The Coastline Dispatch: West Cliff Is Moving and the Otters Are Back
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The story this week
The city is moving West Cliff Drive. Not the path. The road.
The council saw the realignment designs this week, and Lookout is already calling it Carmageddon, which tells you how this one is going to go. The cliffs lose chunks every winter, so the road has to move inland. The argument is about what happens to the space it leaves: the parking along the edge, the path everyone actually uses, the stairs the surfers carry boards down before sunrise.
I walk this road more than any other in the county. I've heard every version of this fight on it. The dog walkers who want it closed to cars. The surfers who say you take the parking, you take the lineup. They love the same road. They just want it different.
Watch on TikTok
The full story, with the footage, is on the site: coastlinelocals.com/blog/west-cliff-drive-moving/
So, what do you want West Cliff to be? A road or a path?
Around the county
Sea otters at McAbee. I got to McAbee Beach in Monterey before Cannery Row woke up. The otters were floating in the kelp like they pay rent, and by 9am the kayak tours had taken over the water. There's a mom and a pup in the video.
Cabrillo is back. Classes started Monday. The Watsonville Center grew 71 percent in two years, and the main campus is full again.
Seacliff wants your input. The recovery effort at Seacliff State Beach is holding a community meeting and asking for opinions. The cement ship's beach, coming back. We'll be there.
La Placa came down the mountain. The family behind the Ben Lomond Bakery reopened in Scotts Valley as a full restaurant. Pastries from 7am, dinner until 9:30.
Today in the 831
First light 6:33 AM · Last light 7:46 PM · Water 62°F · Waves 3 ft, mixed · Air 79°F · UV 7.4 · Air quality 87
Small swell, soft and mixed. The water is 62, which feels cold until you're in it. The morning is the good window: Pleasure Point before 8, or walk the Lane and watch the fog burn off the point. Live swell check at coastlinelocals.com.
What we saw out there
Otters at McAbee, pelicans working the kelp off Natural Bridges, harbor seals back on the rocks at Capitola. Whale season is still a couple months out, but the humpbacks that stayed all summer are still around. If you spot something good, tell us. We'll go look.
The local's tip
Parking at Pleasure Point on a sunny Saturday is a war zone. Go at 7am or not at all. The water doesn't care what time you show up.
Walk of the week: West Cliff Drive, before the fog burns off. Start at the lighthouse, head north to the sea caves. It's the road that's about to change, so walk it while it's still this version of itself. The silent full walk is on the site.
Coming up
- Midtown Fridays, Aug 28, 5-8:30pm, 1111 Soquel Ave. Free music, the block party runs through the end of August. This is the one to catch.
- Seacliff State Beach community meeting, this week, input on the recovery plan. Your beach, your call.
- Tuesday Night Live on the Wharf, if the wind holds, free music on the water.
This spot is open
One local business gets this space each week. We'd shoot a reel, tell your story in our voice, and put it in front of the list. That's the whole offer, no fine print. If you want it, reply to this email and we'll talk.
See you at the Point
The road is moving, the otters are back, and the county is full of people who love the same places differently. That's the whole story, every week.