This place is beautiful! I gave it four stars because of the limited number of porta-potty's (portable restrooms) and the $10 parking fee! However with those things aside, the beach was secluded and quiet. Not the spot for many kids as I only saw perhaps 3 family with kids. We came at the encouragement of a friend on a Saturday afternoon. It was easy to find and the parking lot was empty! The stairs are more steady than other beach stairways I have walked on to reach the shore. I know we'll come back to this spot when the weather warms up a little more. read more

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This beach is in much need of a clean up. We paid $10 to park. There are 4 porto potties, many picnic tables above, a couple showers and a lifeguard on duty. I noted there were several surfers. It wasn't clear how to safely get down to the beach. The path has eroded away. Some of the stairs were chained off. We descended the stairs only to find ourselves negotiating crazy rocks, jaggy rebar poking out and nasty wads and wads and wads of seaweed-like matter with zillions of flies and ants. We walked about 200 yards to get to some sand. Thankfully it was low tide so there was a good amount of sand. I felt a bit claustrophobic because the path above was gone and there wasn't any way to easily/quickly get off the beach. No shells to speak of but if you like to collect rocks, this is your spot. There were lots of gray bugs jumping in and around the sand. I saw a lone pelican slumming it with the seagulls and sandpipers poking around a patch of seaweed which was pretty cool. They need to test the water at this beach. I looked it up and it hasn't been tested and reported since December. - I have had a nasty stomach bug ever since - My daughter is covered in bites - My husband stepped in crude oil on this beach Overall, this beach is really sad and needs a lot of help. read more

Nicholas Canyon Beach - Beaches Near Me - Malibu, California

A quaint little gem - rarely crowded and always a breath of fresh air. Lots of kelp depending on the time of year.

I came here on a cloudy day once. Its such a beautiful beach, even on a cloudy day. If you get the chance to come here, please come! This beach is so gorgeous and its secluded so you can find solitude! I wrote some poems here. I found this poem in my journal a while ago. I hope you all enjoy! ------------------------ Rain It always seems as if The Rain is a problem You always read stories about how people make it through storm or see through the darkness when all they see is gray. All the Rain does is give The Rain makes sure the grass stays greener the rivers keep flowing and the sea will stay at level The Rain gives so much but the grass never gives back The rivers never do anything for the rain, and neither does the sea. The Rain gives and gives and gives everything it can The Rain is always taken from the sky Yet, nothing is ever given back We are the Grey Skies and Love is like the Rain It is only taken from us It is never given to us --------------------------------- read more

Gorgeous beach and barely anyone there. There is a parking lot (I believe you pay $2) but you can also park up on PCH. Definitely a surf spot but also a great beach to sneak your dog onto (shhhhhhhh!). If you go down the hill and then head north up the bay then you can get the whole area to yourself. It would also be a great spot to check out the sunset. Nice little cliff area to chill out on. read more

Nicholas Canyon Beach - Beaches Near Me - Malibu, California

The wave itself is more or less a 3 star Left with only a couple of take off points so the crowd is tight during any decent swell. The kelp beds do a great job of keeping the surface relatively calm and glassy, even on days of strong onshore winds (i.e., 300 days a year) The beach itself is another north county gem though worth checking out, and usually never too crowded. read more

Pros: Entertaining to watch the surfers and the waves are scenic. Not crowded and nice to just sit on the shore. Cons: There's a lot of seaweed that washes up on the shore that attracts bugs of all sorts that fly/hop on you if you're sitting with 10 feet of it. But overall pretty good beach read more

Probably my favorite beach since its not too crowded. There's a picnic area on the bluff. To get to the beach is a trek and they only have portapotties read more

First time here, not a surfer. (The surfers seem to like this place.) The only good thing I can say is that there were few people here. Once we got down to the beach (after negotiating obstacles, the gross Porta Potties, washed-out roads, a treacherous stretch of rocks you have to cross just to set your feet in some sand--hello, LA County, you gonna do something about this?) we found out why this beach was relativey empty. It was (at least the day we were there) covered in gross seaweed, kelp, bladderpod stuff, stuff I don't even know what it was. As others have commented here, the flies were all over this stuff as it baked in the sun. It stank. You wade into the water and it's filled with seaweed and other kelp-y stuff. Feels like wading through raw sewage. Won't be coming back. read more

located between two more popular beaches (zuma and leo carillo) on an easy to miss spot off pch, nicholas canyon is a great place to get a little further away from the crowds. this beach tends to be pretty free of trash so anybody that heeds my yelp, please pick up after yourselves. this spot is known to surfers as zeros and is primarily a left hand point break during summer's south swells. its one of my favorite spots because the wave has a good shape and the rocks inside tend to thin out the kooks. zeros is also a good winter break as north swells change the direction to a right that can get hollow when off shore winds pick up speed as they run down the canyon. watch out when the tide is low because it is really easy to end up in front of the rocks risking damage to bone and fiberglass. park on pch if you don't want to pay in the lot. read more

I used to surf zeroes every day, and sometimes twice a day, depending on the tides and the swell. I haven't been for ten years (don't get me started) but I will always remember one particular evening-the sun had just set, the tide was low and coming up, and there was a nice big south swell that was unusual for that time of year. As I was driving down the hill to the little parking lot, I looked out across the water just in time to see a huge (like 40' at least) whale breach and come back down with a huge splash. A few others were behind it and I almost drove right into the sea, I was so surprised. Topped off with an evening of great surfing, that was one of the coolest zeroes sessions I ever had. read more

It's a really beautiful quiet beach with barely any people there. Whenever you just want to take a brake from the big city and relax its a nice place to go to. Too bad its like an hour away from LA.. read more

We used to call this place Staircase. Way back in the 70s this was a secluded unmarked beach. Hardley anyone knew of it. Its still a great spot. A bit of a drive from LA but well worth it. Clean Water and quiet. Great views. Enjoy. read more

This beach seems to be really appealing I definitely plan to visit in a few months!!it is nice to know such places exist!

Do yourself a favor and don't go to this beach. After living in LA for a summer, I went to probably 10 or 11 different beaches and didn't have a single bad experience until this one. Yes, it's as beautiful as any other Malibu beach and it definitely isn't too crowded. But the sand flies are EVERYWHERE. If you enjoy laying out on a blanket and constantly being buzzed by flies like a warthog, then by all means, enjoy Nicholas Canyon. If you want a beautiful beach that's less crowded, do yourself a favor and go to El Matador, La Piedra, or El Pescador. read more

Used to be my favorite LA beach. Very clean, private, kind of hard to find. Just friendly locals enjoying surfing. Dolphins and whales. A surfers beach. Only down side was the sand flies. Now its graffiti, trash, used condoms, dog poo and drunks. Sad. The people you try to avoid at the beach? They found this one. read more

The ocean is beautiful, the sky is clear and the breeze is wonderful. But parking is $8.00, it might be inline with all the beaches - but it is too high. Once you park it is like so many other areas - trash everywhere. Sure the parking lot is clean but when you get down to the beach area, trash is littered everywhere, even saw a used condom. I would really like to know what beach is left in California where people haven't ruined it. read more