Frolic Cove Beach(Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park)

Located near the northern end of Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park, Frolic Cove Beach is a small beach in Mendocino County. The beach is situated below steep oceanfront bluffs and has brown sand. Frolic Cove Beach is a part of a cove called Frolic Cove. The beach also has some rocky parts and a small waterfall also falls onto it from the blufftop area above. 

While Frolic Cove Beach does not have lifeguards or any other amenities, the blufftop state park area above the beach has walking trails and restrooms. The beach also allows dogs on leash. 

Frolic Cove Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, wildlife watching, swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, and boating. If you are planning to go into the water near Frolic Cove Beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is cold and known to have dangerous rip currents. The water near the beach is home to many animals including seals, sea lions, and migrating grey whales (between December and April). It is important to note that fishing is not allowed in the water near Frolic Cove Beach as it is a part of a marine reserve. If you like birdwatching, the beach and the blufftop area above it are home to many kinds of birds including oystercatchers, ospreys, kites, and cormorants.

Getting to Frolic Cove Beach is easy - from the free parking lot for Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park, you need to walk on the North Trail which offers a steep and rocky path down to Frolic Cove Beach. However, we recommend visiting the beach wearing appropriate footwear as the beach has pebbles and driftwood.

As an interesting fact, Frolic Cove and Frolic Cove Beach are named after a clipper brig ship known as Frolic, which was shipwrecked near the beach in 1850 while carrying valuable Chinese housewares to San Francisco. This event has been labeled as "the most significant shipwreck on the west coast" by scholars from the San Francisco Maritime Museum. While subsequent attempts to salvage the cargo of Frolic failed, it led to the discovery of the redwood forests along the shoreline near the cove. This led to the area around Frolic Cove becoming a center of the flourishing timber industry in northern California as many sawmills were erected here.

Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park has hiking and biking trails that you can use to explore the state park’s vibrant landscape and interesting fauna. In addition, the state park is a major regional historical landmark - it has a lighthouse that was built in the early 20th century and has a third-order Fresnel lens made by the British glassworks company Chance Brothers. This lighthouse also has interesting exhibits. Apart from this lighthouse, there are two other buildings that you can explore - the 1st Assistant Lightkeeper’s House which has been restored to its original look from the 1930s, and the restored Blacksmith & Carpenter Shop which currently houses the Marine Sciences Exhibit that has a 240-gallon seawater aquarium and interesting exhibits on local marine life. The state park also has vacation rental homes.

There are many attractions near Frolic Cove Beach. Triangle Tattoo & Museum has interesting tattoo-related artifacts and exhibits. The museum is run by renowned local tattoo artists Madame Chinchilla and Mr. G. The Temple of Kwan Tai is a Chinese Taoist temple and a California Historical Landmark that was built in the 19th century and offers an interesting insight into the role played by the Asian community in California’s development and history. If you are looking for another attraction near Frolic Cove Beach, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens has a variety of plant collections that are home to a vivid array of flora including a marine zone garden, gardens containing dahlias and magnolias, a conifer pine forest, a kitchen garden, and a camellia garden. In addition, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens are famous for having an incredible array of beautiful and sweet-smelling rhododendron flowers.

If you get hungry, there are many restaurants near Frolic Cove Beach. The upscale MacCallum House Restaurant has a rosy ambiance and serves fantastic gourmet dishes.  Luna Trattoria is an Italian restaurant that is famous for its delicious pastas. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Frolic Cove Beach, the modestly priced Frankie’s Mendocino offers delicious pizzas, ice cream, salads, and falafel.

If you are looking for a hotel near Frolic Cove Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star North Cliff Hotel offers mesmerizing views of the northern California coastline and also serves complimentary breakfast. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Sea Rock Inn which offers many amenities including a garden, cliff-side benches, a sauna and massage rooms, and complimentary breakfast and wine upon arrival. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Frolic Cove Beach, the modestly priced 2-Star Ebb Tide Inn offers a complimentary breakfast. In addition, the hotel offers free accommodation to kids under 11 staying with an adult family member.