San Carlos Beach

San Carlos Beach is a small sand-bottom cove sheltered by the Coast Guard Pier breakwater at the harbor end of Cannery Row in Monterey. The breakwater and the shape of the cove keep the entry sheltered from most swell, and the sandy shoreline slopes gently into shallow water. Depths run from about 15 to 30 feet along the inshore reef and drop to roughly 65 feet at the offshore end of a decommissioned sardine pipe known as the Metridium Fields. That pipe once carried live sardines from moored purse seiners into the canneries on the row, and its full length is now coated in white metridium anemones. The riprap of the Coast Guard Pier forms a second feature, called the Breakwater Wall, where rocky structure holds nudibranchs and invertebrates from the surface down to about 40 feet. A resident sea-lion group hauls out along the outer rocks of the breakwater. The reserve on this water is named for Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist who worked in a lab across the street and was Steinbeck's real-life "Doc" of Cannery Row.

The sheltered sand at the entry is a surf zone biome with gentle wave action inside the cove. Coast Guard riprap and the offshore reef sections that carry no kelp canopy form a rocky reef biome. Offshore kelp inside the Edward F. Ricketts SMCA is a kelp forest biome, reachable on a short surface swim. San Carlos Beach is widely considered California's most popular scuba destination, and the calm cove sees heavy use by open-water classes, snorkelers, and freedivers. Boat traffic in and out of Monterey Harbor runs just south of the cove, so a surface float is standard practice.

Parking is at the San Carlos Beach Park lot at the top of the stairs, with pay-and-display rates of $1.50 per hour or $10 per day. The lot fills by about 7:15 a.m. on summer weekends, and metered street parking on Cannery Row and Reeside Avenue serves as overflow. Restrooms, rinse stations, and a grass staging area sit at the top of the stairs. Recreational take within the Edward F. Ricketts SMCA is limited to finfish by hook and line, so spearfishing is prohibited.