San Clemente Pier

San Clemente Pier takes a bit of research to find and get to. But once you arrive, you will be instantly mesmerized by the enchanting sound of the royal blue waves lapping at the shore. The Pier itself is well-​maintained — walk all the way to the end of it to see the ocean waters, and have the mermaid’s perfume whafe up to your nose. If you’re lucky, you will come on a foggy day, when the fog is as thick as pea soup, and you can’t see to the ends of the pier. There are respectable people who come to the pier — other piers like at Oceanside have too much of the riff-​raff folks who look menacing and they never seem to leave. No panhandling is allowed at this pier, but there are some folks who are needing to eat the fish that they may catch on their fishing lines.
It’s a wonderful, spiritual place to be especially at sunset.
Sunset is the prettiest time of day when you’re out at the beach.
X O

Great pier, cold water, don’t eat the food at the end of the pier, gave me food poisoning

A fan of San Clem, I am…

SC Pier is very nice.
Not very big but clean and quiet.
Good crowd enjoying the view on a Sunday.
Very relaxed vibe

One of the best piers on the west coast. Clean, perfect view and a delicious restaurant on the pier. We are at Fishermans and had a wonderful waitress, Olivia. The food was great and the view was amazing. Highly recommend this pier for your next So. Cal. Ocean adventure. Parking was cheap and simple. Recommend going early as the parking lot fills up extremely fast.

I’ve come here on and off for decades. Always loved it here.
The pier has always been clean and quiet. Not a lot of riffraff hanging around here as I’ve seen at some other piers.

One of my favorite piers/​beaches of all time! If you’ve had a rough day or just want to look at a pretty view come to sc pier. I usually go around sunset and am never disappointed.
The parking is a little ways away on the hill so it’s not too big of an issue going to the pier, but walking back you gotta go up the hill (cardio time!). There are parking stations they enforce for $ 1.50/hour until 5 pm, but after 5 pm parking is free. You can try to find residential parking but the chances of getting a ticket are really high so I wouldn’t risk it.
Once you get down to the train tracks you see the Fisherman’s Restaurant & Bar, Palm trees, ocean and the pier. It’s usually very clear during the day and early evening so you can see down the coast. There is usually always someone on the pier walking as well because who wouldn’t want a great view like this? You can look over the side of the pier and see surfers surfing, body boarders and swimmers. During the summer time, there are people fishing as well so it’s fun to see what that have caught. If you’re lucky you can watch them reel in a fish.
Near the end of the pier there is a little gift/​food stand where you can get a really big cotton candy. Trust me they don’t skimp on it. That’s a must try if you make it to the end.
The sc pier is a great walk and something to do after a meal or to simply enjoy the view. It’ll be hard to not take a picture of the sunset. I’ve been hundreds of times and still take a picture every time.

San Clemente. What a cute little surf town. Well, it used to be little, it’s exapnded a lot! Anyway, I love this pier. There’s a Fisherman’s resteraunt on one side and then the other side is a part of it but it’s a bar (and a little cheaper). My only complaint about this pier is that parking can be a total pain. The later you come, the more parking there is! Also, free parking after a certain time, so be sure to look at the meters. If there’s no parking in the lot, you can park a ways up the hill. It’s especially crowded in the afternoon (but you can’t beat San Clemente weather!). I like coming here for walks along the beach as well since there’s a nice trail that leads up and down the beach. The pier is kept clean, and there’s always fishermen late at night.

I docked it 1 star because it’s always super crowded come summer but the view from the SC Pier is fantastic. You can take in the sunset, watch surfers at the world famous T-​Street or right off the Pier. There’s also Resturants and bars in close proximity and on the Pier. Worth a look if you make your way downtown in San Clemente.

Fun area with difficult parking. There are few restaurants on the pier and the beach itself is a little too rocky compared to others nearby. The pier itself is much smaller than Oceanside and the crowds here are similarly tamer. One of the neat things is that the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner runs right along the beach here. To access the pier and the beach, you’ll probably have to wait for the train at some point. Nice area to relax and people watch.

Good view. Not much really to do around here.
…that’s it.
…no really that’s it.
Oh I see how it is. Yeah, Tim, be our little dancing monkey. We want you to write something entertaining, you can’t just write something short. Why? Why can’t this be a short one for me? Why do I have to keep coming here day after day and flex my brain and fingers just to give people some sense of satisfaction? No! Don’t leave! You stay right there and listen to me! I come here… look at me when I’m talking to you… I come here and I write reviews, and for what? A couple of funny votes? A compliment? People following me that I haven’t even met? Is this what fame is like? Let me answer that for you NO! I am not famous. This is not fame. This is not art. This is me, sitting here, complaining about the size of a bun and praising is when some guy gives me water. And now I have nothing to say and that it somehow not good enough for you people. It’s incredible. Must you be entertained? Must you? Look, here, I’ll entertain you. We came to the pier and it was attacked by a giant beast from the sea. It started to eat people and everyone was screaming. But not me. I was screaming on the inside. Screaming with joy. Because I knew this monster. We went to high school together. He failed out of freshman English but you know what, he came through in the end. Graduated in the top 20 at least. I don’t know what he’s up to professionally but I guess giant monster work is at least a side job for him. And then he ate me, and I am writing this in his intestines. Yes, you read that right. Giant monsters have intestines too you know. And in a week, who knows? Maybe I’ll be fully digested, maybe I won’t. Oh, wait, who is that in here with me? Michael Jordan! What are you doing here inside of a giant monster I went to school with… basketball you say? You’re coming back to basketball? Don’t do it. Just stick to selling shoes and Hanes, Mike. That’s all we need from you anymore. Now where was I… oh yes, the pier. It’s a lovely pier. A man was playing the saxophone. People were there. And sand. Sand and people. People and sand. And sand and people. I am losing my mind.

Fun place to people watch… Most of the crowd on weekends are tourists and out-​of-​towners… Not the greatest surf spot but still a good hangout. Fun spot to cast lines into the water. Also a fun spot to drop cages in the evening or late at night to catch lobster. Everyone’s super friendly and there’s a relatively low amount of weird sketchy people that run on much different wave lengths of energy that you may encounter at places like Huntington Beach, Venice, or Ocean Beach. A family beach with train stop in front of the pier that works on weekends as well but is closed during the week.

Cool spot to enjoy a beach day. The pier is not very long so it’s easy to walk it. The parking is pretty lame because you have to pay absolutely everywhere close to the beach. If you go early enough, you may find some street parking in the neighborhoods. They have a lot where you pay at a pay station and they also have meters that take credit cards. If you park in the free parking lots in the restaurant area, you will be sweaty walking back because it is all uphill. There are many places to eat in the area by the pier. You can rent surfboards, get ice cream or just sit under a palapa in the shade. Restaurants looked nice at the start of the pier. You can sit outside and are on the water. Bathrooms are definitely beach bathrooms and nothing to rave about, but are perfect for a quick pee.

A pier is a pier but what stood out for me here was the Fishermans restaurant towards the entrance of the pier. It was obviously built over water and the atmosphere looks great. Having lunch/​dinner by the water is always great. The pier was empty today with a couple people fishing at the end and your usual stay at home moms getting their work outs on. The surf wasn’t great at all but there were still surfers in the water. There are bathrooms both at the base of the pier and in the middle of the pier. If you do need to use the bathroom, choose the ones at the base. They looked a little cleaner.

I feel skinniest at the beach.
Weird, right?
I think it’s the way the water makes me feel weightless and how it throws me around and says, «Jessica, you’re light as a feather!» in salty whispers as she tosses me back to shore; all of my hard paddling done in vain.
But also it’s the way
the swings somehow make me 8 years old again,
sitting there in my dripping wet princess bathing suit,
kicking my feet into the air
at the ocean
into the clouds above me
at the stupid boy walking in front of me.
light as a feather.
It’s a little bit how
the sand sucks up my body as I sink in,
no straining beneath the weight of me, just
fluid impressions, dips and valleys that cradle me.
It’s a tiny bit how
tiny we are
in the shadow
of her.
In Latin,
she is «pace»;
‘mar pacifico’
…peaceful sea
To me, she is
balance
instinct
teacher
creator
my peace.
Find that here at
San Clemente Pier!
Swing on the swings and
let her toss you around!
watch the trains go by
from soft valleys of sand.
Be light as a feather
in a too heavy world.

Nice place to spend the day shopping, eating and enjoying the ocean. It’s a long walk to the pier if you start walking closer to Pacific Coast Highway. The downtown area is much larger than other beaches with restaurants and nice shops along the way to the beach. The pier is historical with wood planks. Sunsets are beautiful here if you’re really into watching sunsets till dusk to be romantic. The pier lights up so pretty at night too.

It’s not the biggest pier but it’s very charming. There’s cracks in between the wooden planks which kind of freaks me out to walk on because you can see the ocean underneath, but great views and very serene. There’s plenty of metered parking and a pay lot nearby or you can walk a little further and find free parking in the residential streets.
There’s not too many stores or restaurants nearby but go there for the views. There was a nice running trail and swing set for the kids to play on.

Being from Washington, this place is beautiful to me. I came about a month ago, during the week & it was so peaceful during the day. I sat on the beach & read for hours with no interruptions.
The view is gorgeous, but I really don’t have anything else to compare it to other than what I have back home.
I’m here now, & everyone is on Spring Break so the beach is pretty crowded during the early afternoon & on — but it’s still a great spot for San Clemente. I read for over an hour even though it was quite a bit busier than last time.

What is not to love? Bathrooms at the beggining and end, ½ a mile roundtrip, 360 views, benches, restaurants at the base, good lighting… I mean, it’s 5 star.
The planks are wood, the part beneath is usually walkable unless its high tide, it lets off a nice reflection at low tide… I can go on and on.
The point is, if you are celebrating something or have time to kill, this pier has got you covered. There are grassy areas for your pooch but he is not allowed on the actual pier but can go allll around it. There are always city workers keeping everything perfect and volunteer police to keep an eye out for shady business.
I make it a point to go to the pier everyday I am home.

I did not frequent the restaurants that seem to lure people in droves. I came to make a deliberate, meditative walk along the pier.
Do you know the feeling of having a too-​too busy mind? It feels something like a brain unable to sleep. You can’t stop thinking and wondering and imagining. It’s rough when you just want to be quiet.
I found that the pier had a wonderful way — and almost intentional way — of bringing quiet to the mind.
Granted, it may be freakin’ noisy along the way. This place gets insanely busy. There are event spots for fishing. Even lobster fishing during the on season.
But in the middle of the night, when only the small families and lovers are out for a stroll, and when the dedicated fishermen are quietly leaning into the railing with their lines cast overboard, it is the most amazing spot to watch the moon rising and eventually falling as wave after wave move in, urging you to come by for a visit in the morning.

Wonderful amazing panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean from every angle of this amazing pier is the heart of San Clemente. Easily accessible from the 5 freeway or of you take the Metrolink, Coaster, or Amtrak as the station is right in front of the pier. Beautiful, beautiful place to hang out for a nice walk or sit and relax and watch the amazing views. With restaurants both on the pier or nearby you will always find something to do. Bring your flip flops and take a stroll on the beach or if you wish to workout and very nice trail is located nearby.
Parking is pretty decent with a parking lot nearby or if you have quarters or a credit card available there is plenty or metered spaces down the streets. Come early during the summer because it does get busy but only because this place is beautiful. Love coming here for a run and a relaxing walk.