed in full screen mode!

YouTube Video of the SS Palo Alto

Instagram Photos Tagged #cementboat

Seacliff State Beach

December 8, 2013 by Seb Frey

Seacliff State Beach Park is one of the major draws to Aptos for out-of-town visitors. It is perhaps best known as the spot where “the cement boat,” aka the SS Palo Alto, lies sunken offshore. The beach can be crowded on summer days, particularly on any three-day weekend. Some of the biggest crowds, however, can be found on Thanksgiving Day, when many people come to the beach and use the extensive array of picnic tables and BBQ pits as they enjoy their Thanksgiving meals.

In addition to the picnic tables and BBQ pits, the park also features a number of restrooms and shower facilities. There is also a mile-long asphalt path along the length of the beach, which is a great way to take in the sunset and get some exercise at the same time. There is a long wooden pier leading out to the SS Palo Alto, and this is a popular spot for fishing. No permit is required for fishing off a pier in California.

The park is also very popular as a site to park your Recreational Vehicle (RV) as it boasts 26 RV sites, right along the edge of the beach, with complete and un-obstructed ocean views.

The park has a Visitor’s Center which is well worth a visit. It has a wide array of information regarding the SS Palo Alto, the beach history, etc. The center is run by the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.

There is also a snack shack is open during the summer months 7 days a week – you can visit their Beach Shack web site to get hours of operation and see the menu.

Instagram Photos Tagged #seacliff

New Brighton State Beach

December 8, 2013 by Seb Frey

New Brighton State Beach is technically located in Capitola, however it is considered by many to be in Aptos, as the beach is directly connected to Pot Belly Beach and Seacliff State Beach, and not connected directly to the beach in Capitola.

New Brighton Beach was formally known as China Beach, as during the 1870s and 1880s a community of Chinese fishermen made a home there from scrap lumber. By 1890, however, increasing anti-Chinese sentiment had forced the Chinese off teh beach. A plaque commemorating the location is located at the visitor parking lot.

This is a very popular state beach, as it offers fantastic seaside camping. They have family campsites, group campsites, hiking trails, and RV sites with hookups. They also offer restrooms and showers, and of course a large beach area. They have campfire programs on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM during the high season.

See also: New Brighton Beach Web Page

New Brighton State Park Beach

A Walk on the Beaches of Aptos

Rio del Mar Beach

November 16, 2013 by Seb Frey

Rio del Mar Beach is perhaps the most well-known beach in Aptos, if only because it shared the name with the Rio del Mar neighborhood. Of all the beaches in Santa Cruz county, it is among the most accessible. There is a free public parking lot along the esplanade, and when that is full (as can often happen on the weekends or on the evenings for a particularly bodacious sunset), you can often park your car on one of the nearby streets…and in all cases, there’s no cliff to climb up or down, just a nice easy stroll from your car to the sand.

There is a restroom at this beach which is publicly accessible; the cleanliness of the bathroom is another matter – this is a popular beach and the restroom gets a lot of use, so if you come long after its most recent cleaning, the experience may leave a little to be desired.

The area does offer some amenities aside from the beach; there are a number of hotels/motels, a mini market, coffee shop, the Pixie deli, and of course, Cafe Rio.

The beach at Rio del Mar is long and wide, and it’s a great place for to go for a run. Visitors can also cross a bridge over Aptos Creek (that’s the Rio in Rio del Mar) and continue on to Seacliff State Beach and walk for a mile along a paved path to take in the sunset.

Tip: this is a great beach to bring your dog, as they are allowed on a leash.
See also: Rio del Mar State Beach

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Instagram Photos Tagged #riodelmar

Aptos Parks and Recreation Overview