Topanga Beach(Topanga County Beach, Topanga State Beach)

Topanga Beach offers several amenities including lifeguards, restrooms, showers, and picnic tables. 

There are many fun activities at this beach including surfing, scuba diving, fishing, and hiking. You can also swim here, but be careful because the waves at Topanga Beach break over cobblestones and reef – and there is a rotting steel barrier at the west end of the beach.

Getting to Topanga Beach is easy – the paid parking lot that holds around 96 cars is situated at 18700 Pacific Coast Highway west of its intersection with Topanga Canyon Boulevard.  There is free parking along Pacific Coast Highway outside the lot. The beach is also easily accessible via Bus 534 at stop Pacific Coast Highway/ Topanga Canyon Boulevard. 

If you are looking for attractions near Topanga Beach, the iconic Malibu Pier is an eight-minute drive away. The Malibu Pier is a tourist attraction that’s famous for its dual white towers, rough-hewn planks, two restaurants, five stores, and an observation deck where you can fish and look for dolphins. If you like hiking, Big Rock Trail is 1,895 feet tall and provides many trails to the peak which is a great vista point that provides an incredible view of the area and is a great spot to take Instagram-worthy pictures. Another good hiking option is Topanga Lookout Trailhead – it’s spread across 9,000 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains 2,375 feet above the Pacific Ocean and offers two-mile round-trip hikes with spectacular 360-degree mountain and ocean views. It is also a stop-off for many mountain bikers. Legacy Park is situated nearby and features wildlife areas, parks, and bodies of water. Another attraction near Topanga Beach is Venice Beach Boardwalk, a lively famed seaside promenade featuring street performers, bodybuilders, restaurants, tourist shops, areas for skateboarding, and kayak and boat riding facilities.  

If you get hungry, there are many restaurants within walking distance of Topanga Beach.  If you are looking for an upscale restaurant, the always-crowed Mastro's Ocean Club is situated on Topanga Beach and features seafood, steaks, and drinks.  Mastro's Ocean Club was mentioned in "The 100 Most Scenic Restaurants in the US" by Business Insider. If you like Thai food, Cholada Thai Beach Cuisine is a vegetarian-friendly beachside eatery serving Thai curries, noodles, and salads. As another option, Reel Inn Malibu offers several seafood dishes including oysters, shrimps, groupers, and fish at very reasonable prices.

If you are looking for a hotel, there are many within an eight-minute drive of Topanga Beach. Nobu Ryokan Malibu is an intimate, 16-room 5-Star beachfront hotel with a fitness center with a gym. The upscale 4-Star hotel Malibu Beach Inn has many amenities including a bar, spa, and restaurant – it is located on Carbon Beach, which has been nicknamed Billionaires’ Beach due to the many ultrawealthy homeowners and incredibly expensive homes there (In 2019, one home sold $110 million.) The Surfrider Hotel, Malibu is a 4-Star hotel featuring a lounge, rooftop bar, and restaurant. The pet-friendly and affordable hotel Malibu Country Inn has a pool and an outdoor fireplace.