Oil Piers Beach

Oil Piers Beach runs about a mile of sand and cobble between the small community of Mussel Shoals and the Seacliff Beach Colony in northern Ventura County. The defining piece of its history is no longer there. Two oil piers stood off this stretch for decades, and through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s they trapped enough sand to build a defined sandbar break that drew surfers from up and down the Ventura coast. When the operator's lease with the State of California expired, both piers were dismantled in 1998. The sandbar shifted with them, and the surf has not been the same since. Stubs of the old pilings and broken rubble still sit on the bottom in places. To the north the beach ends below the Cliff House Inn, perched on the bluff above Highway 101.

The sand and cobble shoreline with its breaking waves is a surf zone biome. Where the residual piling stubs and natural cobble rise from the sand without any kelp on top, the bottom forms a patchy rocky reef biome.

Surfing remains the main use of the beach, even with the break reduced from its pre-1998 form, and shore anglers work the sand for perch. The limited relief of the inshore structure and the surf keep spearfishing, snorkeling, and scuba uncommon.

The dirt pullout on Old Pacific Coast Highway, reached from Highway 101 exit 78, holds roughly a dozen cars and has no facilities. A short walk under the highway leads to the sand. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.