Jade Cove is really a series of coves located on Highway One, 65 miles south of Monterey. This area of coastline stretches between Cape San Martin and Sand Dollar Beach. It is one of the most unusual jade-collecting locations in the world, where nephrite jade is concentrated beneath the ocean surface.
The coves are surrounded by 180-foot cliffs and only accessible by narrow switchback trails. At the bottom of the cliffs the shoreline is a rubble of large serpentine boulders and an occasional pebble beach.
Winter and spring storms drive huge swells in from the open sea to pour over the shallow 30-40 foot depths in powerful ground swells and breakers. Storm surf combined with high tides often creates dangerous situations where the heavy seas pound relentlessly up against the cliffs.
This is not a place for the inexperienced diver or unaware beachcomber. One must be constantly aware of what the sea is doing. In the summer and fall the kelp grows thick and diving becomes difficult indeed.
Rugged as these coastal conditions are, Jade Cove has become an international mecca for rockhounds and divers.
