Moonlight Beach – Encinitas
Moonlight Beach, well, technically Moonlight State Beach, is a state beach (surprise) in Encinitas, California – but it is managed by the city.
You can find Moonlight, by exiting I5 at Encinitas Blvd, and driving west until you hit the Pacific Ocean (about 1 mile).
Please visit the Moonlight Beach Facebook page.
For locals, Moonlight is the secret beach of North San Diego County. It is big enough to hold events like surfing contests, but not so big that it can cater to large crowds like at Pacific Beach in San Diego.
It is popular
with both tourists, the annual Woody Car Meet,
volleyball players (3 courts)
and the typical local, funky resident – below, with Moonlight Beach in the distance, singing the good bye song to the Surfing Madonna. Yep, only in Encinitas.
It is one of the few beaches that has a bonfire pit. Oh, did I mention funky locals?
Some say that Moonlight Beach got its name because it is one of the few beaches in North County that has level (car) access, and not the 100′+ sand bluffs that make most beaches, like Beacon’s Beach, Stone Steps and Grandview, only accessible via a long steep stairway.
Legend has it that the level access was used by moonshiners to deliver their goods under the cover of night… thus, Moonlight Beach. Regardless, you can still find quite an array of alcoholic beverages on those hot summer days.
Cottonwood Creek flows into the ocean at Moonlight Beach. While earlier residents washed their clothes and drank for the creek, nowadays, that water is pretty much unusable due to agricultural, lawn and driveway run-offs.
If you are a surfer looking for a world class break, umm… this isn’t it. It is a typical north county beach break. “Moonlight Beach is not a great longboard wave anymore. It’s changed and it’s pretty much a shortboard wave now. It really breaks hard and fast now. It wasn’t like that. It was a fun beach break.” – said Linda Benson, five-time women’s world surfing champion.
D Street is best known as a short boarders break.
Just one mile south is Swami’s reef break, which draws the more talented surfers.
Big waves at Moonlight.
View of the city of Encinitas.
There is plenty (by San Diego standards) of parking at Moonlight Beach, just be sure to arrive early on those hot days. Many people don’t know that we can have a bad weather day, about once every 50 years or so:
This is how Neptune Avenue looks as your drive from Moonlight Beach to Beacon’s Beach.
Visit the other local Encinitas and Leucadia beaches:
Beacon’s Beach
Beacon’s Beach Facebook Page
Stone Steps Beach
Stone Steps Beach Facebook Page
Grandview Beach
Grandview Beach Facebook Page