McWay Cove features the 80-foot-tall McWay Waterfall on the scenic coast of Big Sur in Central California. McWay Cove is part of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, which is about an hour's drive south of Carmel-by-the-Sea (if there isn't traffic or construction). It is the highest waterfall that dumps directly into the Pacific Ocean (on high tides). There is a small beach in the cove, but it is off-limits to beachgoers.