Once you get down there is plenty of space for a picnic or a turn on the sea swing. It is a bit of a hike to get down to the beach from the parking lot. Retrieving the glass is not your usual stroll on the beach since most of them require a wetsuit as they are found in between the crashing waves in an area nicknamed “the pit.” The smaller stones are affectionately referred to as “nuggets” and the larger pieces as “boulders,” by the locals. This is because during a strong storm, many of the discarded pieces from the local Lundberg Art Studio, that manufactures homemade glass, blew into the ocean. The small town of Davenport, a bit north of Santa Cruz is known for its extensive sea glass finds. There are numerous restrooms within Coyote Point, including one next to the beach. Before you head to the beach grab lobster rolls from nearby New England Lobster Market & Eatery and eat them on one of the picnic benches as you watch the planes take off and land. Sea glass collectors rave about this spot as having a wide selection, especially the small beach next to the marina (park in the marina parking lot for easy access). This San Francisco Bay Area beach is located in the region’s South Bay and is just a bit south of San Francisco International Airport. Be aware that the northernmost end is often frequented by nude sunbathers. Parking is available free of charge in the Muir Beach parking lot and the Pacific Way Bridge connects the lot to the beach. It is a great vantage point to watch the whale migration during the wintertime. Nearby Muir Beach Overlook provides stunning views of the beach and surrounding area including Point Reyes, but be warned it is not for those who are afraid of heights and is often quite windy. The adjacent Redwood Creek Lagoon is a thriving habitat that is home to red-legged frogs and coho salmon. Three miles west of Muir Woods National Monument is this quiet beach frequented by locals and is a great spot to search and collect sea glass. To find the trailhead, head out of downtown Fort Bragg for a few minutes on West Elm Street until you reach Glass Beach Drive, where you will see the Glass Beach parking lot. There are many artifacts from Glass Beach itself in this small museum and you can pick up unique jewelry at the gift shop as well. Head back into town to view over 3,000 pieces at the International Sea Glass Museum which is located in a former home. Explore the surrounding tide pools that are teeming with life. Please note: it is forbidden to remove anything from the beach. Located just south of MacKerricher State Park is the famous Glass Beach, with the highest concentration of sea glass in the state. For jewelry, the grading of the glass’ surface matters (fewer markings/chipping is better), as well as the opaqueness, though there are some debates about the criteria within the community. There is a sizable community of people who go beachcombing for sea glass to either add to their growing collections or create jewelry with it (or both). Here’s a helpful chart to determine the rarity of a certain shade of sea glass, as well as a grading guide. The more common ones are browns, greens, whites, and clear glass. Rare colors like purples, aquas, and reds are highly sought out. Some of the best places are pebble beaches, where you can find pieces of sea glass in between the stones. Make sure to check out the tide tables beforehand here. The best time to search for sea glass is during low tide when there is more land to scour and you do not have to worry about a dangerous high tide. How do I find sea glass?ĭouble-check before you go that collecting sea glass is not prohibited on the specific beach you are heading to. These translucent colorful shards are one of Mother Nature’s impressive works of art, truly turning trash into treasure. A single piece of sea glass can take 50-100 years to form. In the past, glass was the most common way to package things, instead of plastic (an example is Coca-Cola’s glass bottles). Some of the most abundant sea glass beaches were previous trash dumping sites (before recycling was popular) and contained a lot of glass pieces from discarded soda bottles and beer bottles. These beautiful stones are created from the trash that was left on the beach and smoothed over by the ocean for many years. From the rocky Mendocino coast to the protected waters of La Jolla, there are numerous sea glass beaches in California to discover rare finds as well as more common shades. Within the United States, the Golden State is known for having some of the best beaches to find sea glass due to its extensive coastline.
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