California: Pebble Beach/Bean Hollow State Beach
January 9, 2013 37 Comments
Pebble Beach Overlook
Pebble Beach – Long Exposure
Rainbow Seaweed on Pebble Beach
Colorful Pebbles on Beach
Tafoni Rock Layers
Tafoni Rock with Mushroom Shape
Tafoni Rock Honeycomb Pattern
Tafoni Rock Filled with Pebbles
Close-Up of Colorful Pebbles
Pebbles and Sea Glass
Pebble Beach/Bean Hollow State Beach (south of San Francisco) is famous for its tafoni rock and pebble-covered beach. The lacework tafoni rock is soft sandstone that has been eroded by the wind and waves. The colorful pebbles are composed of various rocks including green jade, red chert, white agate, jasper, moonstones, and petrified wood. The rocks are washed in from an offshore Pleistocene-era gravel bed. Many geological field trips come to this unique location. More info is at: https://www.kqed.org/quest/19198/geological-outings-around-the-bay-pebble-beach
About Pam
naturetime 
Hi,
I love the different rock formations, and the colours of the pebbles are magnificent. It just seems to be right for the seaweed also to have colour, very nice.
It’s a very special place! Other goodies you can find on the beach include sea glass, turban shells, and starfish.
Interesting…
I would like to know more about the formation of these rocks.
I would be grateful if you could enlighten me on the same….
It is essentially Pleistocene-era gravel from the sea. Here is a wonderful link: http://science.kqed.org/quest/2011/03/03/geological-outings-around-the-bay-pebble-beach/
Thank you
Fascinating and beautiful!! Next time I visit my family I’m going to insist on a visit… Those rocks!! I love them!
It’s a beautiful place, and there is alot to see along that area of the coast. Let me know before you go and I’ll give you some personal tips!
MOST definitely!!!! Thank you…. 🙂
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and this is a really special beach. Where in California? I have been a few times but didn’t see this one and it’s great…
This beach is south of San Francisco between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz (close to Pescadero). It is well worth a visit and also one of the few that allow dogs to play in the surf.
More treasures from the beaches of California. Beautiful!
This is a really beautify post. I can’t believe all these gemstone pebbles are in one place! Sp pretty! I adore them! And I can feel them under my feet. Your photography is beautiful 🙂
It is one of our favorite places that we have ever been. You sit on the beach and just pick up handfuls of pebbles and admire the pretty colors!
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Glad you enjoyed it. Pebble Beach is a special place.
I carry a green pebble around in my purse. Bought for me by my mum but chosen by me for the heat I felt in my hand when I held it. These images reach out to be touched. So many wondrous colours in one place and in such formations. It’s magical looking.x
It is a place that touches the soul – a special place made all the more incredible by knowing all the life in the ocean offshore. Sometimes you’ll see whales spouting, sea lions swimming, jellyfish, and even colorful starfish on the beach. Ahhhhh – I need to see it again.
Love the photos of the tiny rocks that have fallen into the holes on the larger rock. Your photos are wonderful and make me want to go there.
It is truly one of our very favorite places that we’ve ever been. It is just magical the way the wind, waves, and rock interact. It looks a little bit different every time we visit. We live in Florida now, but try to visit California at least once per year and always find time to see Pebble Beach and the Monterey/Big Sur area.
Just nice.
Thanks! It is a special place.
Thanks for gracing my blog. Really inspirational.
What a special place, thanks for sharing !
My pleasure! I hope you get to visit someday!
Can you keep the pebbles?
You cannot keep the pebbles from this beach, but there are other areas along the coast where you may keep them.
The rocks with “pockets” were beautiful, Pam. I reakly like the feel of wea there’d rocks, smoothed by a lake, stream or ocean:)
I’ve always liked rocks. I have a big collection of them. When we moved, the moving guy said “What’s in this box – rocks?” To his surprise, I said yes!
I did not mean for my phone to change the words earlier and I have pieces of nature in my one bedroom apt, Pam. I have blue beach glass in every “pocket” of my car, too. My grandkids love the smoothness of Lake Erie rocks. Although my 3 kids have been to the ocean, only half of my grandies have been. Next year, Spring, my oldest daughter and 2 boys plan to go to the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe someday, they will get to head West. 🙂
I like your telling us the ancient age period and (gems, semi-precious) rock’s identities. Thanks for sharing this beautiful location. Showed the photo to my artist brother and he told me he has a similar photo of the beach, grass, seaweed and the water on Pebble Beach. 🙂
That is so nice! And I sincerely hope your grandkids get to experience the beach sometime soon. The coast is completely different on the East vs. West coasts, but I love each the same for different reasons. Glad I’m not the only one with so many nature souvenirs. My office (computer room) doubles for what my family calls the “museum”. I always come home from a trip with rocks. I ordered online a rock from the Great Lakes – it is fossilized coral (really stunning looking). Love hearing from you!
Great photos!
It is a special place!
I an looking to obtain a small hand full of pebbles from pebble beach ca near 18th hole golf course for a friend who is ill. He’s dreamed of go n there.. I want to bring it to him.. before it’s too late.. please contact me
Hi, Mary. There are two Pebble Beaches in this part of California: one just south of San Francisco, and the other 1 1/2 hours south just below Monterey. I so wish I could get the pebbles for you from the golf course, but I now live in Florida. I am so sorry about your friend. I could send you a pebble in my collection from the beach there, but it wouldn’t be from the 18th hole. Let me know. Prayers for you and your friend.
Mary, I would love to send you a colorful handful of pebbles. Contact me at pgwinegar@aol.com.
Very interesting Pam
It’s a beautiful place!