Find free parking at the beach

Know this: Any stretch of sand below the high tide line is accessible to the general public, despite the best efforts of some Malibu locations to gatekeep their exclusive coastlines. However, parking is a very different animal. Westward Beach is our preferred parking location because you can avoid the expensive lots at Zuma and Point Dume and look for free all-day street parking along this stretch between the two instead. However, those beaches are not even close to as big as this one. There are plenty of sites accessible along the Pacific Coast Highway and in the posh districts further up the Malibu shoreline.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department's lifeguard division guards Zuma, with 14 towers on the actual dunes and one of the four L.A. County Section Headquarters in the middle of the beach. Rip currents are present at Zuma, just like they are at many beaches with good surf. The region in front of the Lifeguard Headquarters between Towers 8 and 9 is particularly vulnerable to rip currents, thus visitors are advised against swimming or surfing there. Rip currents are so common, in fact, that as of 2007, the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Unit utilizes Zuma Beach to represent one. Every year, Zuma Beach plays host to various prestigious surfing competitions. On the northern end of Zuma Beach, where wind conditions are ideal virtually every day in the late afternoon, kitesurfing is very popular.