If you live in California or are planning to go to California for a fun vacation, you must see the Sea Glass beaches here.
A sea glass beach is not difficult to find on any coastline. But since there have been fewer and fewer sea glass beaches in the past years, we are here to help you find sea glass beach California.
California sea glass is one of the most famous items and collectible America provides. Come here if you are a collector, a connoisseur, or just a parent trying to entertain your child.
What is Sea Glass?
Many years ago, the primary packaging method for anything was glass. This was way before plastic became popular. Since most of the food and drinks were packed in glass, there used to be a lot of waste that was primarily glass bottles and glass pieces.
Recycling was not big in the olden days so whatever trash people had, they threw it in the ocean. Of course, this was before ocean waste awareness movements started. Glass does not decompose. So whatever trash was thrown into the ocean, other than the glass, it perished.
These broken bottles and glass pieces would stay in the waters with the tides being washed over and over again, hitting rocks and sand continuously. This incessant beating and washing turned them into perfectly smooth-edged sea glass. It takes around 7-10 years for this process. It is quite interesting since glass is a man-made product that nature reinvents into something beautiful.
This glass gets washed up on shores in the form of pebbles and smooth colorful rocks, and thereafter came the name the sea glass. There are other names for sea glass as well, like beach glass, ocean glass, and mermaids tears.
Why Is Sea Glass Beach California so Famous?
California, like many other coasts, used to dump its garbage on the beaches. Because of storms and floods on the west coast, this garbage used to get carried into the ocean. Nature did what it does best and tried to replenish the garbage it had in it. It made the broken glass pieces into pebbles. These pebbles are appealing and interesting to look at since they were once a man-made product that nature completely turned around.
Sea Glass Beach
You can search sea glass beaches online and will find several such beaches in the area. Listed down below are some of those beautiful places. These beaches also have a parking lot so you should not have much trouble finding a parking area for your vehicle. These waters are also maintained by the water resources control board.
1. Fort Bragg Glass Beach, Mendocino County:
Throughout the California coastline, Â Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, near MacKerricher State Park is famous for being the best sea glass beach in California has seen. It is located in the intersection of the Elm Street.
The reason why there is so much sea glass in Fort Bragg, California is that it used to be a dump site before 1960. Soon after that cleanup programs were undertaken through the years, and citizens started cleaning the beach but the broken glass left behind was washed up in the tidal pounding waves and soon was made the best sea glass beach in Mendocino Coast, California.
You can find the most beautiful, round, and smooth beach glass on this beach. You can also find the ruby red sea glass which is rare to find. Ruby red sea glass comes from broken taillights.
Another rare kind of sea glass you can find here is the Mermaid heart glass. You must visit Fort Bragg Glass Beach while you are staying here.
2. Davenport, Santa Cruz County
Davenport is one of the most famous beaches California has for hunting. This is because a lot of beautiful Mushroom sea glass is prevalent here.
Mushroom Sea glass is the product of the remnants of glass blowing. The waste glass from the glass blowing tubes used to be thrown into this sea and soon they took the shape of beautiful colored pieces in the shape of mushrooms.
However, it is dangerous to go hunting on Davenport beach because the waves in this sea are comparatively strong and are capable of knocking you off your feet. So it is advisable to only go here if you are a trained sea glass hunter and definitely, children should be strictly guided in this place.
3. Pillar Point Beach, San Francisco County
Pillar point beach is located an hour from the San Francisco center. It is on the coast where people usually like to hunt for sea glass. People come here on a daily basis to look for sea glass and some have reported that the sea glass never runs out!
You can find the usual green, red, violet, and also some yellow shades here. More sea glass is available right after a high tide when the waves have calmed and washed the sea glass to the shores.
4. Muir Beach, Marin County
Muir Beach is filled with sea glass that makes its way on the shore. Its beach glass may be a little bit raw but some of them are rare finds. You can go here with your kids and partner for a fun day out and enjoy this sea glass beach. You can also visit some of the pottery and jewel shops located around the beach to buy or look at sea glass jewelry.
After heavy rains or thunderstorms, when there is a low tide, you will find colorful pieces of nature-made sea glass on this beach.
Go to the beaches only on a low tide or it could be dangerous since you can easily get swept up in the tide pools.
5. La Jolla Cove or Shell Beach In La Jolla, San Diego
Its name “LA Jolla” translates to “Jewel City“. La Jolla has many beaches but the two best sea glass beaches to go to are La Jolla Cove or Shell Beach.
Shell Beach is a fairly small area but you can find a great amount of green and brown sea glass here. You can also find clear glass here. Staying true to its name, Shell Beach also has a lot of seashells along with sea glass that is worth exploring.
You can also find seals along the shore cliffs along the coast of Shell Beach.
6. Del Monte Beach In Monterey
Del Monte Beach is found in the Northern California and is a popular sea glass beach in California. This beach has a lot of sea glass. The reason why this was possible is because of the humongous flood of 1970 which washed up the trash from Lundberg Studio. Glass kept getting washed up on the shore every time there was a storm.
Going to this beach to have a fun day with your friends and family is a must but make sure to be careful as the waves and tides can be harsh. Many people who don’t take the tidal warnings seriously can end up getting seriously hurt.
7. Coyote Point, San Mateo County, San Francisco Bay
Coyote point might be a small stretch of a beach but it does not disappoint when it comes to finding sea glass.
This Beach in San Francisco Bay is an easily neglected sea glass beach because people assume you won’t find any sea glass here, but contrary to this idea, there have been many reports of beach glass finds.
You will be able to find mostly green but also amber and brown beach glass here.
8. Carbon Beach, Malibu, LA County
Malibu is a widely famous beach in Los Angeles. Many people go to Malibu to swim, get a tan, surf, and have fun on the beach but that is not the only attraction of this beach. Carbon Beach on Malibu has a lot of sea glass.
If you want to go to Malibu to collect sea glass, make sure you arrive early since Malibu is a very important tourist attraction. It is bound to be crowded when you reach there.
There are rose quarts or Moonstone-type-looking pieces of sea glass on this beach. Finding larger pieces on a crowded beach can get a bit difficult since most local vendors hunt for the glass to sell to tourists.
9. Crystal Cove State Park, Newport:
Newport is a coast in southern California. There are many beaches in Newport including Crystal Cove State Park, Aliso Beach, Laguna Beach, and Newport Beach itself.
Crystal Cove is a great place to hunt for Sea Glass. Many people from around LA come to Newport beaches to surf.
It is dangerous to swim here because of the high-riding waves. But because of these high waves, this coast has beautiful glassy pebbles from the north to the south. They are usually hidden in the sand and need to be dug out while on a hunt.
Bottom Line
All the beaches where you can find sea glass are easily accessible. These beaches usually are recreation centers and have parks around the beaches. So when you do go sea glass hunting, you can make a day out of it! See the small town around the beaches you’re going to or shop in the tourist shops where you can find sea glass and seashell jewelry products.
There are many other glassy beaches that you can find in California. Since California sea glass is a very famous concept, it is sold at higher prices in shops. Instead of buying these with your money, you can go to a sea glass beach and collect the beach glass and sea glass yourself.
But if you want the sea glass jewelry, it would be advisable to get it done by professionals instead of trying it yourself since these nature-bent pebbles can be delicate and can break easily if tinkered with.
There is no shortage of beaches in California. Go for a great vacation and spend one day collecting these coolest co-created man-nature creations. The California State Water Resources hav done a great job in keeping these water clean for visitors.
Also read: Wonderful and Exotic Places in California
