Zuma Beach

Zuma Beach is a two-mile sand strip in northern Malibu, fronting Pacific Coast Highway. Its northern boundary is the mouth of Trancas Creek, just south of Broad Beach, and its southern boundary is Westward Beach, the western component of Point Dume State Beach. Twelve Los Angeles County parking lots, managed by LA County Beaches and Harbors, run the full length of the shoreline along Pacific Coast Highway. Zuma has served as a filming location for productions including the television series Baywatch and the 1978 made-for-television film Zuma Beach.

The bottom is sand throughout, with consistent breaking surf and no rocky reef or kelp within shore-access range. The spot is a surf zone biome.

Surfing and swimming are the primary uses, with multiple breaks distributed along the two-mile sand strip. There is no pier at Zuma itself, and the nearest one is Malibu Pier roughly eight miles to the east. With no rocky structure or kelp to hold fish, spearfishing, snorkeling, and scuba from shore are all uncommon. At the south end, sandbar formations at Westward Beach produce a heavy shorebreak distinct from the longer breaks along the main stretch of Zuma. After winter rain, runoff from the Trancas Creek mouth at the north end can degrade water quality for several days.

The twelve paid lots run along the two-mile shoreline and hold more than 2,000 spaces total, with fees ranging from $3 to $15 in summer and $3 to $8 in winter, so they rarely fill outside major holiday weekends. Shoulder parking on Pacific Coast Highway is unsafe and is not a practical alternative. Take of all living marine resources is prohibited along this shoreline, which sits inside the Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area, with one exception: recreational spearfishing for white seabass and pelagic finfish. Resident reef fish stay off-limits. The conservation area runs from the Point Dume headland northwest past Zuma to El Matador, so the rule holds the length of the beach. Zuma is a county-operated beach, 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. The southern end transitions into Westward Beach and Point Dume State Beach, which are covered as a separate spot.