Fort Ord Dunes

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Fort Ord Dunes State Park.  Its a beach with lots of large sand dunes a little north of Monterey.  It was a little overcast and slightly on the chilly side but everyone warmed up from running around.  Here we are up by the parking lot.  From what I understand this is a relatively new state park and this all used to be part of the Fort Ord military base.  There used to be a club out here on the cliff but they had to demolish it a few years back because of the cliff erosion making it unsafe.

A short walk got us down to the beach.

The kids had fun climbing and scrambling on the dunes.

We wished we had brought a sled or two.

Maybe next time.

Scott watched some of the kids down by the water.

John and Grant climbed pretty far up the dune.

Can you spot them?

John got surprised by a large wave and fell down in the water.  He got wet up to his chest.  He told me he wasn't fast enough to run away from the wave.  Poor John.  Luckily I had a change of clothes for him in the car.

Emma was afraid of the noise the ocean makes.

She told me it was too loud.

She didn't want to go near the water by herself.

There was lots of running around and exploring on the sand.

 I think we'll be back!

Maybe we'll go swimming next time.

There's Scott...and all the gear I had to carry back.  Most everyone abandoned their shoes and coats.  I should have brought a bag.

Little (wet) boy on a big dune.

After playing by the water for a while we headed back to the car.

There was more dune climbing on the way back.

It was such a fun place and relatively uncrowded.

 All the kids want to come back with sleds and beach gear.  Glad we found a fun new beach.