County Line Beach
County Line · Ventura 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
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34.052° N · 118.960° W
Malibu, CA 90265
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Open in Apple MapsAbout County Line Beach
County Line Beach is a half-mile shoreline immediately inside Ventura County at the Los Angeles County line, in the unincorporated community of Solromar. The Whaler's Village condominium complex sits to the east, the MariSol residential community to the north, and a tract of single-family beach homes wraps the west end. A peaky beach break runs across most of the sand, with a thick offshore kelp bed past it and a point that stays glassy when wind blows out other Malibu breaks. The Beach Boys named the spot in their 1963 song "Surfin' U.S.A.," and the water quality has been graded A-plus by Heal the Bay. Junior surf competitions run here, and the spot is one of the standard western Malibu and Ventura County dive locations.
Sand and cobble give way to breaking waves at entry, which makes the inshore a surf zone biome. Past the sand, the cobble and rocky bottom that anchors the kelp also exposes bare-rock sections between kelp patches, and that bottom is a rocky reef biome. The thick offshore kelp bed anchors on that same rocky bottom and grows up through the water column to the surface, which makes the offshore section a kelp forest biome reachable by a short swim from the sand entry. White seabass run on the outer reefs in season.
Surfing is the dominant surface activity, with both the beach break and the point producing rideable waves across a wide range of swell directions. Scuba and freediving in the kelp are common because the access is easy and the marine habitat is productive, and spearfishing on the outer reefs is common when white seabass are running. Kayak fishing, shore fishing, and calm-day snorkeling all fill out the remaining use.
Free Caltrans shoulder parking and small free dirt pullouts at both ends of the beach are the only options. There are no restrooms and no facilities on site, and spaces fill at sunrise on swell days and on summer weekends. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations. No state marine protected area covers this section of the Ventura County coast.
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
Rocky Reef
The rocky reef biome is bare rock, boulder, and cobble structure without a kelp canopy above it. The hard relief and its crevices shelter invertebrates and reef fish, and the structure concentrates life that the surrounding sand cannot hold. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome Glossary
Kelp Forest
The kelp forest biome is giant kelp anchored to rocky bottom and growing up through the water column. The canopy and stipes form a three-dimensional habitat that shelters fish, invertebrates, and the predators that hunt them. 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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