TRAVEL NEWS
Directions to
BATES BEACH
Carpinteria, CA
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Location: Santa Barbara County (just north of the Ventura county line)
Facilities: Rest rooms, showers, picnic area near the parking lot
Description: Nice ocean views, and a seal sanctuary. Clean sand but
littered with half-buried lumber washed up by winter storms three
seasons ago (warning: wood piles may be inhabited by snakes, mice,
and other animals.), 200-foot-high cliffs and Amtrack train track
above. Rincon Point is a mecca for surfers during the summer.
NOTICE: BATES LAST LOST ITS NUDE/CLOTHING OPTIONAL BEACH STATUS AND POLICE SWEEP THE BEACH PERIODICALLY WITHOUT WARNING, ESPECIALLY ON WEEKENDS AND DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS.
THE NUDE BEACH ALLIANCE IS TRYING TO RETURN ITS NUDE/CLOTHING-OPTIONAL STATUS BUT UNTIL THAT HAPPENS YOU ARE TAKING A BIG RISK BEING NUDE HERE.
P.S. We have reports that deputies often are spotted on the overlooking bluffs, usually carrying binoculars and cameras, on the days when they are about to sweep the beach. Then they come down on the beach and issue citations even if people have gotten dressed in the meantime because they have your nude photo! We hear a few people have retaliated by wearing minimal brown or orange-colored suits so they look nude from the cliffs and the police get to walk down for nothing.
Directions:
1. Take the Ventura (101) Freeway to 10 miles south of Santa Barbara.
2. Exit at Bates Road and follow the signs to the beach.
3. There are THREE forks in the road here: The one to the left takes
you to the clothed beach on the Ventura side known as South Rincon
Beach. The one in the middle leads to a gated community of homes for
residents only. The one on the RIGHT takes you up a ramp to a parking
lot on the Santa Barbara side, and this is Bates (North Rincon) Beach.
4. Take the ramp down to the beach and walk north about 1000 yards past the rusty pipe. This marks the beginning of the formerly-nude section of the beach.
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Information
provided by the Southern California Naturist Association (SCNA) |