East Beach

Like any PCH beach, East Beach in Santa Barbara is no exception in terms of beauty except it’s also cleaner than most! It’ll be a shame not to at least see this beautiful stretch of sand across the Pacific Ocean coast when you are in Santa Barbara. Street parking may be hard to come by at festive times so you may need to park in the paid lot at the nearby Sterns Wharf, but it’ll be worth it to at least stop by!

We wanted to spend the day at the beach; we were traveling through California on our Honeymoon. We chose this part of the beach because our hotel lady recommended it. It’s close to the bathrooms, public baths (when California has the water turned on) and a snack bar.
The sand was fine and clean; the view was spectacular!

This beach has sand volleyball and free, if you hunt, parking.
It’s dirty compared to beaches down in Ventura. The pacific coast highway is lovely, but if a beach is your destination this isn’t worth the drive.
Lots of seaweed.
And noise from the zoo. B

Beach is located to the left of the pier.
Pretty clean but in the morning I saw a lot of homeless people sleeping on the beach.
Not dog friendly but it was empty so I played a little fetch with my pup.

East Beach is one of the best in Santa Barbara and not as touristy. Parking is somewhat limited but depending on the time of day you should be ok. People are always playing beach volleyball here so there’s that as well.
The picnic tables are chill but watch out for strange people.

Nice! Like any public beach, it has its share of creeps hanging out on benches in the shady park area at the edge, as well as barbecuers toting loud boom boxes and beer coolers. BUT, when you turn your back to that, you are reminded why you pay the high price of living in SB. Truly breathtaking, and a perfect location for volleyball or yoga.

After chowing down hardcore on some McConnell’s and Rori’s ice cream BOTH (yea…we lost our minds in Santa Barbara going hamm on ice cream), we needed to take a loooooooooong walk. Why not East Beach?
We walked out of our cars, straight onto the beach.
–There was no obnoxious crowd.
–No stupid parking fee.
–No annoying bike path with wanna be actors and supermodels
–No chicks twirling on poles/​wanna be pole dancers at the beach begging for the attention like, «Look at meeeeeeee!»
None of that. Just birds, sand, water, sky.
(as it should be)
Gorgeous!
This place is the anti-​Los Angeles.

Great for volleyball, families, bikers, friends, runners, kids, dogs, etc.
Definitely a nice place to take a nap or watch the sunset and even people.
Parking is free and not that difficult to find just remember to arrive early for best selection.
Sand is very warm, beach is beautiful and waves are mellow.
Palm trees are everywhere which makes it fee & very «Southern California» in the Central Coast & that to me hits the jackpot. :)

Beautiful! Clean! Georgeous water! Fine white sand! Loved my day there. It was a great last day to a 4day bachelor party. It was so relaxing and fun. The part that sucked was having to leave and go back home to Los Angeles, where it was at least 25* hotter! But I will be back soon!

I had a great time here. Although it’s not high on my list of favorite beaches, It’s very beautiful here, quiet, there’s a nice boardwalk, places to eat and shop, play volleyball, and also a maritime museum and harbor at the adjacent West Beach where you can.
It was an easy & enjoyable ride from Santa Clarita down the 126 to the 101, and the length of the commute lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes in duration.
You’ll see the Channel Islands in the distance. I’d recommend taking the boat tour from East to West beach, wherein the tour guides will provide a brief yet informative history of the beach, the million dollar yachts docked at the harbor, the Islands, the flora, fauna, and the city.
Will definitely return! Highly recommended, no complaints or worries here, go!

In a town filled with beaches, only Butterfly Beach and Hendry’s top it at five stars. I’ve spend many days reading on the beach, taking a stroll with my dog on the the sidewalk. (not sure if Actual beach is dog friendly).
In spring and summer (and December 2013 when in the 80s) I’ve gone down and enjoyed listening to my music laying on my towel. It brings back memories of doing the same in my teen age years.
Sometimes after visiting my relatives graves at the cemetery I come here to process my feelings in nature.
Visit, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s the beach. It’s Santa Barbara. If I win the lottery, I shall live right here. It’s really, really awesome.

I LOVE the beach, who doesn’t?
East beach in Santa Barbara is another great one to stop at.
Not too full, peaceful, serene, clear waters and soft sand.
Take a break from the every day stressful lifestyle and plump down, watch the waves, smell the air, better than therapy!

Well you drive down the road by the beach and finally, the last area is east beach. The whole beach for miles here in Santa Barbara is wonderful! The sun, the sand, the beautiful people, the tans, the volleyball, and on and on… Calling it crowded or not, call parking hard or not depends on your personal place of origin, and your consciousness. There were plenty of places to park (from my point of view) and lots of people, but still lots of open space. You decide. Come on out and enjoy the sun, the ocean, the beach, and the people!

I made a solitary, single-​lady trip for myself to Santa Barbara, and I really loved coming there. Before I left SB, I knew I had to stop by the beach and lay in the sun. Unlike the beaches in San Diego (and don’t get me wrong; I LOVE San Diego), it’s not crowded here, even on a Saturday. Not only was it super easy to get to (no crazy traffic I had to fight), parking was very easy to find and I could lay my beach blanket and watch the waves and people.
I only stayed here for a handful of hours, and by the time I had to leave, I felt really sad. I’m hoping that I can make this an annual trip, maybe this time with a couple other people. :)

What can I say? If I had a timecard and punched in for every hour I’ve spent on this beach, I’d have enough for a downpayment on a condo in my beloved town. The finest beach volleyball beach in all of California, which is the mecca of beach volleyball. The only one I’ve seen with lines, nets and antennas. Often referred to as «the Church of East Beach» since so many of us have spent their Sundays there. Back in the day, you could hear Karch [Kiraly] ‘s dad, Lazlo screaming down the beach, as he battled it out on a court with his friends. On Fridays, we played our regular games down the beach from Todd and Phil (2008 Olympic gold medal champions in beach volleyball).
Free parking along the fence (for those who get there early) and a nearby parking lot ($ 2 for 3 hours). A short walk away is the the East Beach Grill, which serves up a great breakfast. Bathrooms are available in the same building (Cabrillo Bathhouse) as East Beach Grill.
Ah… East Beach. I miss you and will visit you soon!!! :)

It was Old Spanish Days Fiesta and my friend Jason E. and I arrived about 2 hours after the noon time parade on Friday August 3. The main street State Street was blocked off so traffic couldn’t flow in both directions on Cabrillo. It’s okay though, we quickly found parking along East Beach on Cabrillo and everything was a-​ok.
The beach is cool, good for families and groups of friends. There are pathways just for the bicycles you can rent close to the intersection of Cabrillo and State. We saw a lot of families with the multiple peddler bikes with canopies. You can also get single and tandem bikes as well.
The beach itself seemed pretty clean. Just watch out for the tanbark where the sidewalk and sand meets. There are lifeguard posts for those you with kids or the folks that have yet to perfect swimming.
It’s right by the wharf so you can head up that way to see the view. There are local artists along the wharf entrance making sand creations. We saw a man who made and awesome mermaid in 6 hours. There are many public restrooms, but I didn’t see any showers. A lot of families were having lunch on blankets/​mats.
We ended up just doing a lot of walking around and unfortunately it began to sprinkle a bit. I’d definitely like to rent a bike next time I’m down here.
Until next time, happy relaxing!

Not the most pristine of the beaches around Santa Barbara but it and West Beach are right in the heart of SB. East to reach and right by the Wharf and State street. South side offers a great walk and lots of Volleyball to watch.

If ur one of those people like me, who don’t go out to the water or play volleyball on the sand, u can rent a bike (they even have four person bikes!) or a segway to enjoy the beach view while working off some of those calories from eating/​drinking on State Street!

From afar, this beach looks perfect. Golden sand, deep blue water, kids & adults alike frolicking in the waves. This beach begs you to kick off your shoes & feel the sand between your toes. But beware, there are also tar globs all over this beach and they are nearly impossible to scrape off your feet!
I was quick to blame the ugly oil rigs off the coast for this unfortunate phenomenon, but found that these are actually naturally occurring tar balls. Apparently there are some pretty major oil seeps right off the coast of Santa Barbara. It is estimated that about 10,000 gallons of oil each day seep into the ocean in the SB area. Yuck!
So enjoy this beach from afar, or wear some old shoes that can be left outside so tar isn’t tracked into your house/​apartment/​hotel room. If you do go barefoot, be sure to have some nail polish & a scrubber handy. You’ll need it.