Santa Barbara Beaches, California

Santa Barbara beaches in California are among some of the best in the United States. They are beautiful and flat making then ideal for families. The shoreline angles slowly into the grand Pacific Ocean which means the huge surf is offshore and you can be confident that a day at a Santa Barbara beach will be a good day.

Wow, where do we start? Santa Barbara beaches face south. What?? Yes - you’d think they’d face west, toward Hawaii, no? But the way the coastline and mountain range settled, well, they face south for the most part. So what happens and what does that mean for the visitor (you and I - because I live in Naples, Florida)? That means the sun sets in the NORTH! (no way!! way.)

There are 10 significant beaches here and we are not going to go over them all on this page - but we’ll run down a few of our favorites.

The first is Hendry’s Beach which is officially called (and by the locals) Arroyo Burro Beach (ha!) and it is very cool because of the way it seems secluded and you can hang out and not feel you’re on Waikiki (even though we love Hawaii).

Privacy and tons of amenities. But with the nice comes a drawback - parking! A premium. Get here early and make good. Stay longer. Enjoy!

Butterfly Beach, Santa Barbara

Next look for Butterfly Beach. Goodness - it faces west. What can we say? You get a real sunset from Butterfly Beach! But this beach is kinda private and difficult to get to which means it’s - - - better! People watch until you fall asleep. It’s fun and you know you love it.

Finally, out of 10! Carpinteria State and City Beaches - well - two beaches right smack dab in the middle of it. Long sandy beach with camping. Yes! You can reserve campgrounds here. And guess what? They made this thing easy to get to! Yes - kuddos to Santa Barbara City! A lot of the locals hang out here so… it MUST be good!