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Home/Locations/California/Los Angeles/Point Dume State Beach

Point Dume State Beach

Malibu · Los Angeles County · California

Spearfishing here is conditional
The short answer is Limited · MPA. The exact rule, who enforces it, and what it covers are written out in the field notes below.
Today’s conditions · not a forecast

Visibility Breakdown

Updated through the day · times PT
Last reading 7:01 AM

Visibility by position

Post Break
headline zone
8ft
auto reading
Open Water
12ft
auto reading

Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading

Cross-section from the sand out to open water, split into 2 visibility zones: Post Break (0-200 ft from shore), Open Water (200+ ft from shore).
Shore
Post Break
0-200 ft from shore
Open Water
200+ ft from shore

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. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.

Through the day

Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.

Every bar is a reading for the Post Break zone.

8
7a
auto
9a
soon
10a
soon
11a
soon
1p
soon
3p
soon
5p
soon

✓ = reading reviewed by hand

auto = reading not yet reviewed by hand

Did you dive today?Please share the visibility to make our algorithm more accurate.

Report visibility
Entry type
Shore
Parking
State lot · day-use
Spearfishing
Limited · MPA
Stingray risk
Low
Water quality
A · graded Oct 23
Difficulty
Intermediate
Popular activities
Swim · Snorkel · Wildlife
Today's forecast

Why it reads 6–10 ft

Updated 7:03 AM PT today · October 27, 2026
Moderate phytoplankton
Neutral
0.77 mg/m³
Moderate impact
Regional calibration correction
Helps vis
+9ft
Moderate impact
Moderate swell
Neutral
2.4 ft
Minor swell
Short-period chop
Hurts vis
5.0 s
Minor chop
Light wind
Neutral
6 kt
Minor wind
Live water reading
Helps vis
live reading today
Minor impact

Medium confidence

Ocean Oracle

7-Day Forecast

Days 2 to 7 are Pro

Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.

Today · Tue
Oct 27
6–10ft
Fair
Open Water 12 ft
Swell 2 ft at 6 s, wind 6 kt at 10 AM. No rain forecast.
Wed
Oct 28
14
Good
Open Water 21 ft
Thu
Oct 29
9
Fair
Open Water 14 ft
Fri
Oct 30
16
Excellent
Open Water 24 ft
Sat
Oct 31
19
Excellent
Open Water 27 ft
Sun
Nov 1
11
Good
Open Water 17 ft
Mon
Nov 2
13
Good
Open Water 20 ft
Unlock days 2 to 7
7-day forecasts come with Ocean Oracle Pro · $5/mo
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Getting there

Map and parking

34.0079° N · 118.8226° W
Map of Point Dume State Beach showing Westward Beach, the headland, and Big Dume Cove
Address
Westward Beach Rd
Malibu, CA 90265
Parking
State lot · day-use

Paid State Park lot off Westward Beach Road from Pacific Coast Highway, day-use fee. The lot fills on summer weekends and holidays, especially when whale-watching is active off the headland. Limited free shoulder parking on Westward Beach Road.

See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
Field notes

About 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.

From the Nautilids who hunt it

Spot strategies

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How other Nautilids actually hunt Point Dume State Beach: the biome they worked, the gear, the tide and time of day, and what they were after.
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Pelagiscape Offshore Map

One full-screen map of the water off all of California: satellite water clarity and temperature, temperature breaks, seafloor shading, depth lines, surface kelp, Marine Protected Areas, currents, wind, and swell. Save your spots as pins and get an email when a temperature break comes near them.

7-Day Forecasts

Visibility predictions for the entire week ahead at any beach. Plan dives, schedule charters, and book trips without guessing.

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Dive Log

Every entry freezes that day's report: visibility, tide, swell, wind. Log catches, stamp Personal Bests, level up your guns, and light up your species life list.

Front-Page Oracle

The Coastal Bulletin greets members with the clearest water on the coast today and their own watchlist, before a single click.

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