La Selva Beach, La Selva Beach, CA

La Selva Beach is a bluff-top community on Monterey Bay where Manresa State Beach begins at the edge of town. Its first name was Rob Roy, from the 1925 subdivision, before it became La Selva, Spanish for the forest. Homes are beach cottages, condos and a few old farmhouses, many with wraparound decks and views over the bay, of mixed ages. Lots range from small coastal plots to parcels with real acreage, and the streets feel more relaxed than a resort. Triangle Park, a one-acre green where Playa Boulevard meets Vista Drive, has a lawn, benches, a horseshoe pit and a peace monument, and it hosts the annual Fourth of July gathering. It is open from sunrise to sunset. The recreation district runs a clubhouse and playground on Estrella Avenue, and the branch library is in town. Manresa State Beach begins at the town's edge, and Sunset State Beach lies just beyond it. There are few places to eat inside the boundary, so the usual move is a drive to Seascape Village, about a mile north. Full of Beans there is a coffee shop and deli that opens at six-thirty, Dos Pescados serves ceviche and fish tacos on an oceanfront patio, and Seascape Foods sells deli items and organic bread. El Patio Grocery covers small needs closer in. Village Host adds made-to-order pizza and an arcade near the beach, and Seascape Park, on the bluff nearby, has a playground and picnic tables alongside public art. Bigger shopping heads to Aptos or Watsonville. The quiet of La Selva Beach comes with no commercial center, so every loaf of bread and every cup of coffee starts with the car. The Fourth of July parade through town is the one day when everybody ends up in the same place, and the park is where it winds down.