Santa Cruz is an excellent choice for a family-friendly beach with plenty of activities. It's a large, flat beach with beautiful, golden sand and gentle surf. The renowned Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, one of Santa Cruz's main attractions, is also located here.

Since its opening in 1907, beachgoers have enjoyed the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. This mile-long wooden boardwalk is lined with shops, carnival games, and amusement park rides, including two National Historic Landmarks: the Giant Dipper roller coaster and the Looff Carousel. There is lots of natural scenery to admire after enjoying the rides. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the ocean in front of the beach. From the beach, you may see dolphins, otters, sea lions, and whales. The West Cliff Inn, a Four Sisters Inn, is a well-managed, popular boutique hotel on a hill overlooking the beach if you wish to stay for a few days.

You may be on a vast, deserted beach stretching for nearly 10 kilometers within an hour of San Francisco. The Great Beach, also known as Point Reyes Beach, is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, a national park located less than an hour from San Francisco.

This beach has enormous stretches of deserted, wide sandy beach, complete with heavy, pounding surf. The Great Beach stretches for 11 kilometers and is completely undeveloped and unspoiled. With two drive-up parking spaces on either end, right on the sand, access is simple. This beach is best for strolling and sightseeing than swimming because of the rough waves. Visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse in addition to the park's gorgeous beaches. The lighthouse, completed in 1870, is reached through a 300-step stairway that leads down the rocks. It's a very beautiful place at sunset.

Three Rocks Beach has all of the main factors of a fantastic beach. It's near Half Moon Bay, roughly 30 minutes south of SFO Airport and less than an hour from downtown. The beach is undeveloped, with the nearest buildings situated back a few hundred yards from the sand, yet it is easily accessible by car.

This beach has sections with wide, flat sand and others with massive boulders and rocks (great for photos). The rocks are formed several tidal pools, which are enjoyable to explore with children. Hiking trails go to the precipices of the surrounding tall cliffs, which are also fun to explore. Although Three Rocks Beach is a public park, it is nearly entirely enclosed within The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. The premium resort is built on top of a cliff near the beach, offering spectacular views of the coast in all directions. The building is made to mimic a Victorian beach resort in a contemporary, luxury style.

Baker Beach is an excellent place to visit if you're looking for a beach close to downtown San Francisco that's easy to get to. The Presidio, a former military fort that is now a public park and commercial development, has a mile-long beach. It's directly adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge, with postcard-like vistas of the renowned landmark is a significant lure. The Marin Headlands and Lands End are also visible.

Baker Beach features a picnic area with BBQ grills and picnic tables in addition to the beach. Th is is more of a walking beach because the water is rough and cold, with strong currents, making swimming and wading impossible. The beach is unsuitable for swimming but it offers panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, and Lands End. Along the beach and rocky shoreline, you may fish or observe the wildlife. There are restrooms and picnic tables nearby.

This windy beach stretches for nine miles and is part of the Lost Coast. Both Mendocino and Humboldt Counties are bordered by this wide length of undeveloped Northern California coastline.

Centerville Beach is a county park with many hiking trails and tall cliffs. Vehicles and ATVs, as well as horses and pets, are permitted on the beach. Although it is a wide, flat beach, the water is quite cold and rough, making it unsuitable for water sports. A mix of farmland, meandering sloughs, and marshy wetlands may be seen behind the shore. At the south end of the beach, a big white cross may be seen. This cross is a California Historical Landmark that honors the 38 people who died on January 6, 1860, shipwreck of the mail ship SS Northerner. Centerville Beach is roughly a 4.5-hour drive north of San Francisco, near the charming Victorian town of Ferndale.

Trinidad State Beach is a long sandy beach located just north of the Trinidad Harbor and pier. It's one of California's oldest beach towns, but it still has a hidden gem quality along this length of coastline. This pet-friendly beach is a great place to stop and stretch your legs because it has easy access and lots of parking.

Trinidad State Beach is a short walk down a wooded cliff, and the stunning coastline scenery welcomes you as soon as you exit from the woods. This natural area is particularly beautiful around sunset. Hiking, sunbathing and exploring tide pools at low tide are all popular beach activities. The jutting Trinidad Head, south of the shore, is also a major tourist attraction in Trinidad. Hikers may get a great view of the entire beach scene from atop the imposing head.

From the Monterey Municipal Wharf to Seaside, Monterey State Beach shares the shoreline with other municipal beaches, forming a long stretch of public access sand. Monterey State Beach is a wide, gently sloping, and curving beach located across the bay (about a 15-minute drive) from downtown Monterey's famed Cannery Row tourist area.

Many outdoor activities, including surfing, kayaking, surf fishing, and swimming, are popular at this famous beach. At Monterey State Beach, scuba divers frequently emerge from the water. Nature enthusiasts enjoy the tide pools at Monterey State Beach, where beachcombers frequently find sea glass and other treasures. Paragliders take off from Monterey State Beach's Seaside end, which is also a famous kite-flying spot.

Drakes Beach is a remote beach in Point Reyes National Seashore that requires a long scenic drive to reach. The most of the year, it is open on weekends, however, it is closed totally in the fall. A path leads from the parking lot to the Peter Behr Overlook, which offers views of Drakes Beach and the bay.

The beach is wide and sandy, and it stretches in both directions for beach walking. The water is quite cold, seldom exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the waves are rough (10 degrees Celsius). Surfing and other water activities are popular here, although a wetsuit is required for any extended time in the water. The beach features drive-up parking, a tourist center, facilities, and a small seaside café. Beachcombing and photography are popular activities here. On any given sunny day, expect to share the sand with other people.

In MacKerricher State Park north of Fort Bragg, Main Beach is the beach nearest to the main entrance and campsites. It's a one-mile-long stretch of dark sand beach. This section of the state park features a lake for fishing and non-motorized boating (Lake Cleone), a multi-use recreational road for walking and bicycling (Old Haul Road Trail), and a seal and whale viewing station, in addition to a long sandy beach and campgrounds for tent and RV campers.

Ten Mile Beach, with its extensive dunes and remote beachcombing opportunity, is reached by walking north on the beach. Turn west down Mill Creek Road from Highway 1 to come to Main Beach. When you enter the park, get a map at the admission station. If you want to learn more about this state park, stop by the visitor center.

On Bodega Bay, Bodega Dunes is a classic, sandy dune-backed beach that gradually slopes into the ocean. Bodega Bay is located in Sonoma County, approximately 90 minutes from San Francisco and near Napa Valley. The small village will be familiar to Hitchcock and film enthusiasts as the site for the horror masterpiece The Birds.

The vast beach of Bodega Dunes becomes a series of low, grassy dunes as you go away from the shoreline, broken up by walkways and the occasional wooden boardwalk. The Bodega Dunes campground provides about 100 campsites (for tents, campers, and trailers) as well as hot showers and restrooms. It provides a fantastic sand-camping experience. And one thing you should note, to preserve the snowy plovers, no pets and no fires are permitted on the beach.