Based on
216 reviews
About Four Mile Beach
Four Mile Beach offers a pristine stretch of sandy shoreline along California's rugged coastline, known for its dramatic bluffs and excellent conditions for swimming and sunbathing. The beach attracts visitors seeking a quieter, more secluded escape with stunning ocean views and tide pools teeming with marine life to explore. Its combination of accessible sandy areas and natural beauty makes it a favorite spot for families and nature lovers alike, earning consistent praise from the 216 Google reviewers who give it a 4.6-star rating.
Visitor Reviews
Gorgeous Beach!! Great stunning view of rock midst of beach.. This beach is hidden gem. Very clean and with less people. Free roadside parking. It’s ~ a mile walk from parking and the trial is flat unlike other beaches around Santa Cruz. Easy for kids and elderly people to walk . Just follow the Google map.
This beach is beautiful! Has a cool cave to the far right, when you enter take the middle path which leads straight to the sandy shores, you can do campfire’s here and play volleyball as well! Very fun small hidden beach!
Perfect relaxing beach - a little off the beaten path (limited parking and about a 10 minute walk in), so it's not crowded, but a perfect little spot to get away. Lots of open and clean sand to sit or play, as well as an area off to the right side with little tide pools and rocks that you can explore through when the tide is low. Just be careful parking if you don't have a car with higher ground clearance, the dirt parking area has huge mounds and holes that could wreak havoc on a regular car if you're not careful.
Lovely beach, it was the prefect escape from the Southern Bay Area Heat just an hour drive from San Jose. The is very limited parking and the parking lot was very rough. The hike down was about 10-15 minutes! The sand was soft and the wind was perfect making it a calm and peaceful beach visit. Remember to pack sunscreen prior to this trip, and a low clearance vehicle is not recommended for the main parking lot!
What makes 4-mile-beach magical is the fact that it is actually "hidden" from highway 1. There is a 10 min walk you need to make from the parking lot to go between two hills where it opens up to the beach. And because of this, the entire beach feels super private, yet plenty of space for everyone to spread and have fun. As with typical NorCal beaches, the weather is typically cloudy and windy, and we have low cliffs meeting the ocean abruptly. 4-mile overcomes these factors as the protective alcove cuts the wind significantly while the funnel shaped opening gives decent sand coverage. Also the waves are not so strong due to the concave shape of the coastline. So why 4 stars? It's the smell. Potentially because of the sea water not circulating well in the mini-bay, there may be more fish/marine life carcasses nearby. This results in a bit of foul smell as well as flies near the immediate coastline. About 15 yards into the sand, all is well and you're back to goodness. But again, feel a bit nasty going into the sea. Regardless this is one of the best beaches I've been to and will absolutely return frequently!
Reviews from Google Maps · Four Mile Beach
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