Coral Street Beach

Coral Street Beach is a small rocky-cobble entry on the west side of Pacific Grove, where Coral Street meets Ocean View Boulevard. The beach itself is short and stony, with stone stairs down to the water. Inshore depths run from about 15 to 30 feet across a cobble and rock bottom that has thinned into an urchin barren in recent years. The site's real substance sits offshore. Chase Reef Inner Reef lies 200 to 300 yards out, at 30 to 60 feet, with rocky ledges, canyons, and pinnacles. Aumentos Reef, a pinnacle whose top rises to about 40 feet below the surface, sits further offshore, and another named feature called Ball Buster lies beyond it.

Rocky cobble inshore and the ledges on Chase Reef form a rocky reef biome. The giant kelp on those ledges and offshore inside the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens SMCA is a kelp forest biome. Vertical relief on Chase Reef Inner Reef, with its canyons and ridges, and the pinnacle rising from Aumentos Reef make this a canyon biome. Exposure to swell wrapping around Point Pinos, the long surface swims to the offshore reefs, and heavy kayak and boat traffic put Coral Street Beach out of reach for beginners. It draws intermediate and advanced scuba divers, snorkelers, and freedivers who work the offshore structure.

Parking is free street parking along Ocean View Boulevard right at the entry, with no restrooms or rinse stations on site. Recreational finfish take by any legal method except poke-pole is permitted within the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens SMCA, so spearfishing is allowed; invertebrate take is prohibited.