Half Moon Bay (California)

This article is about the bay in California. For the adjacent city, see Half Moon Bay, California.
Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay and Pillar Point (top), 2009
Location of Half Moon Bay in California, USA.
Location of Half Moon Bay in California, USA.
Half Moon Bay
Location of Half Moon Bay in California, USA.
Location of Half Moon Bay in California, USA.
Half Moon Bay
LocationNorthern California
Coordinates37°29′00″N 122°28′19″W / 37.4832744°N 122.4719216°W / 37.4832744; -122.4719216[1]
Basin countriesUnited States
SettlementsHalf Moon Bay, Miramar Beach
A view of Half Moon Bay and surroundings

Half Moon Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of San Mateo County, California. The bay is approximately semi-circular, hence the name half moon,[2] with sea access to the south. Coastal towns located there are Princeton-by-the-Sea, Miramar, El Granada, and the city of Half Moon Bay.

The surfing location Mavericks is located on the outer edge of the peninsula which forms the bay. Miramar Beach is located along the shore of the bay opposite the peninsula.

Marine species include flatfish, the commercially important English sole, rockfish, surfperch, Pacific herring, lingcod; and abundant winter species including starry flounder and top-smelt.[3]

The bay provides an example of a logarithmic spiral beach.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Half Moon Bay". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 19 January 1981. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 147.
  3. ^ Environmental Impact Report for the Pillar Point East Harbor Master Plan, Earth Metrics Inc., prepared for the San Mateo County Harbor District, February 1989


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