Quarry Cove

Quarry Cove is a small rocky cove inside Montaña de Oro State Park, about 1.3 miles south of Spooner's Cove on the Bluff Trail and roughly 0.8 mile south of Corallina Cove. A single picnic table on the bluff above is the only marker. The cove takes its name from a small historic quarry above the bluff, and it sits smaller and more enclosed than Corallina Cove, with a narrower opening to the open ocean.

A shallow rocky shelf with tide pools, cobble, and exposed rock extending into the water makes the cove itself a rocky reef biome. Where the narrow opening lets the swell into the cove and the waves break against the outer rocks, the spot transitions to a surf zone biome.

Tide-pooling at minus tides is the dominant use, and wildlife viewing along the bluffs is common, including harbor seals on the offshore rocks. The small footprint, the long walk in, and the cove's exposure to swell keep snorkeling, hook-and-line fishing, and spearfishing uncommon, and there are no reports of shore-based scuba.

Parking is at the Spooner's Cove lot inside Montaña de Oro State Park; the walk south on the Bluff Trail is roughly 1.3 miles. Hook-and-line fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.