Santa Cruz Ave Beach
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About Santa Cruz Ave Beach in San Diego, California
Santa Cruz Beach is a locals beach in the Ocean Beach area of San Diego. It is located at the west end of Santa Cruz Avenue where a long stairway descends the bluff
At the bottom of the stairs you’ll find two separate deep coves in the sandstone cliffs that have filled with sand. These hidden pockets have various nicknames including Casablanca Cove. People climb all over the rocks above and between these two beaches. Some might even be spotted in the water of the deep crack in the point that separates the coves (not recommended when surf’s up). Waves roll up into these coves then suck back out creating an undertow that makes swimming here unsafe except during calm conditions.
A path below the homes and condos leads north to Ocean Beach Pier and south to several other beach access points at the ends of streets. In some places this pathway has crumbled into the sea so be careful as you travel along this shoreline and take the streets instead of the path if it’s unsafe or has signs closing it.
You might be able to find on-street parking on Santa Cruz Avenue or Bacon Street, but otherwise there is no public parking lot for this beach.
Note that on busy days this beach can be intimidating to visit if you are not one of the area locals.
- Address
- 5030 Santa Cruz Ave
San Diego, CA 92107 - Other Names
- Casablanca Cove
- Owner
- City Beach
- Pet Details
- Leashed dogs allowed on beach before 9am and after 6pm from April-Oct. (changes to 4pm Nov.-March).
- Fees
- Free street parking
- Activities
- Sunbathing, Beach Exploration
- Amenities
- Walking Paths, Unique Sandstone Formations, No Facilities
74°F
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Reviews
This beach used to be very nice but unfortunately it’s become very unsafe. If you want to bring your family here beware this is a party beach where the rules don’t seem to apply here like other beaches and the main part of ocean beach. Tons of homeless people, found needles, glass, tons of trash and empty beer cans around the beach. The life guards don’t enforce the rules here for some reason like other beaches I’ve been to where they will give you a citation for going against the list of rules. This is not supposed to be a dog beach besides the posted times where usually dogs are only allowed near sunset. There’s dozens of unleashed dogs who’s owners don’t watch out for them, I’ve had dogs eat my food, pee on my towels and poop all over the beach and even in the water with no one to pick it up. There has also been some pretty nasty dog fights over the years I’ve witnessed from careless owners. I would hate to see anyone try to break them up especially with children playing along the shore line. The water here is also not clean and is contaminated most of the time with a bad sewer smell. The locals take over this beach and completely trash it. They are all usually out of their mind drunks who drink all day and start fights with random people. They are all usually white who are pretty racist and like to claim it’s a “locals only” behavior ach and will harass you if you’re a POC. haven’t been here one time this past summer where there’s not a bunch of drunk people fighting. Not to mention the city does absolutely nothing to help maintain the bridge or pathways that are crumbling apart and unsafe to walk on now.