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NauticalNickVisibility Report

Hendry's Beach

Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara County · California

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Entry type
Shore
Parking
Good · lot
Spearfishing
Legal
Stingray risk
Medium
Water quality
A+ · tested Sep 11
Difficulty
Beginner
Popular activities
Swim · Surf

Today's forecast

As of Sep 11, 11:15 PM PT · latest available
Predicted visibility
13–19
ft
Excellent
Medium confidence
0510152030+ ft
Time of day
Today's forecast updates
6 AM
Pending
10 AM
Pending
1 PM
Pending

Dawn is the clearest window. A late-morning onshore builds surface chop and gives up a few feet by the afternoon.

What influences the visibility?
Contributing factors
Clean water
0.57 mg/m³
Moderate impact · Neutral for vis
Regional calibration correction
+14ft
Moderate impact · Good for vis
Moderate swell
2.7 ft
Minor swell · Neutral for vis
Short-period chop
5.0 s
Minor chop · Bad for vis
Light wind
8 kt
Moderate wind · Neutral for vis
Ocean Oracle

7-Day Forecast

Forecasts beyond today are Pro-only
Today · Sat
Sep 12
13–19 ft
Excellent
Dawn is the clearest window.
Sun
Sep 13
14
Good
Ocean Oracle Pro
Mon
Sep 14
9
Fair
Ocean Oracle Pro
Tue
Sep 15
16
Excellent
Ocean Oracle Pro
Wed
Sep 16
19
Excellent
Ocean Oracle Pro
Thu
Sep 17
11
Good
Ocean Oracle Pro
Fri
Sep 18
13
Good
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Map · getting there

34.404° N · 119.744° W
Map of Hendry's Beach
Static map
Address
Santa Barbara County, CA
34.4035° N, 119.7437° W
Parking
Two free paved lots at the Cliff Drive entrance (exit Las Positas Road south to Cliff Drive). Lots fill by mid-morning on weekends. The Boathouse restaurant sits on the sand; restrooms, outdoor showers, picnic tables, and dog wash stations on the upper lawn.
Field notes

About Hendry's Beach

Hendry's Beach is the local name for Arroyo Burro County Beach Park, the main public beach on Santa Barbara's west side. The shoreline is a wide sandy stretch flanked by sandstone bluffs at the mouth of Arroyo Burro Creek. The Boathouse restaurant sits on the sand, open from breakfast through dinner with dogs welcome on the patio. East of the creek mouth is one of only three legal off-leash dog beaches in Santa Barbara, with dog wash stations on the upper lawn and a Watershed Resource Center on site. The beach is more a family and dog-walking destination than a dive site, though it picks up rideable surf on a west or northwest swell.

The shoreline is a long sandy beach with open shore habitat and a creek-mouth break, which makes it a surf zone biome.

Two free paved lots sit at the Cliff Drive entrance off Las Positas Road, and they fill by mid-morning on weekends. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.

Surf Zone biome illustration
Biome illustration
Biome

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
For spearos · for fishing

Target Fish Species

Ocean Oracle Pro
California Halibut
Active May–Oct · sand bottom
Barred Surfperch
Year-round · surf line
Yellowfin Croaker
Summer · shallow troughs
Spotfin Croaker
Aug–Oct · post-storm
Corbina
Late spring–summer
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How other Nautilids actually hunt Hendry's Beach: the biome they worked, the gear, the tide and time of day, and what they were after. Post your own and earn XP.
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