More Mesa Beach
Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara County · California
Today's forecast
Updated 6:00 AM PT todayDawn is the clearest window. A late-morning onshore builds surface chop and gives up a few feet by the afternoon.
7-Day Forecast
Map · getting there
34.408° N · 119.777° W
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Open in Apple MapsAbout More Mesa Beach
More Mesa Beach sits below More Mesa Open Space, an undeveloped 300-acre coastal bluff between the private Hope Ranch community and Goleta. The beach is one of the largest undeveloped stretches of white sand on the Santa Barbara south coast, and the lack of road access keeps it that way. There are no restrooms or facilities of any kind. The western section has long functioned as an unofficial nude beach, on the practical grounds that the remoteness makes nudity laws unenforceable.
The closest legal parking is on Vieja Drive or Puente Drive, with Mockingbird Lane running about three-quarters of a mile down to the sand, including a steep stepped path down the bluff. A small free lot off South Patterson Avenue is the alternative. The descent is not wheelchair accessible.
The long, open, sandy shoreline with breaking surf and no rock or kelp structure makes this a surf zone biome. 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 GlossaryTarget Fish Species
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