“California's constitution guarantees all citizens the right to use the state tidelands,” Locklin told FOX 5. “Access for all.” That seems straightforward enough.
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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.
Now that the most difficult months appear to be behind us, all of the state's beaches and parks are open without restrictions. Even indoor facilities and group areas that were closed for much of 2020 and 2021—visitor centers, museums, day-use areas—are buzzing with activity again.
Here in the US, coastal states each have their own rules in place for who can or cannot own a beach. While some states prohibit ownership entirely, the rest of them are largely agreed that property lines must be drawn at the high tide line. This, too, makes sense.
Is a private beach legal here? A: The California Constitution guarantees public access to California's coast (Article X, Section 4). The longstanding California Coastal Act mandates “maximum access, which shall be conspicuously posted” to carry out the constitutional requirements.
The foundation is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). It says that a country may claim an area extending 12 nautical miles from its coast as its own territorial sea. Additionally it can exploit 200 nautical miles of the water column beyond its coast as its exclusive economic zone.
Scuba diving, remarkable beaches and whale watching abound, the coast of California is cherished by swimmers, divers and boaters alike. Catalina Island also has some of the most coveted beaches off the Southern Californian coast.
What most people don't realize is that it's illegal to take sand from any beach in California. Most States and cities have laws against taking sand, plants, and wood from local beaches.
The County received grant deeds from the State for eight popular beaches in September 1995; Topanga, Malibu Lagoon, Point Dume, Dan Blocker, Las Tunas, Manhattan, Redondo, and Royal Palms Beaches. Today the County not only operates and maintains the beaches along the Los Angeles Coast but also owns most of them.
Walking along the beach north of the pier, behind the Annenberg Community Beach House, Ford explains that Santa Monica's three mile long beach – along with those of Venice, Dockweiler, Will Rogers, Zuma, Redondo, Torrance, and so on – is largely an artificial, man-made construct.
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.”