Visit Half Moon Bay

Visit Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is where coast and countryside meet—an easy escape with a historic downtown, working harbor, local farms, and room to slow down.

Here, along the stunning Pacific coast, opportunities for exploration are limited only by your imagination. Sea adventures include exploring the abundance of sea life, kayaking, surfing, and fishing, whale watching, and boating. But there's just as much reason to keep your feet landlocked. You can shop or see sights in Exploring Half Moon Bay California historic downtown, take scenic driving tours

, taste wine, play world-class golf, discover some of the state's most beautiful and pristine beaches and tide pools, watch big-wave surfers or birds, ride horses, hike or bike redwood forests, browse and buy ultra-fresh flowers and organic produce while touring local farms and nurseries, join locals for festive events, get married, or just get away from it all. In fact, the only thing you won't find at this seaside hamlet that time forgot is the commercialization that usually accompany California's most majestic destinations.

06/02/2026

About 90,000 baby Chinook salmon got a head start on life this week at Pillar Point Harbor, with Chamber CEO Krystlyn pulling the lever that sent them off.

It’s the 15th year the Coastside Fishing Club has acclimated young salmon from the Mokelumne River hatchery, trucking them to the end of Johnson Pier before releasing them to the open ocean. The point is to skip the stretch of river where low water, warm temps, and predators take a heavy toll. Once the fish acclimate to saltwater, they’re set loose. This season’s program will push the total past 10 million fish over 15 years. Some get caught by commercial and recreational fishers down the line. Most go on to do what salmon do.

The folks behind the program are local fisherfolk. They’re not in it for attention. They want a healthy fishery, they want to pass what they know to the next generation, and they want their corner of the Pacific in good shape for whoever fishes it next.

That’s what makes Pillar Point what it is. A working harbor moving at its own pace, with small good things happening when you’re not looking.

The fields you see from Highway 1 aren't decoration. Half Moon Bay has been a farming town since the 1800s, shaped by ge...
06/01/2026

The fields you see from Highway 1 aren't decoration. Half Moon Bay has been a farming town since the 1800s, shaped by generations of families who saw what the cool air and mineral-rich soil could do.

Brussels sprouts, artichokes, beans, pumpkins, flowers. The crops change with the season, but the work doesn't.

That's why the town still moves the way it does. Slow seasons. Saturday markets. Restaurants sourcing from a few miles up the road. It all makes more sense once you know the history.

05/27/2026

Consider this your sign.

There’s a particular kind of quiet you only get on a weekday morning at the coast. The crowds haven’t arrived. The fog is still deciding what to do. The waves do their thing whether anyone’s watching or not.

Bundle up. Get coffee. Walk a little. Stay longer than you planned.

The beach will be here on Saturday too — but it won’t feel like this.

05/25/2026

Traffic on Highway 1 was rough this week — CalTrans is repairing the highway, and the signal timing through town was off. It made the news, and rightfully so.
But we saw engineers out at the intersections, working on the lights. And this afternoon, Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, we drove from Pillar Point Harbor to downtown in 12 minutes.
We’re not declaring victory, and we’ll leave the official word to those in the know. Just one drive, just one observation. But it felt worth sharing.

Look up on Main Street and you'll find the I.O.O.F. Hall, built in 1895 from lumber milled at the head of Purisima Creek...
05/20/2026

Look up on Main Street and you'll find the I.O.O.F. Hall, built in 1895 from lumber milled at the head of Purisima Creek.

It's one of a handful of buildings still standing from before the 1906 earthquake — donated by the Hatch family, the same name you'll see on the elementary school down the road.

Half Moon Bay's downtown has been here a while. It's worth slowing down for.

Some mornings on the Coastside don't ask anything of you.Just light through the fog. The sound of waves below. A walk th...
05/17/2026

Some mornings on the Coastside don't ask anything of you.

Just light through the fog. The sound of waves below. A walk that doesn't need a destination.

The part of Half Moon Bay you stay an extra night for.

Middle of the week. No agenda. No crowds. Your to-do list isn't going anywhere. Drive over the hill, walk the beach, hav...
05/13/2026

Middle of the week. No agenda. No crowds. Your to-do list isn't going anywhere. Drive over the hill, walk the beach, have a long lunch downtown. You'll be back before dark — and it'll feel like you were gone for days.

The 5th Annual Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival takes over Historic Main Street this Saturday — 35 wineries, live jazz...
05/08/2026

The 5th Annual Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival takes over Historic Main Street this Saturday — 35 wineries, live jazz music, local food, and the kind of afternoon that’s hard to leave. General Admission is $68 and includes a commemorative tasting glass.
This Saturday, May 9, noon to 5pm. Tickets at hmbjazz.com.

05/06/2026

A morning walk by the harbor turned into an afternoon on Main Street, dinner by the water, and sunset at Surfers’ Beach. Some places just have a way of slowing the day down.

Small businesses are the soul of this town. From Main Street shops and galleries to the restaurants and vendors down at ...
05/05/2026

Small businesses are the soul of this town. From Main Street shops and galleries to the restaurants and vendors down at the harbor, the people who run this place give it its character. This week and every week, stop in, say hello, and pick up something local.

Address

508 Main Street
Half Moon Bay, CA
94019

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