Sand Dollar Beach

This is such a pretty beach which is relatively empty and allows dogs. We did not see many sand dollars on this beach :(but my husband did find one. I don’t believe we paid for parking but I think it is because we just parked outside and walked in. I think if you park in their parking lot it is 10 bucks. Has portapotties but no other restrooms. Beautiful views! If you were coming from Monterey, there are probably other beaches that are closer that would give you the same thing like Pfeiffer state beach but I still think it is worth checking out if you want a nice beach.

My boyfriend recently took me here for our one year anniversary… it is absolutely beautiful. We stayed a couple nights at the Los Padres campground which is just across the street from sand dollar beach. The walk down to the beach is breathtaking. You take a path through an open field that drops off overlooking the ocean. Then you follow a set of stairs (beautiful wild flowers on both sides) down to the beach where you are greeted with an amazing crescent shaped cove as far as the eye can see. The sand is clean, the water is a beautiful blueish-​green color, and even the few people that were on the beach ended up being super friendly to us. We talked to another couple for a few minutes who gave us some great locations to grab dinner for the night.
I almost feel guilty about leaving this review because I want this beach to stay hidden, but I felt the need to share this experience with everyone because it was so wonderful. My piece of advice is to make sure the weather is going to be nice for the entire weekend. Our first day here was sunny, clear, and beautiful. However, the weather changed on us real quick and it gets very, very windy here. Bring a warm jacket!

Fantastic isolated and almost empty sandy beach. I was wondering why the beach has the dollar name in it, not realizing that is the name of their famous shells, found everywhere at that beach and with some mystical appearance makes the delight of the collectors. We parked on the street, for free, and just walked down to the beach following what it looked like private property stairs (but were not). I think this is my favorite beach in NorCal so far, and in many aspects reminds me the beloved Torrey Pines in San Diego. The beach is clean, the waves are high, the surfers were not that many. Lovely for a sunny summer day.

First off this beach itself is 5 stars, its one of the few easily accessible surf breaks in Big Sur. It can get allot of people but is great on a weekday.
Im giving the park service one star for people running the parking lot. After parking on the side of the road at 8:30 AM to check the surf i walked out of my car with a bottle of water and noticed a bit of trash on the ground next to my truck. I picked it up and walked down to check the surf. As Im walking down I placed the water bottle in the empty recycling bin and the trash in the empty trash bin. Good deed done for the day right? Nope, as Im walking down to the beach the dude who runs the kiosk is screaming something from across the parking lot. I can’t hear him but he seems pretty pissed, then from behind me another park service lady starts screaming «CANT YOU HEAR HIM» at me. At this point I don’t know what the hell is going on so I stop and listen to the lady «THAT TRASH CAN IS ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO PAY FOR THE PARKING LOT!» she’s screaming at me «YOU NEED TO GET IT OUT OF THERE OR PAY ME 10 $» at this point I’m pissed that she would even ask me this especially given that I just picked up half of it from the road 50′ away… It’s not like I’m dumping BAGS of trash off. I told her she could get it out of there, which really pissed her off and an argument ensued. Anyway we gave in just paid the woman 10 $. 10 $ to throw away a bottle and someone else’s trash, great.

Visited Jade Cove and Sand Dollar Beach, two miles from each other.
As we were heading back home from spending time at Pfeiffer Beach and hiking along Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, we wanted to check this place.
Somewhat hidden, great place to spend the whole day.
Clean beach, secluded and literally takes about 25 minutes to get to the beach.
No camping, only day use!

We paid 10 $ for parking at the official sand dollar beach park. Don’t make the same mistake we did, park outside on Highway 1 and walk inside and save 10 $! It takes about a 15 minute walk down to the beach. It’s a gorgeous view once you’re down there. We found only around 5 sand dollars — it was my first time ever seeing sand dollars so it was so exciting to look for them. However, I thought since it was called Sand Dollar Beach there would be more.
It’s a pretty bluff area and an awesome view. If you have time, steer off the couch and spend some time here!

This isn’t just a beach hidden at the bottom of the cove. This is a real beach — long (20 minute walk?) with lots of sand. Great views from the path at the top but kinda hidden because you can’t really see the beach from the road. It isn’t until you walk right up to the edge of the bluff that you can see how awesome the beach is.
Not that many sand dollars to be found — a few pieces. But lots of serpentine «jade» rock and sand crabs hidden in the sand.
It’s a great place to spend the afternoon until sunset because the beach gets the sun until sunset.
Not too busy. A few cars (less than a dozen) parked in the day lot. Mostly people visiting from the campsite across the street. Of course this was during the week. The walk down only takes 5 minutes.

Beautiful beach. Hidden gem in Big Sur. Found it by accident while staying at the campground across the road.

This is my favorite beach in all of Big Sur, mainly because it is so spacious. I can go down there with all my gear, the whole family, our dog, etc. and we never feel cramped. the water is gorgeous, but freezing, and the walk down is moderately easy. I don’t recommend it for elderly, and beware of poison oak! The address is definitely wrong, but I am assuming this was done on purpose, because who wants a beach like this to be ruined by tourists? NOBODY.

The address above is completely wrong.
I’ve submitted the change and hopefully it will be updated.
Sand Dollar Beach (Big Sur)
California 1
Big Sur, CA 93 920
(805) 434‑1996
Sand Dollar Beach is a Day Use Area, no overnight camping.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. — 8:00 p. m /​7 days
$ 5.00 entrance fee per vehicle.
You can save the $ 5 fee by parking outside off Hwy 1.
Don’t be confused with another one in Watsonville.
About this beach:
This place is just north of Jade Cove. There are no actual Sand Dollars on the beach. This should really be named «Serpentine beach». For those that don’t know: The serpentine group are greenish, brownish, or spotted minerals commonly found in serpentinite rocks. They are used as a source of magnesium and asbestos, and as a decorative stone. The name is thought to come from the greenish color being that of a serpent (wiki). This is also the CA state mineral. That type of rock is found in abundance on this beach. I would advice to not take them home with you. They are a source of asbestos. Most experts agree that it is not harmful, but I say, why take the chance? They belong on the beach and let them be.
There is a small cave north of beach and piles of Serpentine south of the beach. It is quite beautiful here. During the low tide, you can actually walk out towards the rock cave. It is like a live aquarium full of ocean life. I spent hours look at all type crabs and fields of Anthopleura elegantissima. Loved it! Very peaceful and you can achieve a zen like state if you tone out the world and focus on the ocean waves.

This place is a hidden gem! We have been to Big Sur several times, but we never knew this place until this trip. We were expecting to see a small beach with a lot of sand dollars on the sand. Wrong.
The beach is really specious! So beautiful! We couldn’t find any full sand dollars, only a couple of half dollar or quarter Dollar (meaning it was broken), but totally worth it because we found this beautiful beach.

I paid $ 5 for Pfeiffer Beach one morning, and the receipt gave access to 3 other beaches, including Sand Dollar Beach. So I went. And I liked it. A lot.
In January there wasn’t anyone here, which made me very, very happy. Except for the sketchy dude in the van. Very sketchy indeed. But he was too busy doing whatever and left me alone on the beach. Yippee.
It’s just one of a few great beaches in Bug Sur. I spent 2 hours here relaxing and playing in the water with some birds. And I got a nice sunburn, also.
What else can I say? It’s a nice friggin’ beach. I wouldn’t be caught dead here in the summer. College kids, surfers, tourists and other various types that I avoid flock here in the summer months. If that’s your thing, groovy for you. It’s not my bag. But an empty beach for me? Cool.
I don’t think you can go wrong visiting this place anytime, though. Check it out.

We were here in mid september. No crowd. Like, absolutely deserted save for a few people every now and then that mostly kept to themselves.
Toilets are literally holes in the ground. No running water either. What did you expect? Huntington Beach?
There is a good walk from the small parking lot to the beach, ending with a few flights of steep-​ish stairs. Going down was ok but brutal after surfing a few hours and trying to carry a 40lb longboard up stairs and the mini switchback trail. Advantage: shortboarders.
The beach is sandy (duh) but along the base of the cliff is this natural cobblestone pile. Good for laying out things you don’t want to get sand all over like backpacks and boardbags.
Surfing here is awesome. The sand sets up in the cove and focuses the swell on either side of the channel in the middle. You can spread out a lot but I wouldn’t recommend it — sharks will check you out if you’re all alone.
You can pick up jade stones, but keep to the ones that are already off the cliff and pretty much below the high tide line.
The view from the beach and from the water is all time. There you are, at the edge of a continent, waves crashing about you, watching the fog mingle with the trees. I’m thankful for having that etched into my memory.

Beautiful little beach. There is a small walk down to the beach with stairs so beware if you are unable/​unwilling to walk a bit. There are picnic tables and bathrooms near the parking lot but not down by the beach. The minus one star of for the bathroom. It truly is nasty. It’s like porta potty but in a building. You can’t sit on the seat unless you want to sit on everyone’s stuff. YUCK! Would go back but would make sure I go to the bathroom somewhere else. $ 5 to park

the perfect sunset. (pictures included)

This beach is really in Big Sur, north of San Simeon.
Found this place driving south on the 1 going back to San Simeon in the late afternoon. Needed a bathroom and this place was perfect. There wasn’t anyone at the pay booth (it was 6pm) so we got to park for free. They have a toilet in this lot.
If you don’t want to pee on the side of the road (not advisable on the drive through Big Sur), you can stop here. It might cost you $ 5 bucks though.
Sand Dollar Beach is a Day Use Area, no overnight camping.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. — 8:00 p. m /​7 days
$ 5.00 entrance fee per vehicle

This is really the most beutiful beach. We spend all day here every time we stay at Plaskett campground. When Summer hits, and the colleges let out this place becomes a party spot for both sourthern and northern California kids. I stay away mid June to End of August because because its like being at the main beach in Santa Cruz – lame. The rest of the year its very peaceful, same goes for Plaskett Campground.

My weekend getaway here compelled me to come out of my reviewing hibernation and Unilocal! Wow… what an experience. We camped across the street at Plaskett Creek campground, where we had a quaint and spacious site. We just sauntered across the street and headed to the beach everyday. Very cool crowd, both at the beach and campground, chock-​full of surfers, surf-​pups, surf-​kiddies and sunbathers. Perfect little beginner waves and a huge stretch of beach so there’s plenty of room. The water was pristine, the sun bright, and the beach full of adventure. If you head to the north end, there are huge rocks you can climb to take some great photos and even a cave to check out. Then we’d just cross Hwy 1 and go cook up some grub under the stars. If you leave by noon, you can cruise up the coast all the way toward the city, stopping along the way, and be at HMB Brewery by sunset. My idea of a perfect weekend getaway!