Seacliff State Beach recovery effort seeks input in community meeting

APTOS — The long rebuilding process from storm damage for Seacliff and New Brighton state beaches will continue Tuesday with a community meeting.

Seacliff State Beach in Aptos was devastated by storms in late 2022 and early 2023. The beach’s entire beachfront campground was destroyed, as was the iconic pier leading to concrete freighter SS Palo Alto. Seawalls and walkways suffered damages, as did parts of New Brighton State Beach in Capitola.

Since the storms in 2023, California State Parks and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks have been working on plans for rebuilding the beaches and ensuring that they will be more resilient to storms in the future.

“It would be foolish to spend millions of dollars to put things back the way they were before,” said Bonny Hawley, executive director of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. “We know that the coast is changing and that climate change is causing impacts every day to our coasts, so we want to be thoughtful and work with the public on what is the best alternative.”

To determine what that best alternative might look like, Seacliff Resilience, a collaboration between California State Parks, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks and Parks California, has been conducting surveys and studies since 2023.

Tuesday, State Parks will return with information on two planning efforts. The first is a camping feasibility study, which will evaluate relocation opportunities for Seacliff’s RV campsite. Candidates for the new camping area include the existing campground at New Brighton State Beach, the Porter-Sesnon area of New Brighton, Seacliff State Beach and Sunset State Beach, according to the Seacliff Resilience website.

State Parks will also share information about a coastal facilities management plan for the two beaches. This plan will outline projects at five sites in the area, with the goal of making them more resilient to climate change and sea level rise. State Parks will share initial concepts for the sites and gather community feedback to further refine the plans.

“These are public spaces,” Hawley said. “They’re a very important piece of our local economy and our recreation. … Getting robust public input is really important.”

The planning process for Seacliff and New Brighton began in fall 2023, with a visitor experience survey to understand what people value the most about Seacliff and New Brighton state beaches. The survey was followed by an assessment of the beaches’ vulnerability to sea level rise.

Then, in September 2025, Seacliff Resilience shared several recommended preferred actions for areas including Seacliff State Beach’s day use area and RV campground, as well as features of the Rio Del Mar Esplanade such as restrooms and seawalls. The recommendations were based on how the areas are expected to respond to rising sea levels over the next 25 years. The recommendations consisted of relocating some facilities inland, planting native vegetation and the removal and relocation of Seacliff’s RV campground.