the beach today
Malibu Guide

El Matador
Beach

Sea Stack Magic

The most dramatic sea-stack beach in Southern California -- a staircase descent from a clifftop parking lot to a narrow cove guarded by sandstone arches and sculpted rock columns. El Matador is part of the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach and one of the most photographed beaches in California, best at low tide.

Today on the Sand

loading live data…

Water Temp

84°

warm · gentle surf

UV Index

9

very high · 10am–4pm

Beach Crowd

Busy

holiday weekend

Beach Toolkit

Beach Conditions

Surf, tides & water temp

Parking Finder

Garages, lots & meters

Sunset

Sunset countdown & live cam

Dining

Where to eat after the sand

Things to Do

Cruises, sails & tours

Events

What's on this week

Beach Rules

Dogs, drinks, fires, drones

Pick Your Sand

north to south

El Matador Cove

Sea stacks, arches and the main cove

State lot off PCH

El Pescador

Adjacent state beach, quieter cove

0.5 miles north on PCH

La Piedra

Third cove in the Meyer complex

0.3 miles north on PCH

Dolphin Cruises

Open →

Compare daily sails from the marina — wild dolphins on nearly every trip.

Beyond the Beach

day trips

Point Mugu

20 min north

NPS shoreline & the rock

Malibu Pier

15 min south

Malibu Lagoon & surfrider

Zuma Beach

5 min south

LA's best big public beach

PCH Dining

5-20 min

Nobu, Geoffrey's & Moonshadows

see you on the sand

Water temp, surf and UV are live from NOAA & Open-Meteo; sunset is computed locally for El Matador State Beach. Crowd level is a weekday/weekend estimate.

Right now at El Matador, the water is 73°F, surf is running 3–4 ft and the air is 71°F. Wind is 9 mph from the WNW and the UV index peaks at 7 (high) today. Unprotected fair skin burns in about 107 minutes right now, and the strongest stretch runs 12 PM to 3 PM. Today’s tides: High 1:13 PM, Low 10:09 PM.