Asilomar Beach, A Place Like No Other

Asilomar Beach, Asilomar, California

    

Asilomar Beach is truly a place like no other, and is an escape from the stresses of life that is literally just over the hill from everything. My husband and I found Asilomar Beach while we were stationed at the Army Post in Monterey for training, and from the moment that we first drove over the hill into Asilomar and saw the beach, we were hooked. There were many memories made in the two years that we frequented our little piece of heaven.

Though it is only a few miles from bustling commercial centers, it feels like it is light years away from the worries of the world. The sea air smells of salt that is carried on the mist floating in the air above the rumbling cacophony of waves crashing into the craggy rocks jutting out from the waters at the shoreline. During the migration season, whales can be spotted from the beach as they make the long and arduous journey up and down the coastline; even killer whales are sometimes visible during these times. On still summer nights listeners have the treat of being serenaded by the songs of sea lions that are faintly audible from the wharf in Monterey. It is a beautiful spot that holds all the wonders of nature on the fringes of civilization.

Phoebe Apperson Hearst

Ellen Browning Scripps

      Asilomar had very humble beginnings and still maintains its link with nature today. From 1897 until 1913 the Young Women’s Christian Association, or YWCA, was growing in number and periodically the staff and members would get together to have meetings which lead to the formation of the YWCA Regional Conferences.  The committee for the Pacific Northwest was call the Pacific Coast Field Committee and was headed by Phoebe Apperson Hearst (the mother of William Randolph Hearst), Ellen Browning Scripps, Mrs. Warren Olney and Mary Sroufe Merrill.

     The name Asilomar was actually made up by a student from Stanford, Helen Salisbury, who won a competition that was held by the YWCA to name their piece of the Monterey Bay Coastline. According to the official site for the Asilomar Conference Grounds, the word Asilomar comes from the Spanish word “asilo”, meaning refuge, and “mar”, which means sea, making Asilomar the “refuge by the sea”. [1]

     At the second conference held by the Pacific Coast Field Committee, there was a dedication ceremony and the following excerpt was published in the Monterey American, a local newspaper, on August 8, 1913:

     “Fully two thousand people gathered yesterday to witness the huge pageant play presented by the young women of the YWCA at their new grounds. The whole affair was a most vivid true and living symbol of exactly the lines of Christian work the young ladies are attempting to accomplish toward the betterment of the world so that the general public can understand and appreciate its wide scope and tremendous value.”

Wooden Pathway at Asilomar Beach

     Asilomar Beach, like most of the coastline along central California, is a tourist attraction for many beach activities, but there is something unexplainable that makes it stand out among the rest. The water is colder than at other beaches in California because of its direct exposure to the ocean, but it is still a very popular place for snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, fishing, kite flying, and even weddings. [2] For more of the “typical” beach activity of sun bathing, we would frequent either Monterey Beach, which was usually very crowded and not very picturesque, or the Carmel beach, but that was a bit of a drive from where we lived on the army base in Monterey. 

Lover's Point near Asilomar Beach, California

     There are sections of sandy beach much like the ones you would find down the coast at Carmel Beach, but it is mainly rocky with some rocky crags that are accessible when the tide is out. My husband and I loved to park our car in one of the small parking areas and walk up and down the beach just to see what we could find in the sand, or, if the tide was out, we would see if we could figure out a way to get to the boulders like the ones in the first picture without falling in the water. There are also walking trails that are bordered by rickety fences with the beach and ocean to one side and an endless sea of wild flowers and shrubbery growing out of the sand on the other that makes the perfect backdrop for a beach wedding. 
 

Flowers in spring along Asilomar coastline

Cannery Row, Monterey, California

     Though there are no facilities on the beach itself, there are several towns nearby with restaurants, shopping, and lodging. Pacific Grove is the adjacent to the beach and boasts beautiful inns and a quaint shopping district. Monterey is located to the east of Asilomar Beach and is bustling with activity at the historic Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck in his aptly named

Great White Shark released from Monterey Bay Aquarium on 31 March 2005 after biting 2 other sharks.

novel Cannery Row, as well as his novel Sweet Thursday [3]. Cannery Row is also the home to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Be careful with swimming near areas where they have aquariums though. A group of us went swimming at the beach two days after the aquarium released the great white shark they had in captivity, only we didn’t find out about the shark until that next Monday when we were back in class. 

     The Fisherman’s Wharf which

Old Fisherman's Wharf sign in Monterey, California

houses numerous seafood restaurants and has some of the best clam chowder bread bowls my husband and I have ever had. Right on the water and part of the fishing industry that used to dominate this part of the California coastline, it is perfectly suited to handle a lot of traffic and always has fresh seafood. The Wharf and Cannery Row are the only places in the area that have souvenir shops, so they are mixed in with both casual and more

The Old Fisherman's Wharf as viewed from the beach.

formal restaurants to create a touristy atmosphere. The Del Monte Center is another place near Asilomar Beach that has many stores, a tanning salon, a Whole Foods Market, a large movie theater, and also boasts a California Pizza Kitchen that opened its doors in 2005. 

Beach view of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

     Also down the coast from the beach are the illustrious Pebble Beach Golf Course, 17-mile Drive which my husband and I drove around too many times to count because of its beauty, and the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, home to many famous persons in both our time and bygone eras such as Clint Eastwood. According to the official website for the city of Carmel, “It’s a place with charm and sophistication that makes everyone feel like a celebrity.” [4]

     Sadly, there is no camping on the beach. There is a strict 1 a.m. curfew where the beach is to be vacated. The nearest beach camping would be Pismo Beach quite a few miles to the south. There is camping in the hills a few miles inland from Asilomar Beach at Veteran’s Park though. The facilities are clean and well-kept, and the price is very affordable at only 27 dollars per night. One perk about this campground is that with its proximity to the army base, “Taps” can be heard every night at 10 p.m. A drawback is that “Reveille” is also very audible at the crack of dawn every morning. That didn’t bother us when we stayed there though, because we heard that everyday anyway living on the base. In fact, we could see our barracks from our campsite usually.

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Asilomar, California

     Point Pinos Lighthouse is an old lighthouse near Asilomar Beach that shines its beacon to warn sailors against the treacherous rocky coastline. Constructed in 1855, it is the oldest continuously running lighthouse on the west coast. [5]

     Overall, Asilomar Beach has a little bit of everything. It has the powerful Pacific Ocean beating rhythmically against the shore, fields of purple blossoms in the springtime, an interesting and varied history, and it is in close proximity to a wealth of amenities and cultural history, yet still lends a feeling of being free of “real life”. It is a great place to make memories, whether it is lounging on the beach on a sunny afternoon, climbing the massive crags in search of shells and wildlife, or even having a wedding with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. There is no place like Asilomar Beach.

Asilomar Beach at sunset

References:

[1] Asilomar Conference Grounds, The Complete Story, http://www.visitasilomar.com/history/asilomar-the-complete-story.aspx, 2010, accessed 4 April 2013

[2] Asilomar State Beach, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilomar_State_Beach, 9 May 2012, accessed 6 April 2013

[3] Cannery Row, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannery_Row, 3 March 2013, accessed 6 April 2013

[4] Celebrity Lifestyle in Carmel-by-the-Sea, http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/index.cfm/carmel_celebrity_lifestyle.htm, accessed 5 April 2013

[5] Point Pinos Lighthouse, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Pinos_Lighthouse, 19 March 2013, accessed 5 April 2013

Pictures:

1.      Asilomar State Beach- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Asilomar_Beach_2003-10-12.jpg

2.      Phoebe Apperson Hearst- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phoebe_Apperson_Hearst.jpg

3.      Ellen Browning Scripps- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ellen_browning_scripps.png

4.      Lovers’ Point- http://images.placesonline.com/photos/14599_monterey_lovers_point.jpg

5.      Cannery Row- http://www.miis.edu/media/view/23509/standard/montereycanneryrow.jpg

6.      Great White shark- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Bay_Aquarium

7.      Old Fisherman’s Wharf Sign- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Fisherman%27s_Wharf_Sign,_Monterey,_CA,_4_December,_2011.JPG

8.      Old Fisherman’s Wharf- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman's_Wharf,_Monterey,_California

9.      Carmel-by-the-Sea- http://www.lamag.com/travel/2012/05/01/carmel-ca

10.  Point Pinos Lighthouse- http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/attachments/57498/

11.  Asilomar sunset- http://endaxei.com/