Skip to content
El Capitán State Beach, Santa Barbara, CA

Photo: DillyLynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

El Capitán State Beach

A Santa Barbara County state beach with sandy shore, tide pools, sycamore groves, and bluff-top camping.

Santa Barbara, CA

About El Capitán State Beach

El Capitán State Beach sits on the Gaviota Coast about seventeen miles west of Santa Barbara. Visitors swim, fish, surf, picnic, and camp here. The park has a sandy beach, rocky tide pools, and sycamore and oak stands along El Capitán Creek. A stairway leads from the bluffs down to the sand, and beach wheelchairs are available to the public at no cost. The campground sits on the bluffs above the water, and the park also offers two meadows near the beach used for events and about 2,500 acres of backcountry reached by the Bill Wallace Trail. Some areas have been under construction, so the park has been open with restrictions.

  • #beach
  • #camping
  • #swimming
  • #surfing
  • #fishing

What's around here?

The closest stops to El Capitán State Beach, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Refugio State Beach

    Under $25

    A coastal state beach about 20 to 22 miles west of Santa Barbara, known for sunsets, fishing, picnicking, and camping.

    2.8 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Circle Bar B Stables

    $50+

    Guided horseback trail rides through canyons and along the Gaviota Coast north of Santa Barbara.

    4.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Art, Design and Architecture Museum at UCSB

    No admission fee

    A free university museum on the UCSB campus showing contemporary art, design, and architecture exhibitions.

    11 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Stay
    Date Night

    Chumash Casino Resort

    $50+

    A casino resort in Santa Ynez with a hotel tower, a 115,000-square-foot casino floor, restaurants, a pool and a spa.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    11 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay

  • Shopping
    Local Gem

    New Frontiers Natural Marketplace

    No admission fee

    Local natural foods supermarket and deli in Solvang with organic produce, a butcher counter and bakery.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    11 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Highline Adventures

    $50+

    A zipline and aerial adventure park in the hills west of Buellton in the Santa Ynez Valley.

    13 mi awayMore like this

Near El Capitán State Beach

More of the same kind

Keep exploring