El Matador State Beach, Malibu

El Matador State Beach (Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach)

Sea arches, caves and a Malibu sunset

⚠ Reachable only by car

Hours

State beach, generally sunrise to sunset (check the signs on site)

Tickets

Free (parking extra)

Address

About 40 km west of Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway, a small clifftop car park beside the road

From a small roadside car park, a dirt path and steep stairs drop to a beach scattered with house-sized rocks standing in the surf. The sea shows through arches carved by waves, and the classic photo is taken from inside a sea cave looking out. It's small and quiet compared with Santa Monica, which is why wedding shoots come here. It's at its best at sunset, the rocks in silhouette against a red sky.