Oceanside Beach unfurls north from the fishing hamlet of Oceanside, hemmed by weathered basalt cliffs draped in salal and shore pine. The sand here is pewter-dark when wet, stamped with the tracks of sanderlings and the occasional river otter. Offshore, Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge rises from the chop—sea stacks colonized by thousands of common murres whose guano streaks the stone white. You'll hear their mewling chorus over the wind.
“The hand-hewn tunnel through Maxwell Point opens onto a hidden southern cove that feels like a secret kept in plain sight.”
Credit: FlickrOceanside Pier
The tunnel through Maxwell Point—hand-carved in 1927—delivers you to a quieter southern cove where driftwood logs stack like jackstraws and agate hunters crouch at the tide line, thumbing through gravel. The beach's western exposure means onshore winds most afternoons, kicking up spray that tastes of salt and kelp. Prepare for layer weather: fleece under your windbreaker, even in July.
Year-round access means you'll share winter storm-watching days with locals who park along Pacific Avenue and watch swells hammer the rocks. Summer brings families to the protected stretches near the tunnel mouth, but the beach never feels crowded—just long, moody, and alive with the particular restlessness of the Oregon coast.
