new brighton state beach

This is one of the best state beaches on the Monterey Bay with easy access to a lot of other close by attractions. This end of the bay is protected from rough seas and not much wind. Although it can get a bit foggy in the summer months it usually clears by mid-day.

Beautiful beach with local life. Nothing like Santa Cruz beach. In Capitola you see families and children. It's not overcrowded with homeless people like in Santa Cruz. If you happen to be there during low tide, be sure to take a closer look at the exposed see bottom with sea anemones, star fish, crabs, etc.

We really like this beach. Great place for a bon fire tooI don't think dogs are allowed but the beach right next to it (forget the name) but it has a cement boat allows dogs which we love

New Brighton State Beach is a year round wonder for getting away and still enjoying Mother Nature year round. Short walk to the beach. And a short drive to Capitola Village, Santa Cruz and plenty of places to get supplies.

Our weekend hit almost all weather conditions: breezy on arriving, stormy in the early evening, rained all night long and until noon, clearing to blue sky without a single cloud, starry night, and quite cold with heavy dew the second morning. As always, we love this campground, the only downside was the very muddy path down to the beach! Bathrooms are clean, campsites are well-provisioned (even if the table/storage locker are quite old) and without trash, and campers were friendly but private (just the way we like it). Wear layers, bring warm jackets, rain ponchos, gloves, and shoes that can get wet. As an FYI, connectivity is great for cells and hotspots. Hook-up sites do not include sewer (only water and electricity). Level paved roads make it great to walk or bike. Bathrooms are very clean.

This state park beach is great for walking and people watching. A visit to the cement ship is interesting. You can walk on the beach or the walkway just above. One our very favorite walks. You can park on the Rio del Mar side and walk in either direction.

It was the first time staying at a campsite on/near the beach. Good thing it was just for an overnight stay. The restrooms are what you would expect at a campground. One puts in a quarter for the shower for every 2minutes needed. Not clean but not disgustingly filthy. The site, 67 was near trees with shade and privacy. Certain spots smelled like pee. Was it from an animal or drunk teens, can't say for sure but it forced us to move closer to the paved road and away from the bush and trees. Its interesting that even though there are signs posted in front of the waters cautioning people of contaminants, parents allowed their children to go in the water. The water looks black and smells odd. It was given a letter grade F by the group that monitors beaches in CA.The only thing I liked about this CG was that you could park your car right next to your site in comparison to other beaches that require parking up a hill and away from the beach.

Disclaimer: I was only here for about 25 minutesWhen driving up the coast of California, one of our stops was here, at New Brighton State Beach. We drove straight to the parking lot near the water and went down the stairs to the beach. We didn't plan on staying long. We just wanted to check out what the beaches were like at this area. This beach overall is very nice. It sits on Monterey Bay so the there were minimal waves. It was like the Gulf of Mexico or a lake. Looking to your right or left, you're greeted with mountains and trees and nice, mostly natural, scenery. Opposite the water are these extremely large cliffs that we are at that the bottom of. At the top of the cliffs are trees and where the parking lot is. The cliffs were the most unique part of this beach because you could see some of the trees' roots going down the side of the cliff. The main negative with this beach and the reason why I probably wouldn't choose to spend the whole day here is because the sand had a TON of seaweed/kelp and some dead seagulls (ew!). Overall though it was nice to make a quick stop to check out this beach especially considering that it's right off the highway.

We loved this place. The bathrooms were clean and plenty of showers for all. Wonderful views of the sunset from the bluffs right from the campsite. The best part is the easy access to the beach from the campground.

Was able to get a campsite at the last min. We are spontaneous vacationers! We could walk for miles on the beach, & people watch. Even was able to order pizza from Pizza my heart <3 They delivered it to us on the beach! Cant say enough...

We love this place! We have been coming here to camp for several years. We have always enjoyed the laid back atmosphere despite the fact that it is really difficult to get reservations. This year, the camp host from hell put a damper on our trip. I'm not sure what his problem is or why he is on such a power trip but his rude and disrespectful behavior is not appreciated. Hopefully he won't be back next year or this will be our last trip here.

Seems like a lot of locals to the Bay Area are not aware of this great State Beach., located just 1/2 hour from San Jose. Right off Hwy 1 just South of Capitola is a great beach to take a stroll or run or even camp ( at adjoining camp sites, but need Reserve America 6 months in advance.) You can walk South on the beach to Aptos and have a nice deli sandwich or a drink at one of the small restaurants beachside, or when the surf is out (early AM) walk to Capitola for a coffee (but mind the time the surf comes back in. It is generally a quiet beach filled with like-minded visitors who just want to get away for the day - day use and parking is inexpensive too.

The beach itself is actually pretty nice, every time we went down there it was almost never crowded. Sometimes on very hot days in the afternoon they'll be a lot of people, but not as much as other beaches. Normally most of the people there where fishermen, good for conversation if you don't mind communicating with locals. My only concern with the beach itself is a open drainage pipe near the entrance. Not really sure if it's still there as I haven't been back in a year or so. Don't let children near it, there is / was a bio hazard sign near the water spilling out. Aside from that, if you walk all the way along the coast you'll eventually reach the peer where the famous concrete ship is.

If you are looking for less crowd of people this is the beach! there is beautiful rocks to the right and no stairs to climb down or back up from, with also easy access to Freeway

easy to get to, paid parking. beach is kept up, and has easy access from the parking lot, been here several times