Pfeiffer Beach
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At the north end of Big Sur's federally owned Pfeiffer Beach, prepare to be amazed: sunset-watching can't get any better than it does from this shoreline, where clothing is optional unless someone complains. Note that nudity isn't allowed at similar-sounding Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, which is a nearby state beach.
Legal status:
Part of the Los Padres National Forest, whose rangers generally ignore nudists unless someone complains.
How to find it:
Pfeiffer Beach is around 30 miles south of Monterey and 3 miles west of Highway 1. Coming from the south on Highway 1, start counting the mileage from the Esalen Institut. The beach is about 12 miles north. From the north, turn right (toward the sea) onto poorly marked Sycamore Canyon Road, about a half mile south of the main entrance to Big Sur State Park and .6 miles south of the Big Sur Ranger Station, just past the Pfeiffer Canyon highway bridge. Watch for Sycamore before turning onto it and be careful of other traffic and children while you follow tree-lined Sycamore to the beach parking lot; it's a one-lane road for two-and-a-half miles. After paying a $5 day-use entrance fee and parking, walk north along the sand a quarter mile. A rocky outcropping divides the public and nude beaches. Walk around the bend, and you will arrive at the nude beach.
The beach:
There are two beaches. The one for clothed users is just north of Pfeiffer Creek, near the parking lot. The clothing-optional area is past the rocky promontory mentioned above.
The crowd:
On peak summer use days, expect maybe 50 people; usually, there are far fewer.
Problems:
Fee; fog; wind; cold water; riptides; in some years may be littered with driftwood.
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