Malibu Lagoon State Beach in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

, United States, is also known as Surfrider Beach. It was dedicated as the first World Surfing Reserve on October 9, 2010. The site was established as a California state park in 1951. It lies within the

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 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 t ...

Natural history

Malibu Lagoon is an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

at the mouth of

Malibu Creek Malibu Creek is a year-round stream in western Los Angeles County, California. It drains the southern Conejo Valley and Simi Hills, flowing south through the Santa Monica Mountains, and enters Santa Monica Bay in Malibu, California. The Malibu C ...

at 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 Malibu. It is being restored by a multiagency partnership. Migratory birds use the lagoon when on the

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

Snowy Plover The snowy plover (''Charadrius nivosus'') is a small wader in the plover bird family, typically about 5-7" in length. It breeds in the southern and western United States, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Long considered to be a subspecie ...

s nest on the beach and are protected.

Surfing

Malibu Lagoon is a famous right-break that had a big impact on the surfing culture in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

in the 1960s. Located near the Malibu Pier, it is among the most popular surf spots in Los Angeles County. The shoreline is usually triple-cornered due to the buildup of silt, sand, and cobble at the mouth of the creek. The tapering, smooth-breaking waves are recognized among surfers worldwide as the gold standard for summertime "point" surf. Malibu Lagoon has three primary surfing areas. First Point has waves popular with longboarders and shortboarders during bigger swells. Second Point is used for high performance surfing. It has a main takeoff that lines up and connects into the inside called the "kiddie bowl". Third Point has a left and right side. On the south swells most common in late August and September, surfers can ride all the way to the pier.

References

External links

Malibu Lagoon State Beach
{{authority control 1951 establishments in California Beaches of Southern California California State Beaches Malibu, California Parks in Los Angeles County, California Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Surfing locations in California Beaches of Los Angeles County, California Tourist attractions in Malibu, California

Natural history

Surfing

See also

References

External links