Mavericks Beach
Trail Review
We biked from Poplar Beach to Mavericks Beach following the Half Moon Bay Coastal Trail.
I biked this path a few years ago and the trail was about the same. The only difference was that the bridge in Miramar was no longer closed, so the trail was a bit shorter and a lot nicer.
This was my first time at Mavericks Beach and I found the beach to be beautiful with low winds, clear waters, and few people.
Going clockwise from Mavericks Beach, Cassie and I explored the oceanside of Pillar Point, which was fun.
What I Learned
I did not know water inside a protected harbor could be so clean. I thought the water looked tropical with how blue it looked.
What Happened?
15 miles, 2 hrs 54 mins, 328 ft of ascent
Cassie and I had been sidelined with minor injuries (I had pulled a lower back muscle while Cassie had been dealing with foot pain due to overuse), so we have been taking it easy for the past few weeks. But with improvements to both our injuries, we thought it was the right time to get back on our bikes. Not wanting to push it on our first ride back, we decided to take it easy with a calm easy ride on the Half Moon Bay Coastal Trail.
We started at Poplar Beach and slowly made our way up north. We had a little bit of a headwind, but the motto of the day was slow and steady. When we got to Pillar Point Beach, we decided to go a bit further and explore the area around the radar tower we could see across Half Moon Bay. When we reached the Mavericks Beach parking lot, we saw that we were not allowed to continue on W Point Ave as it was the property of the U.S. Air Force. So we turned south and continued to Mavericks Beach.
At Mavericks, we parked our bikes and explored the beach on foot. We ended up going around Pillar Point in a clockwise direction until we came to an obstacle that required a few moves that were a little too sketch given our priority for the day. So instead, we got back on our bikes and headed to downtown Half Moon Bay to a bakery.
Unfortunately, the bakery was closed, but a super cute cafe next door—Cafe Society—was open, so we enjoyed a slice of poppyseed cake and a slice of double chocolate cake (and a can of Coke for me). After the short break, we biked back to our car and took the scenic way home.