Famed for its grounded “cement ship,” this beach and overlook offers birding that is often interesting and, on some summer evenings, even spectacular. RV camping facilities are limited and usually reserved far in advance, and there is a nature center at Seacliff State Beach along the park’s entrance road. At any season fine weather may bring crowd on weekends after mid-morning.
Directions. Take the Seacliff exit (State Park Dr) off Hwy 1 and go south to the main park entrance. There is a fee to drive in, but walk-ins are free along a path beginning at the intersection of State Park Dr and Seacliff Dr. Seacliff Dr offers an excellent vista of the beach and ocean: take Santa Cruz Ave east just before the main park entrance, then turn right on Seacliff Dr and follow it to the roadside overlook. The “Rio Del Mar Unit” of the state beach (with Aptos Creek mouth) is just to the south. To reach it, walk down the beach from Seacliff Beach or take the Rio Del Mar Blvd exit off Hwy 1. Turn right on Rio Del Mar Blvd and go 1.1 miles to the beach parking lot at its end (no fee).
Birds. Large gull flocks often congregate here, especially in the fall and winter at Aptos Creek mouth, when most or all of the usual species can be found here at once, including Mew, Thayer’s, and Herring gulls. Glaucous Gull is noted each winter, and Franklin’s and Laughing gulls and Black Skimmer have been seen here. Scan the bay from the bluff-top parking at the park’s main entrance, from Seacliff Dr, or from the pier leading to the cement ship. Loons, grebes, and scoters are well represented from October through April, and the large summertime Sooty Shearwater flocks – a late afternoon spectacle – often come very close to shore here (even to the surf line), along with Brown Pelican and various terns. It is sometimes easy to swim out and join the flock for an unforgettable all-sensory experience! Watch for jaegers and Marbled Murrelet in the late summer and fall. The usual shorebirds patrol the sandy beach, sometimes including Long-billed Curlew, and Wandering Tattler may appear in migration. In the fall, check the vegetation on the bluff slope west of the creek for migrants, and walk up Moosehead Dr on the creek’s east side to search the riparian area near and beyond the first bridge (Bennett Dr).