Nearest decent beach (San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz: amusement park, live, restaurants)

[misterdammit]

Okay, so I know Sac is not near the ocean. BUT...where is the closest nice beach?

[CityGirl72]

What kind of beach do you want? River? Lake? or Ocean?

[misterdammit]

Ocean.

[ElleBebe]

maybe repost in the bay area section?

When we lived in the bay area, we used to go to beaches near Pescadero on Hwy 1, but those don't get very warm, water-wise or temperature; often very overcast and windy. Santa Cruz gets warmer and has the boardwalk, but the water is still freezing.

[wburg]

Well, the nearest ocean is the Pacific, but that isn't the answer you want...personally I'm partial to Trinidad Head or Clam Beach, but those are up in Humboldt County. You're looking at a two-hour drive to actual ocean, either northwest to Sonoma County or southwest to San Francisco.

[NewToCA]

Nearest decent beach to take the family out would be Santa Cruz, in my opinion.

Water is a bit warmer than many other areas in NorCal. Also has a very active boardwalk and downtown area.

[humboldtrat]

I agree with Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - Millions of Memories at California's Beachfront Amusement Park. Parts of the boardwalk (such as the rides) is open on the weekends only during the winter season which starts soon. Boardwalk food (corn dogs, deep fried twinkies, etc.) is awful but there are some sit down restaurants on the pier.

[dohmixer]

I’m not sure what you mean by decent as in non-nude there is Dillon Beach near the mouth of Tomales Bay.
Top 5 beaches in San Francisco
Beaches In San Francisco - Top 5 Beaches Reviewed by SFTravel

Ocean Beach The adjective which best describes Ocean Beach is “pleasant”.

Baker Beach It is known by many as the “nude beach” but Baker Beach is actually the best of the beaches for clothed (or yes, unclothed) people of all ages.

Aquatic Park This is an urban beach, meaning that it is located right in the heart of the city.

East Beach This beach is commonly known as China Beach.

Stinson Beach – People who have explored all of the beaches within San Francisco should cross the Golden Gate Bridge and venture over to the Marin County Beaches to see something new.

[rickca]

Stinson beach is ok and the area called the "Marin Headlands" across from SF near the Golden Gate Bridge is decent too, these would be significantly closer than Santa Cruz I believe. I assume by decent you mean the scenery because not many people enjoy going in the water in northern California.. so basically the entire highway 1 either north or south of San Francisco is very scenic as well as up into Sonoma county and south towards Santa Cruz.

[PapaDoc313]

Bodega Bay has always been my favorite, though it's not most people's ideal beach. It's of the pebble sand variety. But it's usually quiet, not far out of Sac, and there is lots to do. If you want the stereotypical California beach I'd go to Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz is cool, too (it's worth going to the Boardwalk at least once even though nowadays it couldn't be much more ghetto).