Beach access around Moss Landing is difficult. The reason for this is because much of the area is state park or nature reserve. The result is that it's hard to check the whole stretch of beach break, but also if you find something away from a main parking lot you'll probably surf alone. This is in contrast to Ocean Beach where there is continuous access to the full 4 mile stretch.
Yesterday my work took me to Watsonville and, after a check with the guy at Manresa to verify that was not worth surfing, I went to Moss. Moss had one peak that was actually crowded, which was a surprise to see that many people surfing there. There were several bars along the beach but only that one had surfable waves with all the rest creating shifty close-outs. The sun was peaking from behind the clouds and the wind was offshore, so I really wanted to get some waves. I decided to drive further south because the direction of the wind would make it more offshore than side shore in that direction.
I ended up at Monterey Dunes where I found a crowded parking lot but only a few fisherman on the beach. There was a peak working right at the end of the trail and I got a few waves there before the tide filled in and made that particular bar soft. When I came in the bar down the beach was no longer closing out and looked good, but I had other things to do that day and my shoulders were tired anyway.
Overall it was a good day at a new spot I'd never even checked before. The waves were fun, but smaller than Moss. I also wish I knew what Pajaro Rivermouth looked like. And I'm also curious how hard it would be to get to the Salinas Rivermouth. Perhaps that's where some of the owners of the cars in the lot were. I swear some of those trucks belonged to surfers and not just fisherman, but I never saw anyone that looked like a surfer walk by.
