pillar point harbor

It was great to see all the working fishing boats, rather than the yatchs that I thought would be there. A number of the fishing boats were selling their catch directly to the public. This was a nice stop to our day in the Half Moon Bay area.

A few restaurants selling seafood, a dock that goes out into the bay, not much to shout about, but nearby are a couple good restaurants.

A fun little harbor to walk around, catch a bite to eat, and buy fresh fish and crab. We enjoyed watching the big sailboats come in to fuel up at the end of the dock.

The harbor is a working harbor with salty fisherman who bring in the fresh catch. Best bet during November to March is come in and find some fresh crab right off the boat. You will never have had crab this great. If you don't know how or are too far from home to cook it, go up to Princeton Seafoods who will for a reasonable fee cook and clean it for you. If you're more advanced, bring it home, boil in a big pot for 20 minutes with spices and salt, clean it in your kitchen (use a hammer, clean out all the gunk out of the middle of the crab) and enjoy with cocktail sauce or melted butter.During other seasons you can get great seafood like salmon, halibut or other seasonal fish right from the fishermen. Again, Princeton Seafood is the go-to for cleaning it properly. If you cannot find any fresh catch got to Princeton Seafood for the best seafood in town. Also get some of their clam chowder to go, awesome.When you arrive check the harbor-master white board right away, this will tell you which boats have which seafood. Also bring cash, while some take CC's now cash is king.

We love coming here to get our fresh crabs off the fishing boats during crab season. There are good places to eat around the pier and just a nice place to hang out during the weekend.

We really enjoyed walking there as it's very authentic.The birds seem not to be afraid of anything and let people approach.They also know when workers clean the fish and there is the whole bunch of them fighting for food.It's funny to watch.When the crab season starts at the end of November,they sell it right from the boats.But at the very beginning they are quite pricy as they explained that it's the best crab caught at the beginning of the season.

This is a great harbor to launch out of. We started our weekend on opening day of the crabbing season to drop our crab pots. Seas were not favorable so we got out and back in quickly and decided to wait until the following day to get our traps. It was easy to grab an overnight slip at a reasonable cost. The harbor also has some really good choices for dinning and also fishing from the jettys. Would definitely recommend!

This is a very cute little harbor with real sailors and ship captains who visit the restaurants and bars. Great place to buy fresh seafood. Great seafood served at the quaint restaurants. Nothing fancy, but really good.

Take you time and enjoy Pillar Point Harbor. You can spend the whole day, especially if the weather is good. At the north end you can drive around and park in the small lot. From there you can walk around the north of the harbor at the base of the cliff where there are wonderful safe beaches for small children. Keep walking and you get to the ocean beach and a view of the famous Mavericks. In the harbor itself, you can walk out on the pier. Depending on the season, you can buy fish or crab right off the boats! From there you can walk south toward Surfer Beach where you will pass another lovely beach to relax on or play on. At ay time if you need refreshments there are many restaurants to stop in and enjoy.

This is a small coastal fishing harbor just south of San Francisco with some good restaurants worth trying. There are some excellent hiking trails and walks along the harbor front and around Pillar Point where you will usually see sea lions, pelicans and cormorants.

In MY opinion anyway …. this was finally one of the best views, that combines all the things that you want in a coastal view that is not a state park … proximity to town, access to the water and all its activities, a Pacific view, and shopping and good restaurants nearby … it delivers!

#1 It's free parking and puts you on the north end of 5+ miles of beach going south past Half Moon Bay State Beach. And there are restrooms here. All other beach accesses require a fee. There's a good, mostly paved, walkway this entire length if you don't want to walk on sand which in some places at high tide is not possible. This is a working fishing harbor with boats gassing up, taking on ice, or unloading their catch. Many boats sell their catch fresh off the boat. Restaurants are adequate and handy--Ketch Joanne is the best. Kayaking rental available--the harbor inside the breakwater is big.

We have visited Pillar Point Harbor numerous times,. This time we visited the calamari (squid) fishing ships were in and as such lots of bigger boats and the harbor was busy., We have also been there during crab season. Throughout the year as fish are in season, people go here to buy fish right off the boat. Since crab season is in the winter, its very popular to stop by here during the holidays to buy crab fresh and right off the boat. Other times of year, salmon might be for sell,.Its a fun place to walk the harbor area and see the boats. its also a place where you can rent kayaks and go out kayaking.Deep sea fishing excursions are also available from the harbor area.There are numerous restaurants right by to enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner....or just to have a drink.People can also go recreational fishing.We always enjoy visiting this area, and if in Half Moon Bay, recommend stopping by and seeing this lively harbor area.There is parking (for free with some time limitations - 2 hours or so) close by.The harbor master office is also in this area and there you can see the fish count for the day as well as read about the history of the area.