2025-09: San Elijo State Beach

Milestones

•  33rd time camping in 33 months (SHOW ON MAP)
•  3rd time camping in San Diego County (SHOW 2ND)
• 6th time camping at a California State Beach (SHOW 5TH)
• 3rd time camping by a State Marine Conservation Area (SHOW 2ND)

Camping

This campground is an almost perfect duplicate of South Carlsbad State Beach… which I liked quite a bit.

The weather was perfect for all the things I wanted to do… camping and bike riding.

Looking out from my campsite… just south of Swami’s Beach. This surf break was originally an unofficial nickname given by surfers in the 1960s. It became the official name for the beach and the adjacent cliffside park, which was formerly known as “Seacliff Roadside Park”.

• The rich waters around Swami’s Reef contain 12 distinct habitats—including a thriving kelp forest, extensive surf grass beds, and rocky reefs—where lobsters, halibut, grunion, and many other fish and invertebrates feed and breed. At low tide, the nearshore reef is exposed, and visitors can see brittle stars, sea hares, and octopi in the tidepools, as well as fossils imprinted in the flat rocks.
• Swami’s Reef is also a major surfing destination, attracting all levels of surfers during good swells.

Swami’s State Marine Conservation Area

The campground was along the edge of Swami’s SMCA which covers 12.71 square miles.

What is an SMCA? Like state and national parks protect wildlife and habitats on land, marine protected areas (MPAs) conserve and restore wildlife and habitats in our ocean. Under the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) passed in 1999, California began a historic effort to establish a science-based, statewide network of MPAs through a collaborative effort that includes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and California State Parks.

You can see a group of surfers in the middle…

Biking South to Torrey Pines

The statue next to San Elijo State Beach is known as the “Cardiff Kook,” a surfing sculpture titled Magic Carpet Ride that has become a local landmark and frequent target for costume pranks. Despite being created to celebrate the local surf culture, it was initially mocked by the surfing community for its unrealistic depiction of a surfer.

I didn’t want to ride really far. But, I wanted some nice views…. so I hugged the coast for about 8 miles until I reached the northern edge of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

This is the entrance to San Elijo Lagoon looking north.

Here’s where I picked up the Coastal Rail Trail in Solana Beach.

There were some really pretty “pocket parks”.

I came down the hill from Del Mar and had this great view of Torrey Pines State Beach.

I turned around and headed back. Here’s a view of San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve looking northeast.

Here’s that same lagoon looking southbound.

When I got back to the campsite, I started getting ready for dinner and watch the sun set.

Not too bad !!!!