Last month, my sister and I set aside one Sunday to visit a few choice beaches in Malibu — El Matador Beach and Pirate’s Cove Beach at Point Dume.
Our day begins with a scrumptious seafood lunch at Neptune’s Net right off the PCH in Malibu. It’s popular with the biker crowd and there’s great people watching.
My sister says hello!
We split a few items: grilled fish tacos, a crab cake, fried clams & shrimp combo, and a side of cole slaw. Everything is excellent and the food reminds us of Lenny & Joe’s, a fried fish joint back home in Connecticut.
View of the shoreline across the highway:
After lunch we drive about four miles east to El Matador Beach. Fun fact: I originally planned to go here with friends the day I left for my RTW trip, since my flight to the Cook Islands wasn’t until late at night and of course I’d be all packed and ready to go the day before. Oops… cut to me frantically packing, selling my sofa on Craigslist, and making a last-minute dash to my storage unit (an hour away) on that final day. So El Matador Beach has languished on my Los Angeles bucket list for about 14 months until today. So glad to finally get here!
I’ve seen images of this beach before and can’t wait to photograph it myself. There are giant rock formations below with narrow tunnels and caves that beach-goers can duck through.
Check out that staircase at the far end — there are a whole bunch of them along this coast leading up to private properties on the cliffs above.
Oh Southern California, I love you so…
This angle shows off caves under the giant rock. I’ve read this area can be a little tricky to access at high tide (these photos were taken right at low tide) so consider that if you plan to visit.
Photo shoots happen regularly along this beach, according to Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews. We spot a couple of them in progress.
These pretty blue clams are everywhere.
And we spot these guys! Cousins of sea anemone at the Palos Verdes tide pools, perhaps?
Bethany poses in front of the first rock formation.
More sea anemone. I can’t get enough.
A closer shot of that epic (and private) staircase:
I thought these birds might be oystercatchers or sandpipers, but now I’m looking them up on-line and photos don’t seem to match. Luckily several of my family members really, really love birdwatching. Any ideas on what these are?
UPDATE: My parents seem to think these are Marbled Godwit birds.
A rather dilapidated private staircase:
Another cave further down the same stretch of beach:
We turn around at this house and head back to the car.
We stop at Starbucks for a quick caffeine fix… and run into my college friend Natalia! We were roommates during our study abroad semester in the Netherlands ten years ago (!) and also belong to Zeta Phi Eta, a co-ed fraternity full of people I adore. She’s more awesome than I can put into words and it’s a huge joy to see her. I’m so glad the stars aligned so we could catch up in person like this!
Iced vanilla macchiato in hand, my sister and I press on to Point Dume State Beach.
FYI — parking is cheap in the afternoon (I think it’s $3 from 4pm to sunset).
People gather for a wedding. What a gorgeous location and a perfect day.
That’s a popular rock climbing wall below. We scramble over those smaller boulders on the right side to access a “secret” beach around the bend.
There it is — Pirate’s Cove Beach.
Remember when I saw this view from above last year?
Those two shots were taken from the hiking trails above Point Dume on the same day I visited the Getty Villa.
And now back to present day:
Hello from the Meyer sisters:
More of the same mystery birds…
UPDATE: My parents seem to think these are different than the birds at the first beach. They suspect these are Long Billed Curlew birds.
We navigate these boulders on our way back to the car:
There are a ton of beaches along Malibu’s 21 miles of coastline and I’ve explored only about five of them… rather sad, given that I lived in Los Angeles for 7.5 years! I’ll have to get back to visit more of them, but so far El Matador is my favorite.
