Nicholas Canyon County Beach

This county beach has 1.75 miles of both sandy and rocky stretches. Access is off Pacific Coast Highway and down some steps about a mile east from Leo Carrillo State Beach at the Los Angeles-Ventura county line. There is free parking along the road and pay parking in a lot. Facilities are somewhat limited, in contrast to other more popular beaches closer to town. A misplaced nickname is Nicholas Flats, which applies to hiking terrain higher up in the mountains above the mouth of the canyon. But surf here is far from flat. A submerged point creates tube-shape waves that roll left and end in a backbreaking vertical drop. Surfers know this as Zero Beach and the rounded point of land is called Point Zero, although that name does not appear on most maps.

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