Planning on going back to PEC after a decade and possibly failing to find the one area I want to visit again :)

Hi !

I visited PEC two years in a row a bit more than a decade ago and plan on going back soon to the area. On my last day there in, I believe 2013, we wandered the area by car for a few hours before heading back, got lost a few times, almost ran out of gas, resorted to using 'back-country' dirt roads (you should have seen the face of the car rental company employee and his relief when it all washed away) and generally had a great time :)

During those peregrinations, we were lucky to stumble completely by chance on what I believe was a conservation area with the most unexpectedly gorgeous (and at first hidden) pebble beach where we could, sadly, not stay for long. It was not featured on any road signage (at least the way we got to it), the entrance was just a generic wooden sign, with a (yet another) dirt road which brought us to a parking area riddled with tall grasses with what appeared to be a single trail leading to a cleared area with a moderately large open wooden shelter with picnic tables that ended up in a short cliff overlooking the waters. Access was apparently free and we were absolutely alone there. Most importantly, an easily missed sign to the right pointing to a small trail in the trees that led us to what for us was the best beach we had yet found in PEC :). No sand but pebbles, water super clear and devoid of algae and just generally beautiful.

I have been trying to find it again on Google maps and the Little Bluff area seems to check all the boxes : the rest area, the cliffs, the trail on the right of them getting to the extreme left of the beach, the pebbles....

However, when I check pictures online there are some differences compared to what I remember which makes me wonder if there might be another similar area or if the Little Bluff area got some development over the last decade that account for the difference. Of course my recollections may be flawed, it was a rather quick visit :

- I am convinced there was no other signage than the one at the entrance which itself did not inspire high expectations, no apparent fees for access and certainly no booth or payment box visible (And if there was I am sorry, I religiously paid for regular access to Northbeach :) and would have for this one as well)

- In my head the beach 'bay' was much more enclosed / protected in a sort of half moon shape with moderately shallow, EXTREMELY clear even far from the shore and with very smooth waters.

- The beach may have had some kind of wooden platform / observation deck at the other end.

- The trail leading to the beach was short but in rough shape and I have no recollection of a handrail / fence.

- The area at the back of the beach seemed much more 'bushy' and overrun with plants than the kind of marshy wetland I see in recent aerial pictures.

- In my mind we wandered an area that was a bit more to the North, not so close to the Sandbanks park proper (however, remember we got lost often and had no GPS or smart phone so I may be COMPLETELY wrong about this one).

So there you are : Is there another beach that more closely matches my recollections or did I most certainly visit Little Bluff and 'recent' development of the area and possibly hazy recollections account for the perceived differences ?

(And if it was a super duper secret beach, feel free to PM me, I swear I won't bring anyone else... :) )

Thank you !