El Matador State Beach
Malibu · Los Angeles County · California
Visibility Breakdown
Scripps Pier cam readings translated to this spot's Post Break zone · latest cam read 13 ft
Post Break: The range past where any waves are forming, where the water starts to have a significant increase in visibility. There might be some sediment here, but swell energy is diffused and the water is calmer.
Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface.
Solid = measured by a diver · outlined = estimated from the Scripps cam
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Today's forecast
Estimated from the Scripps cam · reviewed 5:01 PM PT today · September 11, 20267-Day Forecast
Map · getting there
34.037° N · 118.875° W
Malibu, CA 90265
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Open in Apple MapsAbout El Matador State Beach
El Matador State Beach sits at the base of a 100-foot bluff in western Malibu, one of three pocket beaches that together make up Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach. La Piedra State Beach lies about half a mile to the east, and El Pescador State Beach another half mile beyond that. The defining feature at El Matador is a cluster of sandstone sea stacks rising directly from the surf, with channels, small arches, and sea caves between them that can be walked through at low tide. Tide pools form in the rock at the base of the formations. The only public way down is a dirt path and steel stairway from the bluff-top lot at 32350 El Matador Beach Road, off Pacific Coast Highway. Photography is the most visible use; swimmers stick to the central sand pocket between the stacks.
The sand bottom and breaking surf at the beach entry make this a surf zone biome. The sandstone stacks, sea caves, and tide pool ledges around their base form a rocky reef biome, reachable on foot at low tide and by short swim once the water rises.
The bluff-top lot holds roughly thirty cars and charges a day-use fee, and it tends to fill before 9 a.m. on summer weekends. Shoulder parking along Pacific Coast Highway is unsafe and routinely ticketed, so most visitors who arrive late either wait or leave. El Matador lies inside the Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area, which runs from roughly 33.986 N to 34.039 N. Inside the SMCA, all take of living marine resources is prohibited except recreational spearfishing for white seabass and pelagic finfish; take from the tide pools is included in the prohibition. The beach is a state park unit operated by Los Angeles County, so Los Angeles County Code section 17.12.450 bars using or carrying a fishing pole, spear, sling, or other spearfishing gear in the ocean within 100 feet of anyone in the water who is not using the same, and lifeguards can close any stretch to fishing. Surfing, snorkeling, and scuba are all uncommon here, both because the rocky pocket is small and because the access is a single stairway.
Surf Zone
The surf zone biome consists of sandy beaches and breaking waves. The action of surf disturbing the sand and kicking it up exposes marine invertebrates, buried in their shallow dens. This natural exposure of invertebrates attracts all kinds of fish, looking for an easy meal. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome Glossary
Rocky Reef
The rocky reef biome is bare rock, boulder, and cobble structure without a kelp canopy above it. The hard relief and its crevices shelter invertebrates and reef fish, and the structure concentrates life that the surrounding sand cannot hold. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome GlossarySnorkel Species Report
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