San Simeon Cove

San Simeon Cove is a south-facing crescent of sand inside William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach, sheltered to the west by San Simeon Point. The 850-foot San Simeon Pier extends south from the center of the cove. Because the point blocks the prevailing northwest swell and northwest wind, the cove sits among the calmer beaches on the central coast. The cove is directly across Highway 1 from Hearst Castle.

The protected sand beach inside the cove, where small waves break against the shore, is a surf zone biome. Out around the south side of San Simeon Point and offshore in roughly 30 to 60 feet of water, bull and giant kelp anchor on the rocky bottom and grow up through the water column to the surface, making the cove edges and the water past the point a kelp forest biome. Cobble and exposed rock around the south-side rocks of the point, with bare reef structure between the kelp patches, give the spot a rocky reef biome as well.

Summer swimming in the protected cove is common. Kayakers launch off the beach and paddle around the point to the kelp on the seaward side, and snorkelers work the rocks on the south side of the point on calm days. Hook-and-line fishing is heavy from the pier and regular from the beach. The sheltered geography of the cove keeps surfing uncommon, and there are no reports of shore-based scuba.

The large free parking lot at William R. Hearst Memorial State Beach has restrooms, picnic tables, and barbecue grills, with a short walk to the pier and beach. Hook-and-line fishing and spearfishing are legal under standard California regulations, and no license is needed to fish from the pier.