16 Famous Beaches in California and How Each Garnered Its Fame

California is famous for its vast coastline and abundance of beautiful beaches, each one with its own unique charm. From movies to music, California beaches are featured all over popular media. In some cases, California beaches are also famous for their rare habitats and wildlife species. With around 840 miles of coastline, The Golden State has a beach suitable for everyone. This article explores 16 famous beaches in California, and what makes each of them so popular.

1. Venice Beach

Venice Beach is one of the most famous beaches in California. It boasts a massive lawn, a skate park, basketball courts, and a vast, sandy shore. The Venice Beach Boardwalk, which includes the famous art walls and many unique shops, runs along the coastline. Additionally, Muscle Beach Venice Gym is known for hosting bodybuilding competitions and is regarded as the “home of bodybuilding”.

Venice Beach has appeared in numerous movies and television series. Most recently, it was featured in Barbie. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling rollerblade along the Venice Beach Boardwalk. The films A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jackie Brown also feature scenes in Venice Beach. Additionally, the series Baywatch was partially filmed at Venice Beach, along with other famous beaches in Southern California.

2. Santa Monica State Beach

Santa Monica State Beach, which borders Venice Beach to the south, is an equally iconic California beach. It features the famous Santa Monica Pier, which is home to the Pacific Park amusement park. Additionally, Santa Monica State Beach is the original home of Muscle Beach, before it was moved to Venice Beach in 1987.

The Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park amusement park are the most famous attractions of Santa Monica State Beach. They have appeared in the movies Fat Albert and Bean, as well as the television series Hannah Montana and 90210.

3. Santa Cruz Beach

Santa Cruz Beach is a vast, sandy beach that is home to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Its massive wooden rollercoaster, the Giant Dipper, opened in 1924 and is a National Historic Landmark.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is featured in many notable films, including Harold and Maude, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Us, and everyone’s favorite 80s glam vampire flick, The Lost Boys.

4. Leo Carillo State Park

Leo Carillo State Park is a popular beach for swimming, surfing, and exploring tidepools. It is named after Leo Carillo, an actor from The Cisco Kid and conservationist.

Leo Carillo State Park has appeared in numerous movies and television series. Some of the most notable movies are Grease, The Karate Kid, and Point Break.

5. Coronado Beach

Coronado Beach is a resort town and beach in southern San Diego County. It is located on a tied island, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. Coronado Beach is most famous for the Hotel del Coronado, which has hosted a number of notable guests including Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, and Babe Ruth. Additionally, the hotel has hosted a number of U.S. presidents.

6. La Jolla Cove

La Jolla Cove is one of the most famous beaches in San Diego. It is a popular destination for swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. La Jolla Cove is also popular with sea lions, who come onto the beach to rest. Some people have raised concerns about humans and sea lions being in such close proximity at La Jolla Cove, so the town developed a task force to explore the issue.

7. Pfeiffer Beach

Pfieffer Beach is in Big Sur, a long and scenic stretch of mountainous coastline along California’s Central Coast. It is famous for its purple patches of sand, caused by eroding manganese garnet. Additionally, it is known for its keyhole rock, through which one can watch the sunset in December and January.

8. Morro Rock Beach

Morro Rock Beach is easily recognizable by its massive Morro Rock, an ancient dormant volcano. The rock is a State Historic Landmark. Morro Rock is a sacred site for both the Chumash and Salinan peoples. Additionally, it is a popular spot for photography.

9. Pismo State Beach

Pismo State Beach is a 17-mile-long stretch of coastline that fronts the cities of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Oceano. It is one of the longest beaches in California. Pismo State Beach is popular with swimmers and surfers.

10. Oceano Dunes Natural Preserve State Park

Oceano Dunes Natural Preserve State Park is one of the many beaches in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes, which stretches from San Luis Obispo County to Santa Barbara County. The dunes are home to some rare and endangered animals such as the snowy plover, a bird that nests in the sand. The Oceano Dunes Visitor Center is a great place to learn all about this unique ecosystem.

11. El Capitán State Beach

El Capitán State Beach is a large beach on the Central Coast of California that features tidepools and campgrounds. It is a popular beach for swimming, fishing, and camping.

12. Steamer Lane

Steamer Lane is a famous surf spot in the West Cliff area of the Santa Cruz coast. The Santa Cruz Surf Museum, established in 1986, explores 100 years of surfing in Santa Cruz.

13. Natural Bridges State Beach

In addition to its rock formations, Natural Bridges State Beach is also famous for monarch butterflies, which stop there on their southern migration during the fall and winter months.

14. Newport Beach

Newport Beach is famous for its vast, sandy shore and for being a popular swimming spot. It has appeared in many television series including The O.C. and Arrested Development.

15. Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach is a beach in Orange County famous for hosting the U.S. Open of Surfing competition. The city is known as “Surf City” and “The Surfing Capital of the World”.

16. Carmel Beach

Carmel Beach is home to some incredibly old Monterey cypress trees, which are a rare tree endemic to the Central Coast of California. It is a popular beach for swimming and surfing.

Summary of 16 Famous Beaches in California

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Mindaugas Dulinskas/iStock via Getty Images