Bolsa Chica Campground

A 7-mile bike path connects Bolsa Chica with Huntington State Beach, and there also bike/jog trails. This area is one of the best biking spots in the Los Angeles area because you can admire the ocean on one side and the wetlands on the other. Check out some trails on LA Bike Paths.

Bolsa Chica is great for surf fishing, and you can even fish with your bare hands for some summer grunion, which only spawn in SoCal. This primitive hunting activity draws crowds, so be sure to see schedules and get a fishing license here. You can catch perch, corbina, California corbina, croaker, cabezon, shovelnose guitar fish and sand shark from the beach or rock jetties. Read about some surf fishing advice here.

Bolsa Chica is the place of surfers’ dreams! The waves are perfectly curled, like your hair on prom night. In fact, Surf City USA, the place where California surfing became popular, is only a few miles away at Huntington Beach, so we can see why Bolsa Chica is a popular surf zone. Beginner surfers and surf schools will love the shallow bottom shelf. Surf updates are posted regularly on Surfline.

Water babies of all ages will have a blast at Bolsa Chica! This is a wonderful beach to go swimming and you’ll feel safe with the lifeguards posted around. There’s even a junior lifeguard program for youth! Get out there and splash around in some waves.

You can catch sight of bottlenose dolphins leaping through the waves, California sea lions, and the occasional gray whale. You should steer clear of the stingrays chilling offshore on the beach breaks; they have some painful barbs. The birdlife here is impressive. Local waterfowl and all manners of migratory birds hang out here, including the threatened western snowy plover and California least tern, as well as sanderlings, beach skimmers, and western sandpipers who feed in the summer. In the sand, you can find plenty of sand crabs and beach hoppers.