California's best beaches

The best of California's coast, ranked by our curation — not an exhaustive list, just the ones worth driving for.

Updated 2026-08-03.

• La Jolla Cove — Beach
• Natural Bridges — State Beach · 4 trails
• Mavericks — Beach
• Zuma Beach — Beach
• Santa Monica State Beach — State Beach
• Main Beach — Beach
• Trinidad State Beach — State Beach · 3 trails
• Point Dume State Beach — State Beach · 2 trails
• Pismo State Beach — State Beach · 3 campgrounds · 6 trails
• Windansea Beach — Beach
• Corona del Mar State Beach — State Beach
• Coronado Beach — Beach
• Carmel City Beach — Beach
• Doheny State Beach — State Beach · 3 campgrounds
• Malibu Lagoon State Beach — State Beach
• San Onofre State Beach — State Beach · 14 campgrounds · 2 trails
• Morro Rock Beach — Beach
• Asilomar — State Beach · 2 trails
• Panther Beach — Beach
• El Capitan State Beach — State Beach · 5 campgrounds
• New Brighton State Beach — State Beach · 3 campgrounds · 3 trails
• Silver Strand State Beach — State Beach · 2 campgrounds · 1 trails
• South Carlsbad State Beach — State Beach · 5 campgrounds
• Victoria Beach — Beach
• Cayucos Beach — State Beach
• Butterfly Beach — Beach
• Glass Beach — Beach
• Sand Dollar Beach — Beach
• Aliso Beach — Beach
• Moonlight Beach — State Beach

Campground status on Explore is checked against official booking calendars, not reviews — 78 campgrounds carry a checked date. Sources.

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