Martins Beach

I came to visit this sadly run down beach community after public access was supposedly reopened by court order against the billionaire who owns it, but apparently defying the law, to see what the fuss was all about. As of now you still have to hop the gate.
It’s on a thin stretch of coastline below some cliffs, a decrepit little S curve of rental houses on a neglected, dangerous, spooky stretch of sand. The beach itself was steep, chaotic, with menacing tides and an unnatural collection of dead birds. The bungalows were desultory, run down, nowhere you would want to live. Every few feet there was a malevolently hand-​painted «no dogs» sign or a bunch of nervous dogs penned into a small yard. The scenery was spectacular if you could get over the surreal vibe.
If I were a libertarian billionaire fighting to keep my right to do what I want with place like this, I would at least make some effort that it was a nice place. Even if I were the poorest person in the world I would at least walk up and down the street trying to make things a little cleaner and neater, fixing things, repairing cracks.
No such here. It looks like a thousand bucks on a good day, maybe five hundred. Trash, debris, shuttered buildings, no services. The place is aging, like an amusement park that shut down twenty years ago after a fire. The only reminder of better days is a mural on a road embankment depicting some people who used to live here, somebody caught some fish, somebody surfing.
The place is creepy, disturbing, I would avoid it at all cost. Worse than an hour I can never have back, it is one of those things that once seen you cannot un-​see. There are so many beautiful beaches in this part of California, you can go to experience the dark underside of American business history firsthand, as you might watch a 3 hour psychodrama about dental problems, but do not go for the ocean.

Five star rating is for 1964 and 0 stars for now, so evens out to 3. As a child our family would come here to hunt for softshell clams (Pescadero for cockles). We’d eat a few of them raw on the beach along with the sea snails we would find. Yum. At the time there was a limit of 50 clams per person and we would usually bring home about 100 total.
Once we collected seaweed too and cleaned, boiled and put it in jars. .. sticky, sweet, salty, gooey and delicious. My parents decided it was much too much trouble and we went back to buying it at the Japanese store.
Long live the beach’s public access!

Some say they left their heart in San Francisco, but my heart will always be at Martin’s Beach in Half Moon Bay. I am 52 and started going to Martin’s Beach when I was 4 years old. I grew up there. My family owned a cabin there, my aunt still owns a cabin there and my younger brother lives there. I have traveled to many places around the world, but my favorite place to be is Martin’s Beach. I cannot even begin to say how many wonderful memories I have of the beach and praise God, because my brother lives there I am still creating them. I was there in February as my family gathered to say our final good-​bye to our beloved dad. I will be there on Thursday, flying in from the Midwest to attend my nieces wedding, who by the way is getting married on Martin’s Beach. I consider myself blessed to have this amazing place to visit and am so thankful to the friends I have who still live there and welcome me with open arms. I know one day I may have to say good bye to Martin’s Beach, but the memories, the fun and the love I have for that place will always remain with me.

I saw this real estate add for a couple of places for sale at Martins Beach. So me and my 2 grown daughters decided to go take a look. YIKES ! Lots of signs on the way down that are kinda scary, then you get down where the guy takes money for parking and those 2 guys were already half lit and it was only 11:00am. Houses are in shabby condition, only saw one other family there on the beach and as we drove in further to the second beach on this property there were 2 people «doing it» about 15 feet from where my car had to pass them on the sand road, they did not miss a beat and just kept on doing their thing, did not care that we were there at all. Butt naked fat guy it was so gross. Honestly I can see where at some point this was probably a beautiful place to go for a weekend at your bungalow beach house or a day on the beach but now it is more of a degenerate hide out if you ask me. I would not take children here and even though my daughters are older I would not let them get out of the car nor did they really want to. Go to a different beach, this place is scary.

What happened to Martin’s Beach? It’s now a shadow of its former self.
I was so sad last summer learning that the beach was closed due to change in ownership. News came that it was open again — «Whoo hoo!» or, so I thought.
There’s no way to tell that the beach is open again. I guess they figured that through word of mouth that the regulars would start arriving as the sign that faces Hwy. 1 has been covered with dark green paint. The only way you would know that this beach was here was if you had knowledge that is place even existed.
The soul of this place is gone. Many of the bugalows that line the beach are vacant with for sale signs. The little cash store is boarded up tight with no signs of life inside. There’s a desolate, kinda ghost town feeling about this place.
The guy who takes your $ 15 toll for driving down the pot hole repaired road firmly tells us, «The beach closes at 4pm!» And true to his word, starts patrolling the area at 3:45 to make sure that we’re aware that we’re being told to leave promptly when the clock strikes four.
Don’t get me wrong — this never was a resort, but at least there were running toilets with toilet paper, a place to wash your hands and trash bins.
I have good memories of this place — growing up as a child, bringing my own children here and spending time with family.
I have a feeling I’m going to have to rely on my memories.

It’s open again?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it’s open.
But it’s not the same.
It’s always been a bit of a weird shantytown.
But at least it had personality.
Now it has none. Zip. Nada.
Oh yea, and we’re told it’s closing 2 hrs earlier than ever.
But thanks for your $ 15.
And about 3:30 — 3:50pm I’ll drive back and forth to
give you the hint to get the hell out
But it’s ok, cuz he already got your $ 15.
The sign on Hwy 1 is painted over in a solid green.
The pothole infested narrow road is still there, plus at least two more signs about the rules and 3 – 4 more «No dogs» signs.
$ 15 now.
The signs that should have been added were:
Almost none of the previous people you’ve met there over the years are there.
There are NO garbage cans anywhere
The bathrooms are even more disgusting than ever — missing fixtures, no ability to wash hands, vines growing in even more and best of all NO toilet paper?
There are NO picnic benches available
(one family took one that was upside down and far away and put it on the parking area toward the ocean at the second beach area)
Much of the parking at the first beach is gone due to winter storms.
The little market is gone.
The nicer old ladies are gone.
Most of the fisherman are gone.
Almost none of the families that used to go there are there. ;-(
And on the way back out of the pothole infested road a high end Lexus and an E series Merc were driving in. Not the typical cars of the people that live in the small homes. Were these the new owners? Glad we could help them with a small downpayment on the new $ 40M+ purchase of the beach and surrounding land.
I can’t believe the place got dumpier, but it did. At least the bathrooms aren’t simply a hole in the ground. I guess that’s next year. I hope there’s at least a separate mens and womens side. LOL ;-(

My family has great memories of this beach. If I win the lottery I will buy this beach and build more memories. It is secluded and unique. I have a great photo of my grandfather fishing with the rock sticking out in the back ground. Such a same it is closed.

Don’t stop. Keep driving. Nothing to be seen here. A steep drive down and a steep drive back up again after experiencing nothing but a $ 10.00 parking fee, a bunch of old, beat up, scary looking homes with even scarier looking people. Trolls is a better term.
I wouldn’t leave my car much less get out to walk the limited beach. Where did that beautiful picture of this place come from? It must have been photoshopped by a real estate agent because that is NOT the Martin’s Beach that I remember.
Martin’s Beach may be the most dissapointing experience that I have ever had in all my trips down Hwy 1. A complete waste of time, energy and gas. Glad it’s behind me but I still have nightmares of it once in awhile.

This is more of a locals beach and is my favorite beach in the area! Come here to escape the crowds that go to Half Moon Bay State Beach. The beach is beautiful and clean. It’s a great place to relax and get your head together. Take a nap. Go surfing. Play smash ball… and don’t have to worry about stepping on anyone!
It’s roughly 10 – 15 min south of the town… look for the sign on the right as you head south. Turn right off the 1 and drive down the tiny road… that turns really bumpy as you drive down the hill and into this secluded cove dotted with small beach homes.
The beach seems semi private for the local residents ask for a $ 10 parking fee once you get down the hill. Not sure what the money goes for… maybe to pay for the rest rooms? Maybe to pay for the «right» to a less touristy, semi private beach? To me, the $ 10 is worth it!

My husband took me here for a quick weekend break. It is about 10 minutes south of Half Moon Bay, and there is a big sign on the right so you won’t miss it.
The color of the ocean is beautiful, and makes you really appreciate that you are living in California. It actually reminds me a bit of Palos Verdes… though more private and secluded.
How lucky are the people who live here! And why do Bay Area people not take more advantage of the beautiful west coast facing the Pacific, rather than live in the dumpy and disgusting east side? I shall never understand…
Oh, they charge $ 10 for parking here, but the people lounging on the beaches are all locals, no tourists, which makes it all the more better!

Although the ten dollar parking fee is steep and the beach isn’t huge, I really enjoyed my time here. I like having a little quiet during my beach ezperience and it was definitely peaceful… except for the party that we brought. The benefit to paying for parking is the lesser crowds and the guarantee that we’d have a nice sized spot all to ourselves for our barbecuing delights. The beach was beautiful and if you go south towards the cliffs, you’ll find some interesting coves and caves. I plan on going back.

pleasant location
nice cabins
staffs people interaction skills lacking

I saw the sign to this beach off of Highway 1 today for the first time ever… I’ve driven down Highway 1 in both directions lots and lots of times, but for some reason I’ve never noticed ‘Martin’s Beach’ until today. So after spending the day @ San Gregorio, I decided to check out Martin’s Beach on the way back. You will end up driving down a funky little residential road (& watch out for cars coming out of there… there’s really not enough space for cars to be going in & out at the same time!). At the ‘bottom’ you will end up by a parking area where they’ll charge you $ 10.00! Sheesh, that’s even more than the state beaches currently charge! I didn’t stay though, and one guy was nice enough to ask if I was staying & I told him no, so I didn’t have to pay. I saw a huge rock formation not far from the lot, and the water looked really beautiful with the sunlight reflecting off of it but man…$ 10.00 for the parking alone is a bit much! Plus the parking lot & beach itself appeared to be really small! Better beaches abound outside of Martin’s Beach!

Rumor has it the clamming down there is good… but drive by lately and the banged up sign is a good first sign how this place may be headed. Drive down there, and experience a sociological trip… as the critters who «live» there… nevermind… go see for yourself. The fact that they charge you when you get down there… for something that probably was mediocre in it’s heyday X decades ago, but is clearly run down… makes this Fresno-​By-​The-​Sea.