Are all California beaches private?

Every beach in California is open to the public up to the mean high tide level (average of the high tides). So if you can get there from the water, tidelands, or an adjacent beach, you are legally allowed to be there as long as you don't venture onto the land above where an average high tide would be.



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PUBLISHED: July 7, 2016 at 4:57 p.m. | UPDATED: August 28, 2017 at 6:04 a.m. Unlike on the East Coast, where Nantucket bluebloods can keep the riff-raff away, there are no private beaches on the 840 miles of California coastline.

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In 1976, the state legislature passed the California Coastal Act, basically making Prop 20 permanent.

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For many states with a coastline, legally, it belongs to the public.

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The public trust doctrine, Selvin says, holds that the sand below the mean high tide line is held for the public. Meaning, more or less: All of have the right to be on sand that's wet or damp, but not necessarily so where the sand is dry.

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The Manhattan Beach site once housed Bruce's Lodge, a resort established in 1912 by the property's owners, Willa and Charles Bruce, as a place where Black tourists could go to avoid harassment at a time of rampant discrimination against Black people in California and beyond. It was known informally as “Bruce's Beach.”

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In California, the state owns the beach waterward of the mean high tide line for your benefit, to access, use, and enjoy. The state and other public entities like counties and cities might also own dry sandy beaches landward of the mean high tide line for public use.

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A private beach is typically owned by an individual or organization. They have the right to restrict access, although specific laws may still allow public use of parts of the beach under particular conditions. However, defining what constitutes public access and where private property lines begin can be complex.

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