Leo Carrillo State Beach

Leo Carrillo State Beach stretches for about 1.5 miles along northwestern Los Angeles County, close enough to the Ventura line that the adjacent County Line Beach falls under the same park unit. Sequit Point, a rocky headland near the middle of the park, splits the frontage into North Beach and South Beach, the latter also called Arroyo Sequit after the creek that reaches the ocean there. The point holds extensive tidepools, rock arches, and sea caves; the caves and some of the arches are best reached on foot at low tide rather than by water, because surge inside the openings runs strong and no lifeguard covers them. Most divers enter at the stair cove just left of Sequit Point near Lifeguard Tower 3, with Tower 2 as an alternate. Established in 1953, the park takes its name from Leo Carrillo, an actor who served 18 years on the California Beach and Parks Commission.

The kelp here is among the healthiest and most year-round-consistent canopies on the Southern California coast, growing in three distinct zones off South Leo, Sequit Point, and North Leo. Those zones anchor on rocky reef at roughly 20 to 30 feet and grow up through the water column to the surface, a kelp forest biome. Rocky reef continues past the canopy out to about 50 feet, and that bare-rock section beyond the kelp is a rocky reef biome in its own right. Sand fills the channels between and beyond the reef structure, forming a sandy plain biome that holds halibut past 30 feet. Where open-ocean west and northwest swell reaches the beach unfiltered, the surf line is a surf zone biome. The intertidal platforms around Sequit Point and South Beach are a tidepool biome, with the widest exposure at low water.

Visibility runs about 10 to 30 feet, reaching 40 on the best days, and is best in late summer and fall once the summer south swell fades. Water temperature holds between 57 and 62 degrees. The three kelp zones are the main draw for scuba divers, snorkelers, and spearfishers. Access is the paid State Park lot at 35000 West Pacific Coast Highway, which charges $12 per day and opens 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; the lot fills on summer weekends and holidays. A campground sits across Pacific Coast Highway from the beach, so foot traffic crosses the highway to reach the sand. The entry is rocky, and hidden rocks at the tide line call for a careful walk in. Leo Carrillo lies outside all marine protected areas, with the Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area beginning roughly 2.6 nautical miles downcoast, so fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.