Beacon's Beach
Leucadia · Encinitas · San Diego County · California
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading
Break Zone: The range of water where the waves break and sediment is stirred up.
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.
First cam reading around 7 AM.
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Coastal Bulletin
About Beacon's Beach
Today's forecast
As of Oct 12, 8:02 PM PT · latest available7-Day Forecast
Map · getting there
33.066° N · 117.306° W
Encinitas, CA 92024
Open in Google Maps
Open in Apple MapsAbout Beacon's Beach
Beacon's Beach is the local name for Leucadia State Beach, below the bluffs of the Leucadia neighborhood in Encinitas, San Diego County. A switchback dirt trail drops down the bluff from a small city parking lot at 948 Neptune Avenue. The trail crosses an active landslide, and a partial slide in May 2022 closed it for just under 2 months. Engineers later found a failure plane under the western parking spaces, so the city moved them east, away from the bluff edge, in a project finished in January 2025.
The main peak breaks in front of the bluff trail over boulders and sand, which places Beacon's Beach in the surf zone biome. Boulders give the break a rocky reef biome, and north of the main peak a reef and sandbar combination called Bamboos breaks in front of a stand of bamboo below the blufftop houses. Sand fills the bottom between them and forms the sandy flats biome.
Surfing draws most of the use, and the break works best on west swells. Divers who use the beach describe the sand here as fine and quick to cloud the water once the surf picks up. The cleanest water comes with small surf.
Parking is in the small lot at 948 Neptune Avenue and on nearby residential streets. Beacon's Beach lies north of Swami's State Marine Conservation Area, and no marine protected area covers it, so fishing and spearfishing are legal under standard California regulations.
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 Glossary
Sandy Flats
The sandy flats biome is open sand bottom past the breaking waves, from the sand slope off a beach to the sand channels and plains between reefs. Worms, clams, and other small animals live buried in the sand, and halibut and rays bury themselves in it to hide and hunt. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome GlossaryTarget Fish Species
The fish found at Beacon's Beach are being researched for the Ichthyopedia. This section fills in as species are mapped to this beach.
Browse the Ichthyopedia →Spot strategies
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