Monterey Bay Academy Airport is a small daytime only airfield located near the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, California, USA. This former strictly private use airport, is owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is located on the campus of Monterey Bay Academy, previously the military installation Camp McQuaide. Since May 2013 the airstrip is operated by Ocean Shore Aviation, LLC, a volunteer aviation group. The group restored the worn out dirt strip, converting it from dirt into a grass runway. In addition to fixing the runway, the group has secured a parking/tie-down area (paved with concrete), and has added a picnic area situated within walking distance to the parking/tie-down area overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A webcam is in operation and shows the tie down area.HistoryIn the 1940s, a small aircraft landing strip was built at Camp McQuaide so airplanes could drop targets into the ocean. After the end of the war, in 1948, it was converted to the private boarding school Monterey Bay Academy.Between 1980 and 1984 the airport was home to Pterodactyl Limited, a company that manufactured ultralight aircraft.
