Martin's Beach

Many locals in the Half Moon Bay area have pleasant memories of Martin's Beach, but they are disappointed in how it has changed over the years. They remember going with their family and friends to enjoy the beach from morning till evening. There were bungalows that lined the shoreline, but today many of them are boarded up and vacant. There is a cost to access the beach and it does not stay open after dark. The restrooms are no longer functioning and many people who visit it today describe it as a kind of shantytown. The beach might be hard to find because the old sign has been painted over. If you are going, be sure to bring along necessities as if you were heading into the wilderness. You will need food, toilet paper, a garbage bag, and a blanket for sitting. There are still bathrooms, but they are barely more than a port-o-potty. The private beach is four miles in length and includes parts of Francis, Dunes, Venice, and Roosevelt Beach. The Francis Beach part of the area has a campground with 52 campsites. The area used to be popular for fishing and anglers still occasionally head out hoping to catch flatfish, sole, surfperch, Pacific herring, rockfish, herring, lingcod, flounder, and smelt. Martin's Beach is not what it used to be, but might still be worth a visit.