Rincon Point State Beach(Bates Beach)

Located below a blufftop residential area near the border between Ventura County and Santa Barbara County, Rincon Point State Beach is a narrow rock-and-sand beach. The popular beach is a part of a state park known as Carpinteria State Beach. Portions of the beach are fixed with rocky embankments to prevent erosion. 

The Rincon Creek meets the ocean near the western part of the beach. Rincon Point State Beach has lifeguards. However, it does not have any other amenities except restrooms.

Rincon Park County Beach offers many fun activities including beachcombing, sunbathing, wildlife watching, fishing, swimming, surfing, tidepooling, kitesurfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, boogie boarding, paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, boating, surf-skiing, jet skiing, picnicking, and wakeboarding. Rincon Point State Beach is one of California’s renowned surfing spots - the water near the beach offers thrilling, consistent, and long right hand surfing waves, especially during low tide in winters. Rincon Point State Beach has three excellent surfing locations commonly known as the Cove, the Rivermouth, and the Indicator, which offer different kinds of surfing waves. The beach is commonly referred to amongst surfers as the "Queen of the Coast." The beach has also found a mention in Rod Sumpter’s 2004 book 100 Best Surf Spots in the World: The World's Best Breaks for Surfers in Search of the Perfect Wave, where it was listed as the 24th best-surfing spot in the world. The beach is also the venue of the annual Rincon Classic surfing championship, which occurs usually on a weekend in January every year. However, if you are planning to go into the water near the beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to have rip currents. In addition, if you are planning to surf here, we also recommend visiting this beach early as the water here can get easily crowded by surfers. If you are not a surfer, you can look out into the water near the beach, which is home to many animals including seals, sea lions, dolphins, and migrating whales (between December and May). Another popular activity on the beach is fishing - you can catch a large array of fish here including perches, halibut, and cabezon. The western part of the beach has many tidepools, which you can explore at low tide. If you are looking for a picnic spot, Rincon County Park near the beach is an excellent picnicking spot and also offers magnificent Instagram-worthy views of the Pacific Ocean. The entrance to the main portion of Carpinteria State Beach is a 12-minute drive away from Rincon Point State Beach and also offers many fun activities and attractions - the state park has a picnic spot with picnic tables, covered pavilions, and barbecue spots overlooking the Santa Ynez Mountain Range. The park also has the Tomol Interpretive Playground that is a children’s play area with an interesting theme based on the lifestyle and mythology of the Native American Chumash people. In addition, it also has the Jellybowl Vista Point that offers Instagram-worthy views of the Pacific Ocean and the Carpinteria shoreline. Carpinteria State Beach also has the Tar Pits Park which offers active asphalt tar pits which are sourced by an underground asphalt lake ( which is one among the only five asphalt lakes in the whole world). If you like camping, the state park also has four campgrounds with more than 200 campsites. The campgrounds accommodate both tents and RVs and have many amenities including picnic tables, fire rings, showers, and restrooms. In addition, the Santa Rosa Loop and San Miguel Loop campsites have water and electricity hook-ups for RVs. If you are interested to know more about camping at Carpinteria State Beach, you can contact the state park authorities at 1-800-444-7275.

Getting to Rincon Point State Beach is easy - from United States Highway 101, divert towards the ocean to Rincon Point Road via the Bates Road exit, which is present just south of the city of Carpinteria. The paid parking lot for Rincon Point State Beach is towards the left of Rincon Point Road. From this parking lot, you can easily take the access trail leading to the beach. We recommend visiting this beach wearing appropriate footwear as this beach is littered with pebbles and driftwood. In addition, it is important to note that the beach is subject to occasional closures in case of recent rains as the nearby Rincon Creek overflows into the water near the beach, possibly contaminating it with microbes. 

There are many attractions near Rincon Point State Beach. Canzelle Alpacas offers interesting tours on its farm which contains a variety of interesting animals including 40 alpacas, llamas, horses, chickens, and a Filipino water buffalo. Carpinteria Seal Sanctuary is a harbor seal rookery that offers a unique opportunity of watching harbor seals during the breeding season and also features trained volunteers offering interesting information about the local fauna. If you are looking for another attraction near Rincon Point State Beach, Linden Avenue has some great shopping stores (especially antique shops) and restaurants. In addition, many festivals are organized in Linden Avenue throughout the year including the Christmas Parade of Lights, the Avocado Festival, the Antique Car Show, and the Fourth of July festivities.

If you get hungry, there are many restaurants near Rincon Point State Beach. Clementine’s Steak House is an upscale restaurant that offers amazing steaks and seafood. Siam Elephant is a Thai restaurant that offers delicious pad Thai, phat phrik khing, pineapple rice, and Thai red and green curries. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Rincon Point State Beach, PHOEVERMORE offers an array of outstanding Vietnamese dishes.

If you are looking for a hotel near Rincon Point State Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star Inn on Summer Hill offers many amenities including complimentary gourmet breakfast, an afternoon wine tasting session, an evening dessert, a hot tub, a garden, and a spa that offers massages and facials for a fee. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Cliff House Inn On the Ocean offers many amenities including a restaurant, a seasonal pool, access to a private beach club, and complimentary breakfast. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Rincon Point State Beach, the modestly priced 2-Star Sandyland Reef Inn offers many amenities including a pool and a hot tub.