El Capitán State Beach
Santa Barbara County, California, United States
Tomorrow at a glance
Best: 11 am to sunset, sunset 6:15 pm7.0
16 km/h10 mph wind, Great
7.1
20 km/h12 mph wind, Great
7.3
20 km/h13 mph wind, Great
7.4
22 km/h14 mph wind, Great
7.6
24 km/h15 mph wind, Great
7.7
24 km/h15 mph wind, Great
7.7
26 km/h16 mph wind, Great
7.4
30 km/h18 mph wind, Great
8.1
22 km/h14 mph wind, Great
8.4
16 km/h10 mph wind, Great
7.5
22 km/h14 mph wind, Great
This page puts what matters first for today's conditions.
Best time to swim
Best: 11 am to sunset. Beach score for daylight hours, with wind in km/hmph underneath.
- Air
- 15°C59°F
- Water
- 21°C70°F
- Wind
- 74 km/hmph NW
- Gusts
- 2013 km/hmph
- Waves
- 1.0 m3 ft
- UV
- 0 low
- Tide
- falling
- Rain
- 8%
- Sunset
- 6:15 pm
Tide, next 24 hours
- Low 1 am, -0.2 m<1 ft
- High 8 am, 1.1 m4 ft
- Low 2 pm, -0.2 m<1 ft
- High 8 pm, 0.9 m3 ft
Tide is modeled, not measured. Rip current and water quality data are not available for this beach yet.
Beach info
Lifeguards, parking and facilities before you head down.
About El Capitán State Beach
El Capitán State Beach is a state park in California, United States. OpenStreetMap lists El Capitan Beach, located 260 feet away. OpenStreetMap also lists one food facility within 0.62 miles.
El Capitán State Beach is a protected beach in the state park system of California. The most easterly of three state parks along the Gaviota Coast, it is located about 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown Santa Barbara, in Santa Barbara County. The beach is named for José Francisco Ortega, who retired from the Spanish Army in 1795 with the rank of captain and received the Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio as a land grant.
Source: El Capitán State Beach on Wikipedia (authors). Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved Oct 18, 2026. Data sources
Facilities
- Restrooms190 m620 ft away
- Parking1 within 500 m0.3 miNearest 170 m560 ft. Fee not listed
- Food and drink1 within 1 km0.6 miNearest 560 m0.3 mi
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- 17 km11 miSanta Ynez Airport (SQA)
Facilities from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Check posted signs; details change. Data sources
Nearby beaches
- El Capitan Beach0.1 km0.0 mi east away7.7 Great tomorrow
- Refugio Beach4.3 km2.6 mi west away7.7 Great tomorrow
- Refugio State Beach4.5 km2.8 mi west away7.7 Great tomorrow
- Haskell's Beach11 km6.9 mi east away8.3 Great tomorrow
- Ellwood Beach13 km8.3 mi east away8.6 Excellent tomorrow
Where to stay near the beach
Compare hotels and apartments near El Capitán State Beach.
Beachfront rooms go first on warm weekends.
Loads the map from Stay22, our stays partner.
Hotel results come from our stays partner. We may earn a commission when you book, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the beach score.
The days ahead
Best score each day, with the stretch to aim for.
- Fri8.4 GreatBest 11 am to 7 pmWind up to 30 km/h18 mph, rain 5%
- Sat9.5 ExcellentBest 9 am to 7 pmWind up to 14 km/h9 mph, rain 0%
- Sun8.6 ExcellentBest 11 am to 2 pmWind up to 10 km/h6 mph, rain 0%
- Mon9.4 ExcellentBest 11 am to 12 pmWind up to 15 km/h9 mph, rain 0%
- Tue9.4 ExcellentBest 10 am to 6 pmWind up to 19 km/h12 mph, rain 0%
- Wed8.8 ExcellentBest 12 pm to 5 pmWind up to 15 km/h9 mph, rain 1%