Sunset Cliffs Natural Park

Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is a 68-acre cliff-edge park on the western flank of the Point Loma peninsula in San Diego. The park runs from Adair Street in the north south to the Naval Reservation, and the bluff face along that stretch is sandstone carved into sea caves and arches by long exposure to the open Pacific. Garbage Beach, at the foot of Ladera Street, takes its name from the heavy kelp that washes in on the sand. The one maintained access is the concrete stairway at the end of Ladera Street, and the other entries are unimproved scrambles down the sandstone. The cliffs themselves are unstable, and rescues from cliff failures are recurring.

Offshore the bottom is cobble and boulder substrate in 10 to 35 feet of water. Past the immediate cliff base, giant kelp anchors to that rocky bottom and grows up through the water column to the surface. The bare reef in the shallows is a rocky reef biome, and beyond it the kelp forms a kelp forest biome reachable by short swim from the maintained access points.

Spearfishing, surfing, and scuba are common, and the rocky structure holds the standard kelp-and-reef target species of the San Diego coast. Hook-and-line fishing from the cliff edges happens, though the height and the difficulty of retrieving a fish from the water below limit the practice. Snorkeling and freediving from Ladera Street are common on calm days. Conditions vary with season and storm history, and the kelp anchor depth and density shift after large winter swells.

Two dirt parking lots sit at the foot of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard near Ladera Street, with street parking along the boulevard itself. Spaces fill before sunset on weekends and through summer. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.