Torrey Pines State Beach

Torrey Pines State Beach is a long sand beach below the 300-foot sandstone cliffs of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, between Del Mar to the north and La Jolla to the south. The cliffs above are unstable and have been the site of multiple rescues. The only maintained routes from the bluff to the beach are the Beach Trail inside the State Reserve and the Glider Port Trail at the south end. Black's Beach lies two miles south along the base of the cliffs, reached either by walking south from the Beach Trail or by descending the Glider Port Trail. On the bluff above Black's, the Torrey Pines Gliderport is the staging area for paragliders and hang gliders working the cliff updrafts, and Torrey Pines Golf Course occupies the bluff above the south end of the beach.

The bottom is sand from one end of the beach to the other, with breaking surf and no offshore reef or kelp along the named stretch. That combination makes the spot a surf zone biome.

Swimming and surfing are common, and hook-and-line surf fishing happens alongside them. The absence of rock or kelp leaves nothing to hold fish in close, so spearfishing, snorkeling, and scuba are all uncommon. The San Diego-Scripps Coastal State Marine Conservation Area, with its limited-take rules, begins south at the Glider Port and covers Black's Beach; the named Torrey Pines State Beach sits north of that boundary.

The paid lot at the base of the State Reserve trail charges $15 for the day, and free roadside parking is available on North Torrey Pines Road north of the lot. The lot fills by 10 a.m. on summer weekends. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.