Point Dume State Beach

Point Dume State Beach is a state park unit in western Malibu, organized around the Point Dume headland, a sandstone promontory rising roughly 200 feet above the Pacific. Captain George Vancouver named the headland in 1793 after Padre Francisco Dumetz of Mission San Buenaventura. The headland itself, along with its bluff-top trail and lookout, is managed as a Natural Preserve within the state park. West of the headland, Westward Beach is a roughly one-mile sand strip fronting Westward Beach Road and serves as the unit's primary swim and surf zone. East of the headland, Big Dume Cove is a small rocky cove reached by trail from the end of Birdview Avenue, or by scrambling around the base of the point from Westward Beach at low tide. Pirates Cove, at the south end of Westward Beach, is another small cove reached by scrambling over boulders. The tip of the headland sits at roughly -118.820 W longitude, and that line divides the two marine protected areas covering the unit.

The sandy bottom and breaking surf at Westward Beach make this a surf zone biome along the open shoreline. Cobble, boulder, and sandstone substrate around the base of the headland and inside Big Dume Cove forms a rocky reef biome on both sides of the point. Offshore, giant kelp anchored on rocky bottom puts a kelp forest biome within a short swim of either Westward Beach or Big Dume Cove.

Two state marine protected areas straddle the headland, and the rules differ on each side. Westward Beach and the water west of the headland sit inside the Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area, where all take is prohibited except recreational spearfishing for white seabass and pelagic finfish. Big Dume Cove and the water east of the headland sit inside the Point Dume State Marine Reserve, where take of all living marine resources is prohibited. Swimming at Westward Beach and snorkeling around the headland are common, and wildlife viewing is active year-round, with gray whales reported during the winter migration and pinnipeds on the rocks at the headland. Surfers use Westward Beach, but hook-and-line fishing and scuba are uncommon. Spearfishing for white seabass and pelagic finfish is legal on the SMCA side only.

Parking is the paid state-park lot off Westward Beach Road, accessed from Pacific Coast Highway, with a day-use fee. The lot fills on summer weekends, on holidays, and on winter days when whale watching is active. Limited free shoulder parking is available along Westward Beach Road.