While driving down the Central Coast looking for put-in spots on Friday with Joan and Robbert, I had looked at the beaches in this state park. There is a large cove here that faces north so it was protected from the southern swell from the hurricane down near Mexico. This cove has two narrow channels on the north end, and another small cove on the south side. The extreme sides of the cove are made of low stony reefs that looked interesting to explore on a mild day. I spent Saturday evening visiting with my sister Margie who lives in the area and suggested that she take her kids down to this beach with me on Sunday. Joan and Robbert had given up on the waves and went home Sunday, so I would be paddling alone.
I arrived before my sister and launched to explore the north side of the cove. I was unwilling to risk the narrow channels on the north side of the beach and headed north around the stony reef. This section of shore was still reasonably well protected from the southern swell. I was able to go behind the stony reef in a few places where there were channels of deeper water. One of these channels was wide enough and deep enough to go all the way into the cliffs were there was a small sandy beach. I paddled into this channel and caught a wave to surf me onto the sandy beach. The water in the channel was shallow and had a rocky bottom, conditions I have found good for kayak surfing before. I paddled back and forth here and got some pretty good rides. Then I paddled back to the cove to have lunch with my sister and her kids.
After lunch I explored the south side of the cove. There is a dike of rock sticking out into the cove that has a cluster of rocks just offshore. I paddled between these rocks on the way out and got knocked out of my boat by a large wave. My sister tried to climb around the point to get to the little beach behind this point but found the going a little rough and turned back. Sopping wet from tumbling in the water I was a little more conservative and stayed out of the rocky reef past this beach. I paddled out to the point and almost a kilometer farther south. Once I got out from the protection of the point I came into the full force of the southern swell from the hurricane. All the shore south of the point was too rough to consider landing, although I was tempted a few times during mild sets of waves.
When I turned back into the cove I felt a little more confident and paddled into the rocky reef. Here I found two guys who had paddled out here on their surfboards in wetsuits. They were "poke pole fishing" in cracks under the rocks in the reef for fish and said that the fishing was good. I found a channel behind the reef here that was almost deep enough to paddle in. By waiting for large waves to send pulses of water through, I was able to follow the channel anyway and came out near the short inaccessible section of beach on the south end of the cove. I paddled to the other end of the cove and rode into one of the narrow channels that I had avoided earlier. Then it was time to pack up for the long ride home.
