San Elijo State Beach, CA

After San Diego we traveled to Encinitas, CA a few miles north. The section of the city that we were in was on a steep hill over looking the ocean. It was well worth the bike ride up said hill to take a picture looking down.

It was a cool city that even had a train running through it at the base of the hill.

Here is a shot of the scenic coastal highway 101 (also at the base of the hill) which led up to our campsite.

We stayed at San Elijo State Beach which is a really cool campsite that is right on the beach (as the name implies). It books up fast and there was always a line in front of the reservation office to renew spots because hey, $50/night isn't much to spend if you get to wake up and pretty much be on the beach. If you are trying to stay on a weekend (when it gets really busy) you should reserve your spot. This is a picture heading into the campsite. You can already see the beach!

Did I mention the park also has a great taco/burrito place called bull tacos? I'd compare it to Chipotle with a more expanded menu. They also have a very scenic patio to enjoy your food on right over the beach.

The edge of the patio.

Annnd a sunset from the patio.

From the patio, you can travel down to the beach via several stairways.

Or you can use the handicapped access walkway if you drive further down into the park. We were lucky enough to get a campsite right by here. Also they have outdoor showers here free of charge (heated indoor showers are also available for a small fee).

Another sunset from the handicapped access pathway.

Here is what the beach looked like. The campsites are above the beach on the hill you see to your right.

Another view of the cliffs.

This beach has a lot of kelp which use little air sacs to bring the photosynthesizing part of the organism to the surface for sunlight while the bottom stays rooted to the ocean floor. A few had been washed up on the beach. You can see one such air sac at the bottom of this picture.

The beach is primarily a surfing beach. You can rent surf boards at the general store in the park which is exactly what we did. Here is dad suiting up to go out and teach me.

Me with the board, I'm used to things being taller than me so its OK that I'm half the boards height. I also hear its easier to learn on a big board.

This is me on the board in my newly learned expert wave watching position. A lot of surfing is waiting for the right wave to ride in. Dad caught a few waves and I caught one. I was able to stand up in on the little white water waves that are easier to catch closer to shore. I got to talk to some surfers who had been doing it for 40+ years and its not something you pick up in a day or even a week. (They said 3 days a week for a month would make you competent).

A lot of residents of the city just come surf in the morning before work or after school. The beach is filled with surfers from when the sun first comes up to after it sets.

This is a video right by our camp site.