A Day in the Life: El Matador State Beach

Come to think of it, I can’t think of one summer vacation I didn’t go to the beach. After waiting two full weeks of summer without seeing a body of water, my friends (Maxine, Magaly, and Tany) and I finally dedicated a Saturday to go to El Matador State Beach, one of the many beaches along the Malibu coast. As it was all of our first times here, we noticed entirely new things about the location that we wouldn’t have if we’ve been here before.

Blasting Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta” and classics for 90s kids at full volume during our commute, our fun started even before we arrived! Interestingly, the fog loomed over us right as we entered the Santa Monica Mountains, creating a drastic change from sunny 80 degree valley weather into full-on 68 degree beach weather (which is typical in some of these parts). Completely unaffected by the change in weather, we continued to sing the tunes at our lungs ~ After a good forty minutes of driving, we arrived around ten in the morning and got a head start before all the other families that usually arrive later in the afternoon.

Carrying an unnecessary umbrella, some wraps for lunch, and our small boom box, we eagerly started walking from the cliff down to the shore. Widely known for their caves and large rock formations, El Matador was just the place I’ve been meaning to visit.

We admired the comforting sound of the waves, the near solitude, and each others' lifted spirits as we looked at our day ahead.

We settled on the far right side of the shore and set up our things. We laid our towels, ate our wraps, and planted our bare feet into the warm sand. We didn’t want to sit idly by for too long so we quickly ate, left our stuff, and began to explore the land. When we walked to the edge of the shore, one would initially think the cliff ended there, but behind some large rocks, we saw a small opening that seemed to lead to the other side. After gently poking adorable sea anemones for some time, we snapped out of it and continued our spontaneous journey. As tides were high, some of the waves would startle us but we kept going, leading us to an entirely new part of shore.

With many stepping-stones ahead, I felt my bare feet getting number and number. Eventually, we walked to the end of the shore again and saw another small opening which led to a larger cave with the sea lurking behind.

In awe with what we saw, we sat back on the larger stones by the water and watched the waves come in and out. There’s something about these beautiful rock formations, the ocean, the sound of seagulls, and the scent of my beach hair that soothes my soul. My mind was in a clutter this past month with final exams and exercise hiatus that this specific moment was just what I needed, retuning my soul to the fullest. We knew we spent almost an hour in this cave when we started noticing more and more people pass through.

When we thought it was time, we left the cave and continued walking further. We soon walked out into what looked like a private beach open to us exclusively. …Almost as though we entered a completely different coast—the cave being our teleporter. Here we saw stunning beachfront homes settled by the edge of the cliff and couldn’t help but envy its habitants.

After suffering from minor scratches and numbness, our feet finally thanked us after we started running across the smooth sand. We spent some time at this part of El Matador as there were only less than ten people in sight (which is rare nowadays). There was something incredibly fascinating about how the overcast weather and teal-tinted currents created this dream-like ambience. Almost like a fantasy. I’ve definitely dreamt about moments like these. Great company and phenomenal destinations served as the ultimate getaway from busy LA life.

"There is nothing more beautiful than nature early in the morning." -Vincent Van Gogh

El Matador State Beach

32100 Pacific Coast Hwy

Malibu, CA 90265