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Davenport Landing and El Jarro Point |
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These sites offer more rocky shore and bluffs, but also some excellent sea-watching and a willow thicket. Take Davenport Landing Rd from Hwy 1, 10 miles north of Western Dr (Santa Cruz), or 2.5 miles north of Bonny Doon Rd. Follow it a short way to a parking area beside the beach. Check the beach and excellent intertidal rock shelves to the north and south, as well as the willows and weeds inland of the parking area (good for migrants). El Jarro Pt, west of the beach, is one of the best sea-watching posts in the county, by virtue of its westward extension and its convenient elevation (about 60 feet) above the ocean. To get there, find the steep unmarked path that climbs the bluff at the northwest end of the beach parking area, then follow an overgrown agricultural road west along the bluff top for about 0.4 mile. Spring sea-watching has been especially productive here, producing even Laysan Albatross and Sabine’s Gull. Rhinoceros Auklet and Marbled Murrelet are often seen from here. Viewing is best in the first part of the morning, before the sea gets glary or the wind raises a chop.
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