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Beach · California

Santa Maria's Beach

Santa Maria's Beach from directly overhead

Santa Maria's Beach is a beach in California, at a modelled elevation of 2 m. Loma Prieta stands 1,154 m to the northeast, 13 miles off. The nearest named place is Sunny Cove Beach, a beach 0.2 miles away. Big Sur Coast Highway - Route 1 passes 26 miles off.

Visiting

What to expect

Operated by
Santa Cruz County Department of Parks & Recreation
Getting there

How to reach it

Driving directionsPlan a drive around it
Coordinates36.95987, -121.98671

Overlooks nearby

Around it

Named places within 25 miles

Historic sites
  • Night Fighter: 0.9 mi
  • Santa Cruz Hostel: 2.1 mi
  • Branciforte: 2.1 mi
  • Surfer Memorial Statue: 2.1 mi
  • Santa Cruz Bicentennial Monument: 2.4 mi
Parks
Attractions
Peaks
  • Bolcoff Hill: 2.2 mi
  • Prospect Hill: 3.1 mi
  • La Corona: 3.3 mi
  • Horseback Hill: 3.3 mi
  • Mount Massiah: 4.5 mi
Nature reserves
Artworks: 56
  • Otter Touching Its Tail: 0.8 mi
  • Totem Pole: 0.9 mi
  • Great Blue Heron Walkway: 1.1 mi
  • Life-size Gray Whale Sculpture: 1.3 mi
  • Stone Spire: 1.6 mi
Beaches: 55
Picnic sites: 50
  • Aloha Terrace: 1.9 mi
  • Cathedral: 2.8 mi
  • Lone Tree: 2.8 mi
  • Twisted Tree: 2.8 mi
  • Maple Grove: 2.9 mi
Gardens: 43
Museums: 40
Waterfalls: 22
  • Moose Lodge Falls: 5.0 mi
  • Ferndell: 7.5 mi
  • Fairy Falls: 7.8 mi
  • Maple Falls: 8.0 mi
  • Five Finger Falls: 9.3 mi
Springs: 15
  • Dodero Spring: 3.8 mi
  • Crystal Springs (private): 4.0 mi
  • Horse Trough Spring: 4.4 mi
  • Redwood Springs: 7.3 mi
  • Olive Springs: 7.8 mi
Cliffs: 11
  • Capitola Bluffs: 2.4 mi
  • Anthony's Bluff: 2.7 mi
  • Chrystal Cliff: 2.7 mi
  • Upper Quarry: 4.7 mi
  • Sand Hill Bluff: 9.3 mi
Ghost towns: 10
Lighthouses: 3
Natural arches: 1
  • Natural Bridges Rock Arch: 4.0 mi
Covered bridges: 1
On the horizon

Summits around it

The highest named summits within 18.9 miles of Santa Maria's Beach. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

SummitBearingElevationDistance
Loma PrietaNE1,154 m13.1 mi
Crystal PeakNE1,097 m13.5 mi
Mount UmunhumNNE1,063 m14.7 mi
Mount ThayerNNE1,061 m14.6 mi
Mount ChualNE1,046 m13.9 mi
El SombrosoNNE917 m15.7 mi
The PeakNNW917 m18.5 mi
Sunnyvale MountainNNW880 m18.2 mi
Conditions

When to go

Light through the year

DateSunriseGolden hourSunset
March equinox07:1218:4619:20
June solstice05:5019:5320:31
September equinox06:5718:3219:06
December solstice07:1816:1516:55

Local time (America/Los_Angeles).

Climate normals

Months averaging 50–80 °F: year-round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg °F525355586063646565625651
Precip in6.46.14.32.00.90.20.00.00.11.33.26.0

1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Santa Cruz, 2 mi away.

Tides

The nearest NOAA station publishes daily tide predictions.

NOAA CO-OPS station Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, CA, 2 mi away — today’s predictions live there.

Sources

Where this comes from

Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap element way/686196708

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