El Matador Beach

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One of the great things about living in California is the beaches. And yes, while it is some people's idea of a good time to lay on the beach and turn into a lobster, whilst getting sand in your nether-regions, and all of the other things that people associate with a big, barren expanse of terrain next to un-potable water (both due to salt content and occasionally pollution), the bottom line is that a lot of the year it's just too damn cold to do that. Who wants to swim in 65 degree water, when it's 63 degrees outside? Really? Yes, I know kids will. But kids are weird. We all know that. I used to be one. I know.

With that said, the beaches here are absolutely some of the most beautiful in the world, and El Matador, in Malibu, is no exception, though it is actually quite exceptional. I couldn't stop myself. Sorry.

April and I found ourselves in Malibu this past Saturday, and after attending a quick hike to Solstice Canyon with April's AWIS chapter, we grabbed lunch at Dukes, and then spent the afternoon at El Matador, just hanging out and enjoying the view.

See the starfish above? He was just hanging out, too. The rock this dude(ette?) is so attached to was about 100ft out in the water, and the size of a cow. That makes this animal close to 8 inches across!

And the Brown Pelicans were up to something. This is just one of the flocks that were migrating north. We saw no less than another 10 groups as large as the one above, and another dozen that were smaller. I guess they are heading north for sex and/or food.

Anemones are pretty easy to find. Just locate a large rock near the water, preferrably one that always has water pooling around it. Now look at the side of the rock, just at the base. See? Anemones! Get it? "See" anemones? Yeah.

California Rock Crab

Playful water

The photo above is of the same rock that the star fish is hanging onto. As you can see the tide level changes pretty quickly here. We were there for an hour or so, and were able to enjoy the tide at its highest point, and watch it recede.

Cormorants, probably, watching the mercury surf

I took this photo as we were walking back towards the stairs that lead to the parking lot on the bluffs over the beach. Sunset makes for a great time to be at the beach!