In Monterey County, reported gonorrhea runs about 61% lower than the US average; whether it's your first STI test or a routine screening in Sand City, California, there are options. Clinics may bill insurance or offer sliding-scale fees, while many private labs let you pay a flat self-pay price. See below for more details.
Available testing centers
7 testing options are listed for Sand City, CA. The nearest, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, is about 1.1 miles away. Compare community and public clinics, private labs, and at-home kits below.
Listings tagged Community health center are federally funded health centers and rural clinics that treat everyone regardless of insurance or ability to pay: required to bill on a sliding fee scale and provide confidential care, and in many states minors may consent to their own STI testing. A Title X tag flags centers funded for confidential family-planning services; confirm current participation when you call.
Source: CMS FQHC & Rural Health Clinic enrollment files (data.cms.gov), refreshed quarterly. Title X status reflects the latest OPA grantee list.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in Seaside tests for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, and hepatitis B on a sliding-scale fee accepted alongside Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance. Appointments are required, and bacterial STIs can be treated the same visit, with services available in Spanish and through interpretation.
Spanish is a working clinical language at this location, and interpretation is available for additional languages: meaning medical history, treatment options, and follow-up instructions are communicated directly, not summarized after a relay. That operational difference shapes how clearly nuanced care decisions get made.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte operates under Title X federal family planning funding, which carries a legal confidentiality guarantee for minors seeking STI testing and family planning services. Not a clinic policy, but a statutory protection. That distinction determines what appears on a bill, an explanation of benefits, or a parent's insurance summary.
For someone without a primary care physician, or whose regular provider doesn't prescribe HIV prevention medication, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte's standing PrEP and PEP prescribing capability closes that gap directly. Sliding-scale fees and broad insurance acceptance mean the medication path doesn't hinge on finding a specialist first.
Languages
English, Interpretation Services Available for Non-English Languages, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Aug 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
County of Monterey Health Department Clinic Services in Seaside runs the gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and TB panel with same-visit treatment for bacterial infections; fees follow a sliding scale accepting Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance, with walk-ins welcome, and clinical care is delivered in Spanish.
Spanish-language care at this clinic isn't routed through an add-on service: clinical staff conduct intake, examination, treatment explanation, and follow-up directly in Spanish. Diagnoses are communicated, prescriptions explained, and STI prevention counseling delivered without switching languages mid-visit.
Harm reduction and substance-use treatment are available alongside STI testing and treatment at the same clinic, which means a patient managing both doesn't need to coordinate between separate providers. Follow-through on both stays in one place.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Jul 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN + HRSA
Salinas Valley Health in Monterey accepts Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance, with fees for those paying directly. The clinic tests for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and TB, no appointment needed, and treats bacterial infections the same day, with care delivered in Spanish.
Plenty of clinics cap testing at gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV and leave herpes and hepatitis for a specialist elsewhere. Salinas Valley Health runs the full extended panel in-house (herpes, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C included) so gaps that would otherwise persist until a second appointment get closed at this one.
Salinas Valley Health prescribes both PrEP and PEP directly, which means ongoing HIV prevention and post-exposure response are managed through the same clinic rather than scattered across providers. Keeping continuity of care intact.
When a language gap goes unaddressed, follow-up questions go unasked and treatment instructions lose precision. Sometimes meaning a return visit or an untreated window. At Salinas Valley Health, clinical care is delivered in Spanish, so nothing that matters gets deferred to a later conversation.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Jun 2026 · Source: CDC NPIN
Free tool · not a clinic
Testing too soon can miss an infection. Enter the date of possible exposure to see the earliest a test can reliably detect each STI.
| Infection | Earliest reliable test | Conclusive after |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 7 days after exposure | 14 days after exposure |
| Gonorrhea | 7 days after exposure | 14 days after exposure |
| Trichomoniasis | 7 days after exposure | 28 days after exposure |
| HIV (NAT / RNA) | 10 days after exposure | 33 days after exposure |
| HIV (4th-gen Ag/Ab) | 18 days after exposure | 45 days after exposure |
| HIV (antibody) | 21 days after exposure | 84 days after exposure |
| Syphilis | 21 days after exposure | 42 days after exposure |
| Hepatitis B | 21 days after exposure | 42 days after exposure |
| Hepatitis C | 56 days after exposure | 77 days after exposure |
| Herpes (HSV) | 28 days after exposure | 112 days after exposure |
Guidance only, confirm timing with a clinician. A negative result before the conclusive date may need a repeat test.
Typical out-of-pocket ranges by option, actual cost depends on which tests you need.
Public / community clinic
Free HIV testing is common
Private lab (self-pay)
Never billed to insurance
At-home kit
Mailed to your door, private
Doctor / urgent care
Often $0 preventive with insurance
No centers match those filters. Clear the service-type filter or the opening-hours filters to see every center.
Every other option
Beyond the dedicated testing centers above: at-home kits by mail, hospital labs certified for STI testing, local clinicians who can order a panel during a regular visit, pharmacies for self-test kits and prescriptions, and online PrEP & treatment.
Test from home
The nearest testing center is about 1 mile away; if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Sand City, you collect the sample privately, and mail it back to a CLIA-certified lab. Results come online in days, with a clinician available if anything is positive. Same labs as a clinic, no waiting room, and you can read how accurate at-home STD tests are before you order.
Want a free option first? The CDC-supported TakeMeHome (opens in a new tab) program mails free at-home HIV self-test kits, and, in many areas, free STI kits, to your door, with no insurance or payment needed. The paid kits below add broader panels and faster turnaround.
In-home collection
$79 & up
Best for simplicity & support
$89 & up
Best value: single tests
$49 & up
Every kit uses CLIA-certified labs. At-home testing is for screening; a reactive result should be confirmed and treated by a clinician. Prices and panels shown are illustrative and change often, confirm current details on the provider's site.
Also in the area
Beyond the public testing sites above, these federally certified (CLIA) labs serve Monterey County, each lab's town is shown on its card below. Many test through a doctor's order or by appointment rather than walk-in, so call ahead to confirm STD/STI testing and availability before visiting.
5 Harris Court Building T, Suite 201, Monterey, CA 93940
CMS-certified lab Accredited · COLA
23625 Holman Highway, Monterey, CA 93940
CMS-certified lab Accredited · College of American Pathologists
284 Foam Street, 2nd Flr Suite 28, Monterey, CA 93940
CMS-certified lab
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Sand City. A CLIA certificate records only that a laboratory is federally certified — it does not confirm the site performs STD testing, nor its hours, price or access. Inclusion is not an endorsement; always call to verify.
Local clinicians
Beyond dedicated clinics, 462 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Sand City. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 216 offer telehealth.
Steven Schumann, MD Telehealth
Family medicine · 1513 Fremont Boulevard, Seaside
Ruth Trotter, MD
Internal medicine · 1156 Fremont Boulevard, Seaside
Richard Gilliam, MD
Family medicine · 2440 North Fremont Street, Monterey
Kenneth Gjeltema, MD Telehealth
Family medicine · 2020 Del Monte Avenue, Monterey
Susan Kubica, MD Telehealth
Internal medicine · 1000 8th Street, Monterey
Peter Franklin, MD
Family medicine · 550 Camino El Estero, Monterey
These are registry-listed clinicians, not dedicated STD-testing clinics. CMS records do not independently verify current licensure, testing services, availability, price, or new-patient status. Confirm each detail before booking. Source: CMS Doctors & Clinicians.
Nearby pharmacies
No pharmacy near Sand City, CA publishes an STD-related service or holds a current CLIA testing certificate, so these are simply the closest. Contact a location directly to confirm counter hours, services, prices, and availability before visiting.
0.2 mi Savon Drugs
0.2 mi
0.3 mi 
1.3 mi 
1.5 mi Showing the 5 closest pharmacies to Sand City, CA.
Directory records identify nearby pharmacies. Service, stock, price, and hours information is shown only when supported by current location-specific evidence.
Prevention & treatment
Testing is one step. For residents of Sand City, telehealth covers the rest: HIV-prevention medication (PrEP) and DoxyPEP to lower future risk, and discreet online treatment if a result comes back positive. All prescribed by licensed U.S. clinicians.
From $0 insured
Telehealth PrEP & DoxyPEP with at-home testing and ongoing monitoring
Visit from $39
Online STI treatment & DoxyPEP: same-day prescriptions to your pharmacy
Visit from $0 insured
Telehealth STI treatment and sexual-health care, delivered or to your pharmacy
$0 with most insurance
Free online PrEP & DoxyPEP: HIV prevention, home lab kits, no in-person visit
Pricing varies by insurance and changes often, confirm on the provider's site. These services are not a substitute for emergency care.
STD stats & rates
How reported STI rates in Monterey County, the county that includes Sand City, compare with California and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~23% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#12 of 58 California counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 79% of the state
| Infection | Monterey County | California | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 498 2,145 cases ▲ 1% | 491.1 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 70.3 303 cases ▼ 63% | 190.2 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 13.5 58 cases ▼ 17% | 16.3 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 12.3 53 cases ▼ 36% | 19.1 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | 32.5 140 cases ▼ 30% | 46.7 | 29.5 |
Rates per 100,000 population, 2023. Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county, state & U.S., all-ages basis). Population figures: U.S. Census Bureau ACS. These figures are the latest available surveillance estimates. Bars are scaled to the highest rate shown.
Reading these numbers: reported case rates only count infections that were actually tested for and diagnosed, so they track local screening effort as much as true spread: a higher rate can reflect more testing, a lower one less. Either way, most STIs cause no symptoms, so treat the figures above as context rather than a verdict, and test on the CDC's schedule regardless of how your area looks.
Between 2020 and 2023 in Monterey County, chlamydia has risen from 439.1 to 498 per 100,000 (13%), gonorrhea has fallen from 101.6 to 70.3 per 100,000 (31%), and P&S syphilis has risen from 6.4 to 13.5 per 100,000 (111%).
The 2020 dip reflects reduced pandemic-era screening, not lower transmission. Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county, state & U.S., all-ages basis).
Community health context
Sources: CDC PLACES (ZIP), County Health Rankings, CDC/ATSDR SVI, HRSA HPSA, HRSA MUA/P, Neighborhood Atlas ADI. Lower insurance coverage, fewer routine checkups, and a thin primary-care ratio all raise the value of low-cost public clinics and at-home testing in Monterey County.
Local HIV snapshot
Monterey County HIV care continuum (2023)
Monterey County recorded 8.5 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 14.9 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Monterey County residents living with HIV, 74.1% are in care · 68.3% are virally suppressed. Early, routine testing is what moves these numbers: it is the entry point to PrEP, treatment, and viral suppression.
Sources: AIDSVu (Emory/Gilead) · CDC AHEAD · CDC AtlasPlus · CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county care continuum). The CDC recommends everyone aged 13–64 test for HIV at least once: every lab and clinic listed above offers HIV testing, and free rapid HIV testing is available at a local health department.
Congenital syphilis, passed from parent to baby in pregnancy, is the fastest-rising STI in the country. U.S. cases climbed from 2,163 in 2020 to 3,882 in 2023. It is almost entirely preventable: the CDC recommends a syphilis test at the first prenatal visit, and every clinic and lab listed for Monterey County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
Sand City's economy moves with the tides and the tourist season: hospitality work, fishing, construction crews who come and go, and the steady flow of visitors drawn to the Monterey coast. That rhythm means the population here skews young, with many residents in their late teens through thirties balancing jobs that don't always align with standard clinic hours. Testing for sexually transmitted infections fits into life here as a straightforward health task, one that works best when it doesn't demand time people don't have or force them into spaces where anonymity feels thin. The clinics and testing sites listed on this page operate in and around Sand City with scheduling that reflects how people actually live, evening and weekend appointments available at most locations.
Results stay confidential as a matter of course, handled through secure systems that don't broadcast your business to your workplace or your neighborhood. Whether you're between jobs, new to the area, or simply want baseline screening done quietly, the providers here understand that discretion isn't a special request; it's standard. What sets testing in Sand City apart is the lack of friction around access itself. No long waits to schedule.
No lectures. Just clear information about what each test covers, how results arrive, and what happens next if you need treatment. That directness matches the town's working character, get it done, get the facts, move forward.
Getting there
Sand City scores 14.63/20 on the EPA walkability index, so many trips are walkable or a short ride, though a car still gives you the widest choice of testing centers.
Source: EPA National Walkability Index 2021.
ZIP 93955 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 93955 area around Sand City: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Sand City alone.
Sand City sits in Monterey County, ZIP 93955. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Neighborhoods & communities
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Sand City? These nearby communities have their own testing guides: clinics, at-home kits, and free screening close to home.
Reference
Everything to know before you test in Monterey County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under California law. If you have symptoms right now, our confidential symptom checker maps them to the tests worth considering.
Based on current CDC screening recommendations.
| Group | Tests | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone aged 13–64 | HIV | At least once |
| Sexually active women under 25 | Chlamydia, gonorrhea | Every year |
| Women 25+ with new or multiple partners | Chlamydia, gonorrhea | Every year |
| Pregnant people | HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B & C, chlamydia | Early in pregnancy |
| Gay & bisexual men (MSM) | Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV | Every 3–6 months |
| Anyone who shares injection equipment | HIV, hepatitis B & C | At least yearly |
| All adults at least once | Hepatitis C | At least once |
Testing too early can return a false negative, confirm timing with a Sand City-area provider.
| Infection | Earliest reliable test | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 1–2 weeks | Urine or swab |
| Gonorrhea | 1–2 weeks | Urine or swab |
| Trichomoniasis | 1–4 weeks | Urine or swab |
| HIV (NAT / RNA) | 10–33 days | Blood |
| HIV (4th-gen Ag/Ab) | 18–45 days | Blood |
| HIV (antibody) | 3–12 weeks | Blood / oral |
| Syphilis | 3–6 weeks | Blood |
| Hepatitis B | 3–6 weeks | Blood |
| Hepatitis C | 8–11 weeks | Blood |
| Herpes (HSV) | 4–16 weeks (antibody); swab a sore | Blood / swab |
These are the federal Medicare reference prices for processing each lab test. Public clinics and the community health centers serving Sand City often test free or on a sliding scale; private labs and at-home kits bundle several tests into one fee. Use this as a per-test benchmark before you pay out of pocket, or see the full guide to STD test costs for insurance, free, and at-home options.
| Test | Reference price | CPT / HCPCS |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia (NAAT) | $47.80 | 87491 |
| Gonorrhea (NAAT) | $47.80 | 87591 |
| Trichomoniasis (NAAT) | $47.76 | 87661 |
| HIV-1/2 antigen/antibody | $26.87 | 87389 |
| HIV-1/2 antibody | $22.44 | 86703 |
| Syphilis (RPR/VDRL) | $5.61 | 86592 |
| Syphilis (treponemal antibody) | $17.49 | 86780 |
| Herpes (HSV NAAT) | $47.76 | 87529 |
| Hepatitis B surface antigen | $15.33 | 87340 |
| Hepatitis C antibody | $29.16 | 86803 |
Source: Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, CMS, 2025 rates (data.cms.gov). Reference rate for the lab assay only: a clinic visit, sample collection, or a bundled multi-test panel may cost more. Medicaid and most insurers cover STD screening at no out-of-pocket cost.
Two things that actually depend on California law: who can consent, and whether partners can be treated without their own visit. Everything else about testing privately is the same nationwide (see below).
In California, a minor aged 12 or older can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
California permits Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT): if you test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea, your provider can give you medication (or a prescription) to pass to your partner, no separate exam or appointment needed for them.
Keeping a test private works the same in every state. Whether an STD test shows on insurance (the EOB), how to test anonymously, and self-pay options that leave no insurance trail don’t change by location.
Learn more about confidential STD testing in CaliforniaSource: Guttmacher Institute, Minors' Access to STI Services; CDC, Legal Status of Expedited Partner Therapy. General information, not legal advice.
Good to Know
Answers to the questions people ask most before getting tested.
The closest is Planned Parenthood Mar Monte (1.1 mi); 7 options are within 30 miles.
Most plans cover STD screening; a clinic or lab can bill insurance, or you can pay a flat self-pay price.
Yes, community and public clinics test the uninsured, with sliding-scale fees.
Local options test for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Herpes, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Rapid HIV, a full panel covers the common ones.
About 498 cases per 100,000 residents (2023), above the California average.
In California, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
PrEP (HIV-prevention medicine for HIV-negative people) is available locally, any provider can prescribe it.
Medical records are protected under federal HIPAA law, ask the clinic how it handles your information.
It's reassuring, but if you tested early in the window period, retest a few weeks later to be sure.
A full panel typically covers chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.