Seal Beach Guide
Hours: 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Parking: Lots at First, Eighth and 10th streets are $3 for two hours or $6 per day. Free street parking in adjacent neighborhoods also is available. Sunset Beach:Parking in most neighborhood lots is free.
No surfing on the south side of the Seal Beach Pier during summer.
No animals allowed.
Aquatic sports such as windsurfing, kite surfing and kayaking are restricted from all beaches in Seal Beach except for an area between Second and Fourth streets.
Seal Beach is known for its wood-planked pier and quaint Main Street. The beach is a favorite picnic spot for families. Sunset Beach is lined with waterfront homes within walking distance of small shops, neighborhood bars, a kayak rental center and a psychic. It’s also home to surfwear company Kanvas by Katin and longboard builder Bruce Jones Surfboards.
Many North Orange County surfers have learned how to ride on Seal Beach’s gentle waves. During the school year, kids pack the beach about 3 p.m. It’s also a popular spot for inland visitors on the weekend who take the San Gabriel River (I-605) Freeway to where it ends in Seal Beach.
Don’t let this city’s quaint style fool you. Seal Beach is a playground for sun-weathered folks seeking an adrenaline rush. The town is a great spot for kite surfing, windsurfing and surf fishing. And for enjoying a cold beer at the end of an action-packed day.
On any windy day, advanced kite surfers can be seen launching between Second and Fourth streets, north of the Seal Beach Pier. In Sunset Beach, kite surfing is restricted to Broadway and 15th streets, marked by checkered flags.
The sport is not allowed at Surfside beach. This area is unique because it gets ideal “thermal winds.” The best time of year for kite surfing is between April and September. The sport is not cheap for those who want to learn — more than $100 for an intro lesson — and beginners must head north to Belmont Shores. Local outfits such as Kitesurfari and Kites Etc. offer lessons. Spectators on the sand can watch this fast-growing sport as riders get 40 feet of air or glide along the ocean’s surface.
10th and Dolphin
A good winter break with a west swell. Thick rights and lefts.
Sunset Beach
Located between Seal Beach to the north and Huntington Beach to the south, this 45-acre beach draws thousands of visitors each year. There are parking lots, public restrooms and a playground. Swimming, surfing and bodysurfing and are popular here. A surfing zone is provided and controlled by the "black ball" flag system. This is also a great area for surf-fishing. www.ocparks.com
Stingray Bay/Bowls
Mostly a summer break. Left breaking off the jetty. Best with south to southwest swell. Fun, but polluted and full of stingrays.
Phone: 562-431-1531, 562-431-1532
Location: North side of Seal Beach pier
Open to: Ages 9 to adult
Cost: $175
Length: 3 weeks
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Dates of operation: 6/25 to 8/3
Phone: 714-846-7873
E-mail: surfingschoolmm@yahoo.com
Website: www.mmsurfingschool.com
Location: 8th Street and Ocean Parking Lot. Look for M&M Van.
Cost: $247
Length: 5 days
Hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dates of operation: 6/18 to 9/16
Also available: private lessons, programs year-round
Phone: 562-431-2527 (Seal Beach Recreation and Community Services)
Location: 1st Street Beach
Cost: $247 for beginners or intermediate camp
Length: 5 days
Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Dates of operation: 7/2 to 8/31
Private lessons available? Yes
Beaches produce good surf fishing for corbina. The two jetties bordering on Long Beach feature fishing for halibut, sargo and yellowfin croaker. Pier anglers catch yellowfin croaker, mackerel, bonito, halibut, jack smelt, sharks and rays.
Surf, pier and harbor fishing contacts — From Seal Beach to Huntington Beach: Big Fish Bait and Tackle in Seal Beach at 562-431-0723 and Let’s Go Fishing on the Huntington Beach Pier at 714-960-1392.
The small tourism economy of mom-and-pop shops along the city’s Main drag if fueled by local and out-of-towners stopping by for daytrips. The beach is all public and monitored year-round by lifeguards. Lifeguards estimate 2,357,000 people visited the sand in 2006. They performed 1,048 rescues.
The city has only three hotels, so many visitors lodge out of town and visit Seal Beach during the day. A fourth hotel, a Hampton Inn, is under construction at Seal Beach Boulevard and Westminster Avenue and scheduled to open in spring 2008. The city raised its hotel tax from 9 percent to 12 percent in July 2006 to help raise money.
Click here for the Chamber of Commerce.
Seal Beach and Sunset Beach generally have good ocean-water quality, rarely violating bacterial standards. But the jetties at the entrance to Anaheim Bay, built by the Navy in the 1940s, disrupt the flow of sand down the coast and could potentially lead to serious erosion. The solution: sand imported and dumped offshore every few years, making the Surfside area a “feeder” beach that allows sand to flow down the coast and replenish other beaches.
The sandy beaches draw birds such as sanderlings that run in and out with the waves and a variety of gulls in winter, as well as black skimmers.
At Seal Beach, the San Gabriel River empties into the ocean, carrying with it warmed water from power plant cooling systems. That attracts large numbers of round stingrays, making this a potentially hazardous place for bathers. The warm waters also sometimes attract green sea turtles.
Stingray encounters in Seal Beach are frequent, with about 200 to 300 stings reported annually. Rays like warm water generated by two energy plants nearby up the San Gabriel River. They congregate near the edge of the water at the surf line, especially during small surf and low tide. If you get stung, put your foot in hot water to break up the proteins in the venom.
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