Pescadero Beach

The San Mateo County coast is strung like pearls with picturesque, little beaches that beckon to travelers following the coast highway. Pescadero Beach lies at the 'T' formed by the intersection of Highway One and Pescadero Creek Road. If you're coming from the town of Pescadero and neglected to turn onto the highway, you'd end up first in an unpaved parking lot followed by a rocky ride out on a spit of land jutting into the sea.

While the main of Pescadero Beach forms a much larger ocean front playground, the southern bit is quiet and sheltered by cliffs, a couple of half-moon seasides that, when the tide is right and the sun shining, gives a Hawaiian feel.