Half Moon Bay (City, California)
| Half Moon Bay | |||
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 Half Moon Bay Beach |
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| Location in California | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | July 15, 1959 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | California | ||
| County : | San Mateo County | ||
| Coordinates : | 37 ° 28 ′ N , 122 ° 26 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Pacific ( UTC − 8 / −7 ) | ||
| Residents : | 11,324 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 678.1 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 16.8 km 2 (about 6 mi 2 ) of which 16.7 km 2 (about 6 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 22 m | ||
| Postal code : | 94019 | ||
| Area code : | +1 650 | ||
| FIPS : | 06-31708 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 0277528 | ||
| Website : | www.half-moon-bay.ca.us | ||
| Mayor : | Rick Kowalczyk | ||
Half Moon Bay is a city in San Mateo County in the US state of California , on the west coast of the San Francisco Peninsula . It has 11,324 inhabitants (as of 2010). The urban area has a size of 16.8 km².
The town
The city is located about 40 km south of San Francisco and about 15 km west of San Mateo (California) at the southern end of Half Moon Bay , a bay on the Pacific coast . It is one of the few places in the sparsely populated western half of the San Francisco Peninsula.
The specialty film camera maker GoPro and the fruit juice maker Odwalla have their headquarters in Half Moon Bay.
The beach
The beach of Half Moon Bay is especially popular for parties, as it is enclosed on both sides by mighty rocks and there is no direct access, which is why nocturnal police checks are hardly to be feared. The only access to the beach is a narrow path that can only be passed on foot. Here Annie Leibovitz took her first significant photo in 1968: a view of the bay through a half-open car door.
Mavericks
At Mavericks-Cliff , an underwater rock in front of Pillar Point at the north end of Half Moon Bay, about 400 m southwest of Pillar Point and 600 m west of the pier of Pillar Point Harbor, the Pacific waves break particularly high due to the special shape of the seabed. After strong winter storms, the breakers here routinely reach heights of 7.5 meters and peak values of 25 meters. The Mavericks are therefore known as a big wave spot.