County Line Beach, Malibu

County Line Beach
Location South coast, Ventura County, California, USA
Nearest city Malibu, California
Coordinates 34°3′6″N 118°57′36″W / 34.05167°N 118.96000°WCoordinates: 34°3′6″N 118°57′36″W / 34.05167°N 118.96000°W
Operated by Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Parking Street parking
Official website

County Line Beach is beach park located in Solromar, an unincorporated community of Ventura County. This stretch of sandy beach is easily accessible from the adjacent Pacific Coast Highway and is a popular surf spot. The beach lies within the south coast portion of the Ventura County amidst a mostly rugged coastline that is some of the most striking and diverse coastal terrain in the County. The beach lies at the mouth of a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains that hug the shore along the Ventura County's south coast.[1]

Location

Although the area is within the Malibu zip code, the beach is north of the boundary with Los Angeles County and the City of Malibu. Its sandy beach stretches over half a mile, bordered by the Whaler's Village Condominium complex to the east, the MariSol residential community to the North and a tract of single family beach homes on the western end.[2]

Street parking is available on the adjacent Pacific Coast Highway which is part of the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route. This an access point for California Coastal Trail.[3]

Recreational activities

Board surfing, body surfing, kite surfing, wind surfing and stand up paddle boarding are common activities at County Line Beach.[4] The water quality at County Line Beach is consistently graded as an A+ by the environmental steward organization Heal the Bay.[5] It has a beach break with good peaks for surfing, and a point break that stays glassy from the thick kelp beds.[6] Junior surf competitions are held there and it has received some celebrity notoriety with its mentioning as a favorite surf spot by the Beach Boys in their 1963 hit song Surfin' USA. Kite surfing and wind surfing are also popular at the beach.[2]

Coastal marine habitat

Scuba diving and freediving are popular because of the easy access and a marine habitat consisting of an abundant kelp forest with numerous reefs. When the waves are small and the water visibility is clear, diving conditions can be good to excellent. The outer reefs have an abundance of sea life and are popular among spear-fisherman when the white seabass are running.[6] Spearfishing, kayak fishing and shore fishing are popular here. The largest draw is for the California white seabass when it is in season typically at the end of Spring and through Summer. Pacific halibut and Calico bass are also popular game fish.

Wildlife including dolphin, whale, seals, seabirds and fish are abundant off of County Line Beach. The large kelp forests and abundance of squid means a high biodiversity. The squid fishery is also a very lucrative commercial venture just off the coast from the beach.[7] The thick kelp beds also provide an opportunity to test for radioactive contamination that could arrive in ocean currents from Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "SUBSEQUENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR FOCUSED GENERAL PLAN UPDATE and Related Amendments to the Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance and Zone Change ZN05-0008" County of Ventura (June 22, 2005)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Beach Boys' Malibu Beach House" PR Newswire (Nov. 20, 2012)
  3. ↑ California Coastal Trail Hiker's Guide: Ventura County Section 13 Map Coastwalk Accessed 1 May 2014
  4. ↑ Cardwell, Diane (July 30, 2014) "At Patagonia, the Bottom Line Includes the Earth" New York Times
  5. ↑ "Beach Report Card". Heal the Bay. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "County Line Beach". L.A. Mountains. Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "A squishy romance". Malibu Times. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Sahagun, Louis (January 16, 2014) "Study to test California's kelp forests for radioactive contamination" Los Angeles Times