Zuma Beach is a county beach at 30000 Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, California. One of the largest and most popular beaches in Los Angeles County, California, it is known for its long, wide sands and excellent surf. It consistently ranks among the healthiest beaches for clean water conditions in Los Angeles County. [1]
The beach's name may be related to the origin of the name of the nearby promontory, Point Dume, named by George Vancouver in 1793 in honor of Padre Francisco Dumetz of Mission San Buenaventura. [2] The name was misspelled on Vancouver's map as "Dume" and was never corrected. [3] On a plat map of the Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit finally confirmed to new owner Matthew Keller in August 1870, the point is marked on the map as "Point Zuma or Duma". [4]
Zuma is protected by the Lifeguard unit of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, [5] [6] with 14 lifeguard towers on the sands proper and one of four L.A. County Section Headquarters located at the center of the beach.
Like all beaches with good surf, Zuma has its share of rip currents. [7] Visitors are encouraged not to swim or surf in front of the Lifeguard Headquarters between Towers 8 and 9, an area particularly prone to rip currents. In fact, rip currents are so prevalent that as of 2007 the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Unit uses Zuma Beach to illustrate a rip current. [8]
Zuma Beach hosts several premier surfing events each year. With optimum wind conditions nearly daily in the late afternoon, Zuma draws many to kitesurfing on the northern end of Zuma Beach.
Zuma Beach can be accessed directly from PCH, and lies between the major access corridors Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road and Kanan-Dume Road to the southeast, and Las Posas Road to the northwest. Parking is available in a large fee parking lot. Additional parking is available on the adjacent PCH.
On its southeast side, Zuma is bordered by Westward Beach. Westward is geographically situated on Malibu's westernmost promontory known as Point Dume. Westward includes a stretch of 2-way road right at the sand's edge. [9] Parking is available on the road as well as a fee parking lot. Westward Beach is marked by a shorter sand shelf than Zuma, a veritable pipeline, making the waves of less duration and higher impact. Westward Beach is recommended only for strong swimmers, as the wave action compared to Zuma Beach is stronger, can push down on swimmers, and delivers more of a "crunch." Westward Beach is where former lifeguard Jesse Billauer [10] suffered the accident that left him paralyzed.
Parking: 2025 spaces (43 disabled) Electric Vehicle - 3 inductive, 1 conductive
During emergency conditions such as fires, mudslides or earthquakes, Zuma Beach is a designated emergency evacuation center. With its flat terrain, open parking, miles of pristine sand, and xeriscape landscaping, it is an optimal first-response open-air shelter. It has a dedicated helicopter landing area for medical emergency airlifts to trauma centers.
With its proximity to the film and television industry in Los Angeles, Zuma Beach has been a popular filming location.
The Malibu Nautica Triathlon is an annual benefit for Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. The swim portion begins at Zuma Beach, followed by a bicycle segment along the length of the beach north to Deer Creek Canyon, capped by a run along the sidewalk fronting Zuma Beach. In its 34th year as of 2008, the event draws competitors from around the world, but is best known in popular culture for the Hollywood celebrities and retired Olympic medalists who compete. Stars in recent Nauticas have been David Duchovny, Felicity Huffman, Carl Lewis, Jennifer Lopez, William H. Macy, and Matthew McConaughey. Many television stars also have competed. In 2008, the event raised nearly $980,000. [12]
Malibu is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching 21 miles along the Pacific Ocean coast, and for its longtime status as the home of numerous affluent Hollywood celebrities and executives. Although a high proportion of its residents are entertainment industry figures with million-dollar mansions, Malibu also features several middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods. The Pacific Coast Highway traverses the city and has led most residents to settle anywhere from half a mile to within a few hundred yards of it, with some residents living up to one mile away from the beach in areas featuring narrow canyons. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,654.
A rip current is a specific type of water current that can occur near beaches where waves break. A rip is a strong, localized, and narrow current of water that moves directly away from the shore by cutting through the lines of breaking waves, like a river flowing out to sea. The force of the current in a rip is strongest and fastest next to the surface of the water.
Topanga is an unincorporated community in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow southern portion of Topanga at the coast is between the city of Malibu and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. As of the 2020 census the population of the Topanga CDP was 8,560. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Topanga as a census-designated place (CDP). The ZIP code is 90290 and the area code is primarily 310, with 818 only at the north end of the canyon. It is in the 3rd County Supervisorial district.
Leo Carrillo State Park is a state park in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Situated along the Malibu coast, the park is a component of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. With 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of beach, the parkland stretches into the Santa Monica Mountains. The park has expanded into Ventura County and also includes management of County Line Beach. California State Route 1 runs through the park, where it intersects with the western terminus of the Mulholland Highway. The 2,513-acre (1,017 ha) park was established in 1953. It is named for actor and conservationist Leo Carrillo (1880–1961), who served on the State Parks commission.
Huntington State Beach is a protected beach in Southern California, located in the City of Huntington Beach in Orange County. It extends 2 miles (3.2 km) from Newport Beach north to Beach Boulevard, where the Huntington City Beach begins. The 121-acre (49 ha) park was established in 1942.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in the greater Los Angeles region, with two thirds of the parklands in northwest Los Angeles County, and the remaining third, including a Simi Hills extension, in southeastern Ventura County.
Gregory J. Bonann is an American lifeguard, television producer, director, writer, and showrunner. He is best known for co-creating the internationally syndicated television series, Baywatch, which ran for eleven seasons, and was listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records as the most widely viewed TV series in the world. His later work includes the syndicated action drama, SAF3, and A Chance For Children, a charitable foundation that benefits homeless and at-risk youth.
Point Dume is a promontory on the coast of Malibu, California that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. The point, a long bluff, forms the northern end of the Santa Monica Bay. Point Dume Natural Area affords a vista of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Santa Catalina Island. Zuma Beach lies to its immediate northwest.
Hurricane Liza was the third hurricane of the 1968 Pacific hurricane season. Forming from an area of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) on August 28 and reaching tropical storm strength in the same day, Liza meandered generally westward over the Pacific Ocean, reaching hurricane strength on August 29 while far from land. It maintained that intensity until September 2, when the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm, but avoided tropical depression status despite the presentation seen by an Air Force reconnaissance plane. After weakening, the storm moved northwestward, weakening to a depression on September 4, when it began a turn to the east. There is a possibility that the depression completed a small loop between the downgrade and its dissipation on September 6.
Los Angeles County Lifeguards is a division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The lifeguard operations safeguard 31 miles (50 km) of beach and 72 miles (116 km) of coastline, from San Pedro in the south, to Malibu in the north. The Los Angeles County Lifeguards are the largest professional lifeguard service in the world, and as of 2021, employs 174 full-time lifeguards and 614 recurrent lifeguards.
Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit was a 13,316-acre (53.89 km2) Spanish land grant in the Santa Monica Mountains and adjacent coast, within present day Los Angeles County, California. It was given by Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga in 1804 to José Bartolomé Tapia.
Las Tunas County Beach and Las Tunas State Beach are public beaches operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors in Malibu, California, United States. Circa 1986, the beach was described as "little more than a dirt parking lot, a lifeguard station and a steep drop to the Pacific." The beach is named for its proximity to Tuna Canyon Road; las tunas are the fruit of the opuntia cactus.
Malibou Lake is a small reservoir surrounded by a residential development in the Santa Monica Mountains near Agoura Hills, California. Adjacent to Malibu Creek State Park and within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, it is situated between Malibu Beach and the Conejo Valley. It was created in 1922 after the Malibu Lake Club Dam was built at the confluence of two creeks. The lake, and community of 250 residents are private.
Malibu Vista is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Malibu Vista is located in the Santa Monica Mountains 1.6 miles (2.6 km) north of the Pacific Ocean at Malibu. Malibu Vista, one of a handful of residential tracts in the Malibu–Topanga hills, is the one relatively closest to Point Dume, and is in the same canyon as Malibu Mar Vista.
Lifeguard! Southern California is an American reality television series on The Weather Channel and narrated by Christopher Emerson which puts cameras on Southern California beaches from Los Angeles County in the north to San Diego County in the south. The cameras follow real life lifeguards and harbor patrol officers along 150 miles of Southern California beaches as they perform their rescue and law enforcement activities. The lifeguards tell of the people who come to their beaches, their jobs and the dangers that their beaches pose like water dangers, and dangers presented by marine life. All of the rescues, first aid and law enforcement shown are recorded by the cameras in real time. Victims and victim's families are also interviewed during the recording of the show.
E.M.I.L.Y. is a robotic device used by lifeguards for rescuing swimmers. Created by Hydronalix, a maritime robotic company, and funded by the United States Navy, EMILY operates on battery power and is operated by remote control after being dropped into the water from shore, a boat, pier, or helicopter. Using an impeller motor to travel through water, it is able to reach victims much faster than a human lifeguard can by swimming, and it is more compact and less expensive to maintain than crewed watercraft. It can also operate in weather and surf conditions that make other rescue attempts impractical. Once it reaches the victims its foam core allows it to function as a flotation device for four to six people holding onto side ropes or handles.
County Line Beach is a beach located in Solromar, California, an unincorporated community of Ventura County. This stretch of sandy beach is easily accessible from the adjacent Pacific Coast Highway. This surf spot popularized by the Beach Boys in their 1963 hit song "Surfin' U.S.A." is administered by the California State Parks' Malibu Sector Coastal Lifeguard Program in addition to Leo Carrillo State Park. The beach lies within the south coast portion of Ventura County amidst a mostly rugged coastline that is some of the most striking and diverse coastal terrain in the County and a backdrop for many televised car scenes. The beach lies at the mouth of a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains that hugs the shore along the Ventura County's south coast.
The Hueneme, Malibu & Port Los Angeles Railway was a standard-gauge, 15-mile railroad (24 km) in Malibu, California. It was founded by Frederick Hastings Rindge (1857–1905) and operated on his 13,000-acre ranch (5,300 ha) along the coast, which encompassed most of what is today Malibu. He struggled for years to keep trespassers off of his land, and feared that the Southern Pacific Company would use the power of eminent domain to build a railroad through his property. This threat animated Rindge to plan his own railroad to thwart the efforts of the Southern Pacific. This was part of his overall effort to keep outsiders off of his ranch and spoil what he considered to be paradise.
Skylar Peak is an American businessman, politician, environmentalist, professional surf instructor, former Mayor, and current city councilman of the city of Malibu, California.
The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors is responsible for 20 beaches and the Marina Del Rey small-craft harbor in Los Angeles County, California.