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Coastside

The local name for the San Mateo County coast, from Pacifica south through Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada, Princeton and Half Moon Bay to Pescadero.

Locals say Coastside to mean the stretch of San Mateo County that faces the Pacific. A regional tourism page lists El Granada, Half Moon Bay, Montara, Moss Beach, Pacifica, Pescadero and Princeton by the Sea as Coastside towns.

The communities run along Highway 1. Half Moon Bay is the largest, with El Granada, Princeton-by-the-Sea, Moss Beach and Montara to the north, and Purissima, San Gregorio and Pescadero to the south. Princeton sits at Pillar Point Harbor, while the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is at Moss Beach.

The Half Moon Bay Review, founded in 1905, describes itself as serving the Coastside from Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line. It printed a broadsheet every Wednesday until 2024, when it went digital-only.

More on this site: history

Sources

Questions people ask

What is the Coastside?

A local name for the San Mateo County coast, including Half Moon Bay, Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada, Princeton-by-the-Sea and Pescadero.

How far is the Coastside from San Francisco?

Half Moon Bay is about 25 miles south of San Francisco, and Moss Beach and Montara are somewhat closer.

Related terms

  • Half Moon BayA coastal city in San Mateo County about 25 miles south of San Francisco, named for the crescent shape of its bay and incorporated in 1959.
  • Princeton-by-the-SeaA small unincorporated harbor community just north of Half Moon Bay’s city limits, home to Pillar Point Harbor’s restaurants and docks.
  • El GranadaA village north of Half Moon Bay laid out as a seaside resort by Daniel Burnham for the Ocean Shore Railroad, with curving, circular streets.
  • Moss BeachA coastal community north of Pillar Point, home to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the former Prohibition roadhouse now called Moss Beach Distillery.
  • MontaraA small community on the north end of the Coastside, below Montara Mountain, with a steep surf beach and a name whose origin is still debated.
  • Half Moon Bay ReviewThe Coastside’s newspaper since 1905, now digital-only, covering the coast from Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line.

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