Monastery Beach - Warning - This is truly swim at your own risk!!

Thank you all for visiting and for your gracious and appreciated comments! I wish I could thank each of you personally. Have a great creative day! Please do not use my photograph without my express consent. All rights reserved. Kathleen


Monastery Beach gets its name from the Carmelite Monastery Mission across Highway 1 from the beach. The monastery is currently home of the Nuns of Carmel. This beautiful sandy beach is popular on sunny days, but it is not a swimming beach. Due to its shape there is a severe undertow and rip current in the cove that can suck swimmers out to certain death. The nickname of the beach is Mortuary Beach and it has been called the most dangerous beach in California. Another name for the beach is San Jose Creek Beach for the creek that runs behind the beach before entering the cove at the north end. The creek flows down through a stunning canyon behind the beach in a large property called Point Lobos Ranch. The ranch land is a new state park property which hopefully will be open to the public in the near future. At the north end of Monastery Beach there is a trail that wraps around the bay to Carmel Meadows Beach and Carmel River State Beach. Experienced scuba divers frequently dive at Monastery Beach and at nearby Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.