Location Notes

WILL ROGERS STATE BEACH

• Location of Baywatch Headquarters
• Danger Areas:
  • Private fishing boats too close to shoreline often need rescue
  • Pacific Coast Highway is often the sight of many accidents
  • Storm drains by Tower 18
  • Jetties can serve as visual obstructions

History: named for American humorist known as the “cowboy philosopher”

SANTA MONICA STATE BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • Riptides
  • Rock jetties
  • Pico-Kenter storm drain

History: originally part of a rancho given to a Spaniard by the King of Spain

NICHOLAS CANYON BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • rocks between Nicholas and Leo Cabrillo beaches,
  • point zero
  • kelp beds can cause entanglement

History: named after a bandit who killed himself when he jumped off a cliff

ZUMA

• Danger Areas:
  • riptides can cause blitzes
  • south swells can be rough

History: was inhabited by Aboriginal indians discovered by Cabrillo

POINT DUME

• Danger Areas:
  • many cliffs
  • scuba divers are often swept into the ocean from the current,
  • hence the area’s nickname, “Point Doom.”

DAN BLOCKER MEMORIAL BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • Many rocks can cause a rough shorebreak.
  • Children can be easily knocked over.

History: originally part of a rancho given to a Spaniard by the King of Spain

• Good for:
  • scuba and skin diving

MALIBU STATE BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • rocky ocean bottom

History: was inhabited by a Chumash Indian village named “Humaliwo.” “Malibu” was derived from this name.

• Good for:
  • surfing

LAS TUNAS

• Danger Areas:
  • iron groins
  • rocky, underdeveloped beach

• Good for:
  • skin diving and spear fishing

TOPANGA BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • The creek. When it is not flowing, it is dangerous to
  • Children and non-swimmers
  • Rocky bottom
  • Large swells can sweep swimmers into rocks

• Good for:
  • Swimming in “the cove”
  • Catamaran storage and launching

VENICE BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • Two rock groins, one breakwater
  • Steep beach and breakwater causes “gutter rips.”

History: one of first public beaches Has a canal system Cosmopolitan beach, colorful and diverse

MARINA DEL REYM

• Good for:
  • handicapped people because of easy access to many ramps

MANHATTAN BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • Strong southern swell
  • Pier jumpers

REDONDO BEACH

• Danger Areas:
  • Storm drain at Del Mar

History: discovered by Cabrillo

PALOS VERDES

• Good for:

ABALONE COVE BEACH PARK

• Danger Areas:
  • Portuguese Point–a steep rocky point with deep gorges
  • “The Ruins”–steep walled point where the surf and surge come at great force