Zuma Beach

Zuma beach is huge and wide and stretches for miles and miles. Once one of the centers of the 1950s surfing movement, it still remains popular with locals and "not-so locals" today. Pay for parking is usually ample - they have around 2000 parking spaces in the handful of lots and you can also get lucky with free street parking to avoid the parking fees.

It has long had the reputation of being one of the cleanest beaches in Los Angeles and this holds true today. Must have something to do with the freezing cold water. Truly, water at Zuma is the coldest you'll feel in the LA area. However, on a clear day, the views of surrounding mountains is stunning and sunsets here are also beautiful.

It is one of the Malibu beaches and part of an area originally settled by the Chumash Native Americans. "Zuma" was the name of one of their villages.

Many people come here to swim or bodysurf but it is also known for riptides and freezing cold water. We come here in winter to see dolphins. We skip Zuma in summer because of the combination of it being too crowded and the freezing cold water - there are just too many other choices. In winter, the beach is empty, pristine and it isn't rare to see a family of dolphins swim by.

Photo above was taken from the shore at Zuma beach in mid-January. It is nearly impossible to time a photo to capture a dolphin is jumping out of the water - but we saw several (about five) all swimming and jumping together that afternoon. Several fin photos are our only proof!

There are restrooms and also two food stands at either end of the beach serving up everything that you'd expect to see, like hot dogs, corn dogs and all that beachy junk food goodness. The food stands are only open during the busy summer months though. In the winter, they look abandoned, like a spooky horror movie backdrop, which I think holds charm too.