[10] Seaside is the gateway to Fort Ord National Monument, created on April 20, 2012.

It is bordered to the north by Marina, to the west by Sand City, to the southwest by Monterey, and to the south by Del Rey Oaks.

[5] According to the maps of the United States Geological Survey, the elevation ranges from 0 to 165 meters (0 to 541 feet).

[13] This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C).

The five-member City Council is a legislative and policy-making body that is elected on a nonpartisan basis to represent the residents of Seaside.

At these public meetings, the City Council makes policy determinations; approves agreements and contracts; adopts ordinances (local laws) and regulations; and authorizes the expenditure of City funds.

Seaside High School is home to the 2006 CCS Small-Division Football Championship winners, the Spartans, led by coaches Alfred Avila, Quentin Crosby, Michael Drain, Jeff Quenga, Matt Avila, Pastor Joe Kamp, and Bryan Shaw.

The football game between county rival Monterey High School attracts nearly 5,000 people every year.

Ron Rivera, head coach of the NFL's Washington Commanders and former linebacker for the Chicago Bears, was a 1980 graduate of Seaside High School.

California State University, Monterey Bay is located in Seaside near Fort Ord and is the second newest campus after CSU Channel Islands.

Monterey Peninsula College has public safety training center in Seaside that includes a fire and police academy.

The Defense Manpower Data Center has an office in Seaside, on the former Fort Ord.

Scribble Hill (also known as "Message Mountain") is part of Seaside's popular culture.

Bayonet Golf Course, designed in 1954, was built on the Fort Ord military base.

The course was allegedly designed to play to then-commanding officer Major General Robert B. McClure's terrible slice, and thus has a series of holes nicknamed "Combat Corner" with substantial doglegs.

[22] After several years of renovation, the courses now meet USGA specifications, and have one new and eight redesigned holes.