It's quiet and the water is warm. Very clean beach. I brought my girls for the first time and they…read moreloved it. I highly recommend this place.

Last month, on a weekday in the middle of summer, is when I dropped in to this beach known by…read moreseveral names... Santa Claus Beach (unofficial name) and Padaro Beach (offical name). It was so hectic to get to this beach due to all the road construction. And the beach was packed due to the various local children's summer camps and tourists. First, thing to note is the road construction. Possibly it's over by now. But when I visited, the road had no parking for the stretch right along the public access to the beach. It's free access and parking. The normal spots were taken by the construction crew and their equipment and materials. They were digging up the road. I saw a lot of folks parking in the road construction zone. The crew were calling tow trucks depending on where those cars were parked. Anyway, we parked really far away and hoofed it in while dodging dozers, street traffic, and construction crew. The access to the beach is limited to the open stretch where so happened the construction was occurring. Other access points are private property. Don't be tempted to cut through, it's illegal. Once you get to the public access area, you'll need to hike a wee bit of sandy elevation to cross the train tracks. Have your wits about while trekking near and on the tracks. Look both ways from afar and be ready to move to a safe distance if there is an incoming train. We ventured further to the far edges of the beach. The beach was clean. Sand was soft. Good vibes. Watch out at high tides if you venture to the far sides, the beach shrinks at high tide. And a rocky outcropping is beyond the sand. Plus there are no plumbed public restrooms, but I did see porta toilets.

Ventura pier is a long walk over the ocean. Offering cool breezes, the smell of fish and lots of…read morepelicans and seagulls hoping for a bite. I spent many cool summers here as a kid fishing with my dad. The slits in between the wood used to be a lot longer when I was a kid. The pier is a great way to get away from the world. Sometimes you can catch sight of dolphins and seals.

I visited there two days after that Ventura-to-Barstow CHP chase, where a Subaru drove 200 miles in…read moretwo hours while being pursued by the CHP the entire way. Even NBC 7's helicopter eventually ran out of fuel while trying to film the event! It took me almost an hour in the morning to drive from Pasadena to Ventura Beach. I set the GPS to navigate to the pier, where there is a garage nearby. I drove in and found it completely unattended; the fee booth was empty. After driving around inside, I found an outdoor parking lot that was even closer to the pier. There was no one at the entrance, likely because it is the "off-season." It was less than 20 meters from the parking lot to the wooden steps of the pier. There were fewer than 20 people on the pier that morning, even though it was nearly 8:00 AM. The restaurant wasn't open yet, and they likely don't open during this time of year. Walking on the pier is very peaceful, even if the sound of the sea is quite loud. The public restrooms were clean as well. It is a wonderful break to have on the drive from Los Angeles to San Jose. My recommendation: go there early during the quiet season.

Even though I have been at Oxnard many times over the years it was my first time at Kiddie Beach…read morePark. I never knew about it til I saw it in an Oxnard magazine I picked up earlier from the Heritage Square. There is a small parking lot and some street parking so we don't have a problem finding a parking spot. We walked around and saw the sea lions on the shore a few feet away from where kids were swimming. I even saw a few right near them. Kind of scary. Overall a great spot to swim, kayak and paddle board for starters. Will bring back my niece soon.

Ufffff childhood memories!! Grew up coming here ! Love watching sunsets and this is a great place…read moreto see them . Also to s of cute seals . Free parking yall!!! One of my go to beaches !

Does not have a designated dog park. It is a bit disheartening to see oil on the beach. It is a…read morebeautiful park to take pups on a leash, bathrooms available, and a large playground.

5 Star Rating Lookout Park in Summerland, near Santa…read moreBarbara, is an absolute gem! This clean, beautiful park, perfectly situated on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean, was the ideal spot for our family reunion this past June. We'll definitely be back! Value - 5 The value here is incredible. We reserved Area A for just $65 for the whole day for our family reunion! It came with a large, double-width bbq, two picnic tables and a long, high-top serving table. That's a steal, especially considering places in Oxnard (which aren't nearly as bougie or clean) were charging well over $200. Quality / Cleanliness - 5 This park is impeccably maintained. There are two large picnic areas (require reservation) and several smaller picnic areas with bbq (first come, first served), and the large, well-maintained play area for kids is fantastic, including a jungle gym and even musical instruments. The path down to the beach is somewhat steep but totally worth it. The beach itself is super clean, with sand at low tide and lots of cute nooks and crannies to explore. At high tide, it becomes a rocky beach as the water comes right up to the path landing. Plus, it's pet-friendly! Service - N/A As a public park, there isn't a traditional "service" component to review, but the booking process for the picnic area was smooth. Physical Location - 5 The location is simply stunning. Being on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is breathtaking. The park is clean, the amenities are well-kept, and there's a cute little town/shopping area just past the Amtrak overpass that's easily walkable from the park. Everything about this location is perfect.

Camping here requires a reservation a couple months in advance, make sure to plan accordingly for…read moremajor holidays as it fills up quick months in advance, we stayed a couple nights and it is peaceful and lovely. The amenities include some good showers with hot water, pick up coins at the entrance before setting up. Restrooms available as well, take something to clean the seats, sometimes people leave a little mess, but overall the cleanliness is good for a campsite restroom/shower.. Great town for bike riding and some hiking along the coast. Weather can be a bit unpredictable, sometimes really windy sometimes calm, gets cold at night. If you prepare with care, the campsites are an awesome time, the beach can get windy and cold, check the weather.

Beautiful beach in Santa Barbara county. There is state beach parking for $10, but there's also…read morefree street parking right next to the beach, although it's limited to two hours. There's a nice wooded walk way that runs along the entire beach right next to the sand. You can also camp out there. A great spot to spend the day, and night.

I really loved this National Park! Not too far from LA in Ventura and you have to take a ferry to…read moreget to it. Your America the Beautiful Pass does not work for the ferry. We went in January so the greenery was still that winter brown but it was not very busy which is nice. We decided to do a kayaking tour with the Santa Barbara Adventure Group so they booked our ferry times for us. Beware of the specific ferry times cause if you miss it your S.O.O.L After the kayaking tour we got to walk a little bit around parts of the island before heading to the ferry. On the way home on the ferry we say killer whales which was truly mesmerizing! One of the best things I've ever seen.

We visited the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center and we definitely weren't disappointed!…read moreThere was so much for our nine-year-old to enjoy. He received a Junior Ranger packet with activities to complete, and once he finished, he was officially sworn in as a Junior Ranger. He even got a little wooden badge, which was such a cute touch! The visitor center is also in a great location, right by the Ventura Harbor, with plenty of places to grab ice cream, eat, or do a little shopping. The whole area was clean, nice, and easy to walk around. Such a fun and family-friendly stop, especially if you have kids who love adventures and earning Junior Ranger badges!

East Beach is a lovely palm tree lined beach for tourists, and locals to hangout…read more This beach is located at 34.4142°N 119.682°W. Moreover, this beach is world-famous for volleyball, as it hosts several volleyball tournaments each year. Plenty of free street parking and affordable parking fee on lots can be found at this beach. Lifeguard towers are present as well as garbage bins. Overall, this is a great beach. I highly recommend it.

We had heard that this was the beach to go to in Santa Barbara and the reviews seemed to agree, so…read morewe came here for our beach day. They have a pay lot but we were able to find street parking for free since we got there a bit after 10 on a Tuesday summer morning. The nice things people say about the beach are generally true- good sand, relatively clean overall, bathrooms at the pavilion, volleyball courts. However, the negative points for us was the construction work in the parking lot really close to the beach (a loader moving a giant mound of dirt to another tractor which ended up being a huge pile on fertilizer/manure for the baseball field across the street... super gross!) and the infamous "tar balls" that I heard about years ago in Jack Johnson's song "Bubble Toes". We had them on our feet within minutes of hitting the beach and had to buy a bottle of "Oil Slick" from a surf shop to get rid of the oil (BTW, the Oil Slick worked really well). Not a huge fan of Santa Barbara beaches but if you visit, buying Oil Slick before you come and avoiding giant mounds of "dirt" that the public works people are messing with would be some great tips for you.

I set out to view the Carpinteria Seal Rookery. Basically this is a restricted beach area for…read morehumans but where seals gather to hang out and live their best life. Before I go further I want to tell ya all that "messing" (includes physically approaching and intruding in restricted areas) with the seals is a federal violation resulting in $10,000 fine. Plus remember the state& local crime punishable by more fines and probable time. We all know how much the government is hurting for some extra moolah. So don't be a doofus. The viewing area is free, no charge. All right with that said, you can view the website for ways to get to the overlook. All paths lead to using the Carpinteria Bluffs Trail. Plus for the love of all that you love, beware of the train tracks. Those are active tracks with real live trains. There are no bells n whistles to alert you that they are a coming. The tracks are not set there for a photo selfie opp. Don't linger on them and don't use them as a walking path. The summer weekday afternoon I visited, the extended bluff trail viewing area was closed. It was roped off. However the hedge, along the viewing trail, was overgrown so the beach below was not visible from that vantage point. So I went back to the area before the trail viewing area. And there was a small area where the hedge was not overgrown to view a portion of the beach below. That portion was closest to the private Casitas pier. But on this particular summer weekday afternoon, I was unable to view any seals on the beach from my vantage point. I'm pretty sure some were down there though. I saw a few swimming in the distance. Then unfortunately I saw a great white shark do what they do. It made a meal of a seal or two. Not a bad place for the sharks to hang out. Highly unfortunate for the seals when they do.

I didn't even know this place excised til last weekend. While on a daytrip to Carpinteria my family…read moreand I came across this place while on a walk. It's a protected habitat for harbor seals. December through May is when you will see the most seals. It's on the trail of the carpenters bluffs nature preserve. It's really nice to walk here. Next time you are in Carpinteria check it out.