Campus Point Beach

Campus Point Beach wraps around a low bluff at the eastern edge of the UC Santa Barbara campus, with the freshman dorms within walking distance of the trail down to the sand. The point is a well-known right-hand break: south and west swell bends around the headland into a long peeling right that holds shape across the tide, and the offshore kelp bed buffers the wind chop that closes out the rest of the Santa Barbara coast on a breezy afternoon. The lineup runs students, longboarders, and locals who first surfed the wave as undergraduates.

The beach itself sits inside the Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area, the second-largest coastal MPA on the south coast of California. The beach substrate is sand and breaking waves, a surf zone biome at the entry point. The surrounding SMCA encompasses rocky reef structure at the point and an expansive kelp forest offshore, both reachable by a short swim or paddle, which is why the rocky-reef and kelp-forest tags belong to the spot as well. Take has been prohibited within the boundary since 2012, and the protection has produced unusually dense fish life for a shore-accessible spot, with snorkeling productive on calm days off the point.

Parking is in the paid UCSB visitor lots, with Lot 6 the closest to the trail down to the point. Visitor permits are required on weekdays, and some lots are free on weekends. Take is prohibited within the Campus Point SMCA, which extends from the point west to Devereux Beach and out to roughly three nautical miles offshore. Tide pool collection is also prohibited.