Sand Dollar Beach

Monterey County, California, United States

Paid parking

Tomorrow at a glance

Calmest: 4 pm to sunset, sunset 6:19 pm

8 am
5.1
9 km/h5 mph wind, Fair

9 am
5.3
8 km/h5 mph wind, Fair

10 am
5.9
7 km/h5 mph wind, Good

11 am
5.1
8 km/h5 mph wind, Fair

12 pm
4.5
9 km/h6 mph wind, Fair

1 pm
4.5
10 km/h6 mph wind, Fair

2 pm
5.3
12 km/h8 mph wind, Fair

3 pm
5.8
12 km/h7 mph wind, Good

4 pm
5.9
12 km/h7 mph wind, Good

5 pm
6.8
7 km/h5 mph wind, Good

6 pm
6.8
2 km/h1 mph wind, Good

This page puts what matters first for today's conditions.

Where to stay near the beach

Compare hotels and apartments near Sand Dollar Beach.

Partner links

Staying a few days? Conditions improve from Sat, so a beachfront room still pays off.

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Forecast, hour by hour

Beach score for daylight hours, today and tomorrow. Wind in km/hmph underneath.

Air: 15°C59°F
Water: 20°C67°F
Wind: 74 km/hmph NNE
Gusts: 149 km/hmph
Waves: 1.6 m5 ft
UV: 0 low
Tide: falling
Rain: 17%
Sunset: 6:19 pm

Today

4.1Fair8 am117

4.3Fair9 am127

5.8Good10 am1710

5.1Fair11 am159

4.5Fair12 pm2113

4.6Fair1 pm96

4.3Fair2 pm127

4.1Fair3 pm95

4.1Fair4 pm53

4.1Fair5 pm64

4.1Fair6 pm21

Fri

5.1Fair8 am95

5.3Fair9 am85

5.9Good10 am75

5.1Fair11 am85

4.5Fair12 pm96

4.5Fair1 pm106

5.3Fair2 pm128

5.8Good3 pm127

5.9Good4 pm127

6.8Good5 pm75

6.8Good6 pm21

Green, 7 and upYellow, 4 to 7Red, under 4Calmest stretch

Tide, next 24 hours

Low 2 am, -0.3 m1 ft
High 8 am, 0.9 m3 ft
Low 3 pm, -0.3 m1 ft
High 9 pm, 0.7 m2 ft

Tide is modeled, not measured. Rip current and water quality data are not available for this beach yet.

The days ahead

Best score each day, with the stretch to aim for.

Sat8.1 GreatBest 9 am to 7 pmWind up to 10 km/h6 mph, rain 0%
Sun5.8 GoodBest 11 am to 12 pmWind up to 10 km/h6 mph, rain 0%
Mon7.1 GreatBest 4 pm to 7 pmWind up to 16 km/h10 mph, rain 0%
Tue7.3 GreatBest 8 am to 2 pmWind up to 26 km/h16 mph, rain 0%
Wed4.9 FairNo standout stretchWind up to 26 km/h16 mph, rain 1%

Beach info

Facilities and the beaches next door.

About Sand Dollar Beach

Sand Dollar Beach is a state park in California, United States, covering an area of 10 acres. The beach is 0.49 miles long and has paid parking available within 0.19 miles.

From Wikipedia

Sand Dollar Beach is a .5 miles (0.80 km) long beach in Big Sur, California, one of the longest publicly accessible beaches on that coast. It is within the Los Padres National Forest. The beach is 3.7 miles (6.0 km) north of the small commercial center of Gorda and 38.5 miles (62.0 km) north of Cambria. It is 25 miles (40 km) south of Big Sur Village on Highway 1.

Source: Sand Dollar Beach on Wikipedia (authors). Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved Oct 18, 2026. Data sources

Facilities

Restrooms310 m0.2 mi away
Parking1 within 500 m0.3 miNearest 310 m0.2 mi. Listed as paid

Getting there

Nearest airport: 46 km29 miMesa Del Rey Airport (KIC)

Facilities from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Check posted signs; details change. Data sources