Marina: The Newest City on the Bay

Marina sits at the north end of the Peninsula, where the sand dunes run right up to Highway 1 and the beach stretches for miles. It's the youngest city in the Monterey area, and in a lot of ways it's still taking shape. Some of the newest neighborhoods anywhere around the bay are here, built on land that was an Army base not that long ago.

A town on the dunes

In the early 1900s, a land developer named William Locke-Paddon bought about 1,500 acres of dunes and farmland north of Monterey and set out to build a town. He began selling lots, and a post office opened under the name Marina in 1916.

For decades, Marina stayed small and far less known than Monterey or Carmel.

Next door to Fort Ord

What changed Marina was its neighbor. Fort Ord grew into one of the country's major Army training centers, especially from World War II on, and Marina sat right along its northern edge. Soldiers, military families, and the businesses that served them helped the town grow.

Marina finally incorporated as a city on November 13, 1975, making it the newest city in the Monterey area.

The last sand mine

For decades, Marina's beach was also home to a sand mining operation run in recent years by Cemex. The sand there was known for its quality. But studies found the mining had contributed significantly to beach erosion in southern Monterey Bay, and in 2016, the California Coastal Commission ordered it to stop. Under a 2017 settlement, mining ended in late 2020. According to Coastal Commission officials, it was the last coastal sand mine in the United States.

After the base

When Fort Ord closed in 1994, Marina lost a big part of its economy, but it also gained something few cities get: a huge amount of open land right next door.

California State University, Monterey Bay opened that same year, with old Army barracks turned into dorms. Fort Ord Dunes State Park opened in 2009, with its main access in Marina, and the Fort Ord National Monument followed in 2012. The city-owned Marina Municipal Airport is now home to skydiving, and in 2021, a manufacturing facility for Joby Aviation, a company building electric air taxis, was approved there.

New neighborhoods have gone up on former Fort Ord land, and Marina has grown from about 19,700 people in 2010 to more than 22,000 in 2020.

On the beach side, Marina State Beach is one of the best places on the bay to watch hang gliders and paragliders ride the wind off the dunes.

What it means if you're buying or selling in Marina

• Newer homes. Marina has some of the newest housing on the Monterey Peninsula, much of it on former Fort Ord land, alongside older neighborhoods with more modest homes.
• Different water. Marina is outside the Monterey Peninsula's water district and has its own water provider, so the Peninsula's water fixture rules and bathroom limits don't apply.
• A city report before you sell. Marina requires a residential property inspection report before a sale closes. See the Seller's Guide chapter on disclosures and local requirements.
• Location. Marina is close to Salinas, Highway 1, and Highway 101, which makes it a popular choice for people who commute in more than one direction.
• Weather. Marina tends to get more fog than Seaside, just a few miles south. Different parts of the bay have their own microclimates, so if sunshine matters to you, spend some time in the neighborhood at different times of day before you buy.

For more on local rules, see the Buyer's Guide chapter on local rules.

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Sources: Wikipedia, Marina, California, and Fort Ord; Sanctuary Simon (December 2020).