Lantern Cove Beach

Lantern Cove is a small, rocky beach at the north end of Marisol Cove, named for the wrought-iron lantern that once hung over the top of its bluff stairway. It is quieter than the main town beach because access is on foot only, down a steep public stair from Bluff Road.¹

The Sea Cave

At the south end of the cove, a shallow sea cave cuts about forty feet into the sandstone bluff. It is walkable at low tide and floods completely at high tide, so the tide chart is not optional here. The cave opens toward the west, and on clear evenings the setting sun reaches the back wall for a few minutes.²

The sandstone is soft and undercut in places; the town posts seasonal signs after winter storms when the roof sheds slabs.

Tide Pools

The reef shelf on the north side holds some of the deepest tide pools in the marine preserve. Ochre sea stars, aggregating anemones, and the occasional octopus turn up in the lower pools. Collecting is prohibited inside the preserve boundary, which runs from the cove mouth south along the shelf.

Access

• Bluff Road stair — a public concrete stairway from the end of Bluff Road; no lot, limited street parking.
• Beach walk — at low tide you can walk north from the town pier, past the Harborlight Cafe, in about fifteen minutes.

The stair is closed during high-surf advisories. For the ridge above the cove, the Summit Ridge Trail trailhead is a short walk up Bluff Road.