Doheny State Beach is a protected

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

in the state park system of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States, located on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in the city of

Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

. The beach is a popular surf spot located at the mouth of

San Juan Creek San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of .7.5 Minute Quadrangle Map, U.S. Geological Survey, San Juan Capistrano, 1968, photorevised 1981 Its mainstem begins i ...

, which flows from the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside c ...

southwest to the beach, where it forms a fresh-water

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

History

The beach was donated by oil tycoon

Edward L. Doheny Edward Laurence Doheny (; August 10, 1856 – September 8, 1935) was an American oil tycoon who, in 1892, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field. His success set off a petroleum boom in Southern California, a ...

for public use on May 31, 1931. It was California's first state beach. On July 1, 1963 the beach was named Doheny State Beach in his honor. The original donation was . An additional was later added by acquisitions from the

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

Regents, and the

Union Oil Company Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

. An additional not owned by the state are included in the site's official total area.

Amenities

Recreational uses

The beach covers an area of and includes a day use surfing beach at the northern end, as well as campgrounds in its southern area. The beach is one of California's most popular camping grounds and attracts over 850,000 people per year. The beach has

tide pool A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

s and a

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

with several aquariums.

Animal and plant life

The beach is home to several types of marine life, such as abalone,

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all continents except Australia, New Zealand an ...

, several types of

sea bass Sea bass is a common name for a variety of different species of marine fish. Many fish species of various families have been called sea bass. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the fish sold and consumed as sea bass is exclusively the European ...

, crabs, the

common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwa ...

California moray The California moray (''Gymnothorax mordax'') is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae, found in the eastern Pacific from just north of Santa Barbara to Santa Maria Bay in Baja California. They are the only species of moray eel found off Californ ...

, sea urchin, octopus, stingrays, several varieties of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

s (including the Great White), as well as many other marine life. Several types of birds also live at the beach such as

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...

, great blue heron, snowy egret, and several other species.

Educational program

Doheny State Beach offers year-round interpretive education programs in marine life, bird life, animal life, water quality, insects, and Native American studies.

References in popular culture

*The beach is mentioned in several surf rock songs including the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

songs " Surfin' Safari" and " Surfin' U.S.A." In "Surfer Joe" by

the Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...

, Doheny Beach is the favorite hangout of the song's protagonist. Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" also mentions Doheny, but that refers to

Doheny Drive Doheny Drive is a north–south thoroughfare mostly through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, in Los Angeles County, California. It is named for Edward L. Doheny, an early 20th century oil tycoon based in Los Angeles. Route Doheny Drive starts ...

, which intersects Sunset Boulevard near the west end of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

Gallery

File:NEW TOWNHOUSES OVERLOOK BUSY DOHENY STATE BEACH. THE TOWNHOUSES REPRESENT ONE OF THE FEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS... - NARA - 557480.jpg, Doheny State Beach in September 1974 File:SNORKLER AND SURFER IN THE WATERS OFF BUSY DOHENY STATE BEACH. NEW TOWNHOUSES HAVE BEEN BUILT OVERLOOKING THE BEACH... - NARA - 557481.jpg, A snorkeler and surfer at the beach in September 1974 File:Doheny State Beach birds.jpg, Various birds picking at seaweed at Doheny State Beach File:Doheny State Beach.jpg, Doheny State Beach in September 2007

References

External links

Doheny State BeachDoheny State Beach Interpretive Association

Aerial Video of Doheny State Beach and nearby Dana Point Marina - 1080P - Sept 2015
{{Protected areas of California, SP 1931 establishments in California Beaches of Southern California California State Beaches Campgrounds in California Parks in Orange County, California Protected areas established in 1931 Surfing locations in California Beaches of Orange County, California