Mesmerizing Slabs Beneath Cape Kiwanda: Mysterious Caves, Holes of N. Oregon Coast Icon

Published 9/29/24 at 9:45 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Pacific City, Oregon) – That sprawling Pacific City beauty known as Cape Kiwanda is a nearly endless opportunity for exploration. There's a lot of acreage to the Oregon coast icon. (A slight "ramp-like" structure with jittery wave action - all photos Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

Even in its smaller nooks and crannies there is much to wander. Depending on the tides, the foot of Cape Kiwanda is a mesmerizing little journey all its own, full of weird holes, pockmarked geologic structures – and then those slabs sitting at the tideline, gathered around Kiwanda as if in reverence. This series of rounded-off objects are punctuated by some interesting twists and turns, with even a couple sea caves here and there. Also see Complete Guide: Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area

This isn't always accessible – it's all contingent on oceanic and tidal conditions, of course, as there are many times this area is too dangerous to even go near. Yet when the water is calm enough, you're in for a maze of delights.

At various points along this sandstone shelf, you'll find lots of slippery sea goo in greens: various kinds of algae and seaweeds that grow on the rocks. These you'll have to watch out for as they easily cause you to slip and crack your head – or worse yet, fall into the unforgiving ocean.

However, under the right low tides, these spots also yield plenty of tidepool wonders. Get ready for small explosions of color in the midst of this often grayish rock.

Plenty of places around here provide a kind of jump-off point for flying waves. You'll see little breakers crashing with various intensity and sometimes splashing you. Make sure you keep a good eye on these as you approach and stay away from those sections. They've been known to take lives over the decades.

Still, the wave action is fascinating to watch. Some areas actually funnel the action into even more dramatic moments. Like this bit of a “ramp” structure (top photo): it's a steady, gradual slope onto the sands here (although that can change with different sand levels).

At the very edges of the long, sandy path up the north Oregon coast structure, there are lots of strange holes. They could be from rock-boring clams that once lived there (probably hundreds to thousands of years ago – not unlike what is seen at Yachats). It's a bit more likely they're manmade: someone carved handholds for climbing long, long ago. You see these kind of manmade handholds carved into Hug Point near Cannon Beach.

Walk a little ways onto these slabs and you'll find a giant knob of sorts stretching out from the bottom of Cape Kiwanda onto these shelves. It's here where things can get awfully interesting. The marks and shapes of Kiwanda are all indicative of the soft sandstone the place is made of. It's about 18 million years old and it's surprising how long the place has lasted. See geology of Cape Kiwanda.

Then behind it is a wee bit of a mini-cove, and there's a little sea cave here or two as well.

These aren't safe to enter – mostly because the tides are too wild and dense to even get near them. Yet even at extremely low tide events this isn't a safe thing, unless the tides are way out there and the breakers don't come close.

If they're even coming close to the sea caves on such tidal events, don't even try. It means the tides will be back covering the caves at any minute.

Still, it seems as if in recent years the layout of Kiwanda has changed even here. It's well known another large chunk fell apart on the northern face of the headland a few years back, and there's the famed growing holes of Cape Kiwanda that started in early 2023. Oregon Coast Study: Cape Kiwanda Sinkholes Breaking It Into 'Islands'; More Fencing Needed

Here, however, social media has shown more and more closer shots of the sea caves. Whether that's more people disregarding the obvious safety issues and posting their photos or something is different is hard to discern.

Rock hunting and rocky beachcombing are favorite activities at this Pacific City landmark, but some also find the opportunity to do a little bit of fishing as well.

Cape Kiwanda and Pacific City are about at the border between the north and central Oregon coast (the north coast technically begins at the southern edge of Tillamook County, near Neskowin, just a few miles away. This is the beginning of the Three Capes Loop, the first stop if you're coming from the south, from Lincoln City or Depoe Bay. Just to the north of Pacific City are Netarts and Oceanside, as well as other favorites like Cape Lookout and Cape Meares.

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