Few things are as iconic as the Southern California coastline. Palm trees sway in the breeze as the sun sets over the ocean, surfers and dolphins dot the waves, billionaires with shorefront properties block the public from accessing public beaches...
El Matador State Beach in Malibu never needs a filter. Photo copyright 2016 by Anna Boudinot.
Oh wait – is that not what you envision when you hear a Beach Boys song? Well, unfortunately it’s a reality. There are no private beaches in California, and everyone who purchases property along the coast is required to allow the public access to the sand that separates the property from the ocean. Yet the millionaires and billionaires who own such properties often illegally prevent the public from passing alongside their property to get to the beach. They lock gates that shouldn’t be locked, put up fences across public access corridors, and even erect fake “no parking” signs. Disney mogul David Geffen famously installed faux garage doors on the facade of his house to deter people from parking in legal spots in front of his home on the Pacific Coast Highway.
In recent years, the California Coastal Commission has taken some of these wealthy folks to court, and some progress has been made. In addition, a fantastic free app called Our Malibu Beaches gives beachgoers the inside scoop on every beach, including where to find its access points, which parts are defined as public easements, and what to say to obnoxious homeowners who may try to shoo you away.
If you’re not comfortable quibbling with the rich (and with the Sheriff's Deputies working on their behalf), head to El Matador. It’s fully accessible, gorgeous, and somehow rarely packed, tending to be populated with more Angelenos than tourists. Along with La Piedra and El Pescador, El Matador is part of the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beaches. I had to dig deep to figure out who Robert H. Meyer was, and he seems to be as controversial as David Geffen’s trompe l’oeil.
The 1987 California Coastal Resource Guide explains that the beaches were named after Meyer to honor him for his “work with the [California] Department of Parks and Recreation in expanding and improving the state park system.” But prior to his work with Parks and Rec, he was Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for the federal government and a farmer in the Imperial Valley. In 1977, Meyer was accused of using his government position to influence a change to a federal water-rights policy that would benefit him as a landowner. He resigned amidst a bit of a scandal, but not without writing a letter to then-President Jimmy Carter to defend himself. (Jimmy Carter wrote back and basically said “NBD.”)
By 1984, Meyer had moved on, served as deputy for the state Parks and Recreation department and gotten 40 acres of beach named after him. And sadly but not surprisingly, local residents fought the state in court battles for eight years to stop those beaches from being opened to the public. Thank god they lost.
El Matador State Beach. Photo copyright 2016 by Anna Boudinot.
El Matador is fairly easy to find, especially if you’re using the Our Malibu Beaches app, and if you’re not you just need to keep your eyes peeled for the El Matador sign on the PCH about halfway between Point Dume and Leo Carillo State Park. The parking lot is small and includes a fee, so you may be better off parking along the side of the highway. Walk through the lot, head down a set of stairs, and suddenly the Pacific Ocean opens up in front of you like an artistic two-page spread in a travel magazine. It’s so stunning it hardly seems real.
Continue your descent down a steep pathway to the water and explore the rocky arches and caverns dipping into the sand. The beach is kept clean, has a far more rugged look than some of the better-known beaches, and is a favorite of locals. Kelp forests give texture to the waves and pelicans dive-bomb unsuspecting fish. It’s not a huge beach: it’s known as a “pocket beach,” to be exact. The cliffs wrap around to make a secluded cove. On the day I visited, the area was filled with both professional and amateur photographers eager to capture the golden hue reflected by the sandstone in the early evening. It’s one of so many spots in California that simply make one glad to be alive, glad to be a Californian. And also glad, I should add, that the California Coastal Commission keeps fighting the good fight.
To aid the California Coastal Commission in their fight to ensure public access to public land, donate here.