Mavericks Surf Beach -

We were searching for the famous Mavericks surf spot or something, I wasn’t sure and followed my amateur surfing husband’s lead until I realized none of us knew where to go and stopped for directions.

The guy informed us that the Mavericks Surf Beach we thought we wanted was actually Pillar Point north of Half Moon Bay and the “Mavericks” were actually a mile off shore in the middle of the water; so not actually a spot we could see from shore. Sigh.

Hopefully you’ll see this post and avoid the disappointment we felt realizing we wouldn’t be seeing one of the top things my husband wanted to see while in San Francisco.

HOWEVER, we had an absolute blast exploring the beach at Pillar Point and were glad for our misdirection. The photo at top shows the adventurous guys who crawled around the edge to see what was on the other side (more of what you see in the picture), but it doesn’t show that one shouldn’t wear flip flops while climbing on jagged rock or they might (will, in our case) break.

Here you would see a grainy photo of several seals playing in the cove, pausing to check out the people staring at them from the shore, but I don’t know what happened to the file. So imagine, five decent-sized seals, some gray with darker spots, a couple tannish, one just gray, bouncing around the water’s surface about 200 yards offshore. A passerby told me sometimes those seals lay on the rocks where I was standing, but not the day we were there.

We spied tons of tiny, colorful (and shy!) crab amongst the rocky shore barnacles.

Sneak up on them if you want to see them before they scurry into a crack.

Sometimes they camouflage into the surroundings.

Even if you don’t see critters, there’s plenty easy-access sea plants to enjoy.

This orangy star fish was both the highlight and lowlight of our discoveries. It washed up with the sea plants and seemed depressed. Yes, we aren’t marine biologists but this creature seemed like it was in its last days (sad face). We thought of rescuing it by placing it on a nearby rock, but it didn’t move or tentacle or suction to anything. Its underside was graying. We called over the kids to see and touch it then placed it back into the seaweed. Peace out, little star fish, thanks for letting us check you out.

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