Cardiff State Beach

Nice beach, clean. Nice views, nice people. Parking run by the State…
Not free, tho reasonable. Surfers and bathers can use the beach.

Nice beach with fun places to eat across the street. Parking can be tough. Beach had an on duty life guard when we were there Saturday. Beach was clean and I didn’t see any broken bottles or glass!

The only dog-​friendly beach in North County that I know of… This area has a pay lot that is $ 6 for 1 hour, $ 8 for 2 hour, and $ 10 for all day at least for the weekends. Pay at a machine and you’ll need your license plate number.
The beach itself is littered with coral and large stones, so laying out could be troublesome without some «landscaping» of the sand beforehand so you don’t end up with a rock under your towel. The surf is good and with the coral reef offshore there is a great break that brings in a lot of surfers. Other than that, the beach has moderate cliffs compared to Swami’s or Torrey Pines so isn’t as geologically impressive. Still, lots of fun if you have a dog.

Gorgeous. Love having Bull Taco to grab a snack. The campgrounds are so fun for a staycation and running stairs are a perfect workout. Cardiff is a small community and so family friendly. Still close knit like no other spot here in North County.

This beach is always very clean & beautiful. It has a big parking lot just steps from the beach & is also on the leash dog friendly. I love taking my dog here.

Always a treat to visit Cardiff state beach. I just love love the fact that there’s never that many peeps like there is down at Del Mar beach! Parking is pretty bountiful for a state beach and there’s plenty of street parking as well, if you don’t want to pay the fee. :)
I always love coming here for some meditation and relaxation. Nothing says calm & peace like our beautiful vast ocean. It’s a nice treat to your Self, to come on out an enjoy the beauty. There’s Kai’s café right across the street, you can pop in for a glass of wine and cheese with fruit platter to enjoy the sunrise, or you can totally cater to your Self and take a picnic. All in all, you will thank yourself for the experience. You gotta love «You». You gotta take care of «You».
Have a blessed day & Go to the beach!!! ;)

A dog friendly, clean and never crowded beach in-​between Encinitas and Solana beach makes for the perfect get away from the often crowded beaches of North County San Diego. Enjoy the wilderness in the surrounding areas, the beautiful towering cliffs in the south, the adjacent San Elijo Lagoon & Reservoir, and the delicious restaurants in the area. Parking is always abundantly available, for free on the street and for a reasonable rate in the parking lots. Perfect place to escape the suburban hecticness of North County without having to sacrifice $$$ & time to go to an always crowded Torrey Pines & La Jolla.

This is a clean, beautiful little beach with convenient parking (hallelujah!).
Apparently, it’s also a good spot for surfing. I couldn’t tell you– might be a great spot for rock climbing and sky diving, too, but I’m not going to do any of that crap, either.
Why was I so impressed? Because it was so pleasant there. Not crowded, just some aforementioned surfers and a few families of the variety that actually supervise their children. No graffiti, no gangs, no barbequeing goats or donkeys. Can it last? Probably not, so grab your well-​behaved kiddos and scoot on down while the going is good.
(Why not 5 stars? Cause I’ve been to Bora Bora, b*tch!)

«Its terrible living in San Diego! Lets move to Missouri!» — No One
This is a great beach out of the many around. We ended up coming here because it is friendly to our 4 legged furry kid as long as we have a leash on it at all times. I was surprised because we are so use to going to Fiesta Island to the dog beach but it really gets tiring going all the way over there, not only that but the smell is bad and the crowd is a party crowd over theee on the weekends.
So we were happy to see such a clean beach with so many families and surfers around. I have to say there is sooo much seaweed in the water. I mean it just wraps around your feet. Maybe it was worse when I came but I couldnt stand it too long. That was the only downside.
Also the bathrooms have no light so on a cloudy day or when the sun is setting you better have a flashlight. No water is running so the showers arent working at this time. It was terrible trying to get all the sand off.
There is a bridge where Coast Highway goes over the San elijo reserve. Any activity on the side of the san Elijo reserve is prohibited its super pretty and its very appealing to swin in. So if you are going to swim in it and break the rules like i did please make sure you know what you are doing. There is a strong current that pulls you into the ocean. So be a strong swimmer.
Its a state beach so it has a little bit more rules. The parking situation can be terrible during the day on weekends. The parking lot during the week has a hourly rate, but on the weekends you have to pay the full day which comes out to $ 15. Sunset hours (an hour before beach closes) is $ 6 everyday of the week. Its not that bad considering oceanside beach charges about twice that.
The beach closes at sunset. This time of year in August it closes at about 7.30. The parking lot closes at 10pm. Gates are closed from 10pm to 7am so if you leave your car in you will be locked in for the night and with a ticket. By the way, failure to pay parking costs you $ 71.00.
You can try finding free parking on the street but thats really hard to find also. A little trick: if you dont mind walking a few minutes. Go down the road to Chesterfield and make a right then make an immediate right on San Elijo ave. The first street on your left is Orinda. There is a small community park right on the corner of Orinda and San Elijo Ave. You can park there for free :)
Be safe, lifeguards leave around 7pm.

My kids love this beach and I appreciate that it’s not overcrowded making it easier to keep an eye on them.
The beach is always clean and it’s just steps away from Bull Taco-​bonus!

Cardiff State Beach has a ton of shoreline to choose from. You can find yourself a very private spot with lots of space, or opt to stick around the parking lot or campground/​lagoon areas where there are typically more people. If you’re lucky, you can snag free parking on the street across from Tower 13.
This beach caters to all sorts of activities, including a lot of surfers. They typically hang out in packs, so it’s not too hard to find an open space if you’re a swimmer. I do not typically see surf/​swim marked in the middle sections (between tower 12 and 13). If you’re swimming, I would stick more towards 13 than ¹¹⁄₁₂.
There is quite a bit of seaweed in this area, I assume, due to the reef that’s not too far off the coast of Cardiff.

This is such a mellow beach. Such a great place to camp, swim, surf and play. The reef break is sweet and shows up pretty well.

Cardiff state beach is one of my favorite beaches in SoCal next to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. It never gets too crowded, even in the summer when tourist are out, which I love. It’s pretty clean and also it’s a leash on pet friendly beach. You can find parking anywhere on South Coast Highway on 101 or park in the designated beach parking next to Pacific Coast Grill (which BTW is an amazing restaurant on the beach!) There are other restaurants and small shops near the area along with wholefoods and Seaside Market. On my break from work, I usually drive down here and watch the waves!

It’s hard to give nature such a low rating! I love this beach and so does my dog Jax. It’s the people that can be found here and the rules it bares that make it unenjoyable. It’s closed for almost all of the better part of the year. Also, most of the people and dogs are so friendly but almost every visit I run into someone rude or an aggressive dog with a neglectful owner.

I came here with the kids today in search of a tide pool. I took a drive along the beautiful coastline and noticed many surfers getting geared up; the waves were looking pretty ripe but not overly so. As my drive continued, I ended up cruising through a quaint down town area of Encinatas which had a casual calm ambience about it. There were many areas to park along the beach but I end up turning around and parking more towards the south end of the beach and paid $ 4 per hour to pay in a lot (well worth the money in my opinion). The kids and I took a long walk down the south end of the beach and came across beautiful views, saw many pet owners walking their dogs, kids playing, people surfing, and runners running. We finally found the tide pool!

Cardiff State Beach is pretty nice and clean and probably less busy than nearby Moonlight Beach. However, parking is a major detriment.
Unlike Moonlight where the parking is free at the lot and there is plenty of street parking around, Cardiff State Beach charges for parking and the street parking is scarce and/​or far from the beach.
They have some bathrooms and showers but overall everything is one step down from Moonlight. If you’re in Encinitas and have a family I recommend you go there first and compare.
For everything else, Cardiff is as good as any beach in North County and probably more peaceful on any given weekday.

The Pacific Ocean. Just wow.
As an east coast guy it was such a nice change of pace coming to a beach on the west coast where the water is truly blue and you can see the fish swimming through each wave as the surf comes in.
In terms of the beach – it was pretty clean and wasn’t that crowded (granted I was there on a Tuesday).
Tons of seafood restaurants line the edge of the beach as well, so no issues about working up your hunger in the water!

Wow! Cardiff State Beach is now one of my favorite California beaches. Cardiff is located south of Swami’s, Pipes and San Elijo and just North of Blacks Beach, Scripps Pier and La Jolla Shores. Cardiff is a reef rocky surf break. The waves were smaller this past Friday, but the occasional set rolled through making for a fun, long & smooth ride into shore. Swimming in the Cardiff reef is great too. I love how it gets deep fast which is ideal when cooling off from the hot summer sun.
Another reason I love Cardiff is that dogs are permitted on leashes!!! Grab your pup and take a swim in Cardiff Reef together! Loads of fun! Calvin had so much fun splashing around with me and it makes me happy to see him having such a hoot of a time!
Lastly, for all you avid California surfers and beachcombers, the Surf Explorer annual day use pass is accepted here. If you go to California state beaches & parks more than 12 times a year, the annual pass is how to do it. There’s over 100 state beaches and state parks the passes work at. It’s the best $ 195 I spend all year. And that’s the truth. Enjoy the sun, salt water, reef and majestic coast. It’s a dandy!

So glad I stopped in!
I was headed further south for the dog park when I noticed a couple of people walking their dogs on the beach.
It’s one frustrating thing about this area — it’s sometimes hard to know in advance whether or not your pup is welcome. I am learning that numerous beaches along the coast do, in fact, allow dogs on site. But your pup must be leashed at all times.
So, we stopped in. I appreciated that the beach was close to the highway, but you could not hear highway noise. Also, most people congregated on the beach right in front of the parking lot. So if you are willing to make a short trek up the coast, you will find ample open space.
It seems this beach has much less seaweed build up then, say, Half Moon Bay and Moonlight Beach. I enjoy those beaches very much, but I detest the seaweed. At Cardiff, the seaweed does appear to be ever more present late in the day as the tide comes in, though.
But, in all, a very clean and relatively quite beach with gorgeous, gorgeous views! It has swiftly become one of my favorite southern California beaches.
And it appears the beach is a strong draw for surfers and swimmers. I saw one guy go out so far I am certain he could not reach the beach floor. it was wonderful to watch him swimming back and forth and playing in the waves. Also, there are two lifeguard posts here, and the patrols are regular.
Only downside: The beach closes at sunset. Bummer.

Beautiful, clean beach in north county San Diego. Had a wonderful afternoon here taking fun photos with friends and walking along by the water. Also a great spot to catch some spectacular sunset views. Camp up above on the cliffs and wake up to the sound of the rolling tide.
(I need to get a bike rack so I can cruise down the coast here!)