About Malibu Lagoon State Beach

Malibu Lagoon State Beach is a California state park in Malibu where Malibu Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean. California State Parks splits it into two areas: Malibu Lagoon on the west side, with a short nature trail and beach access, and the historic Adamson House and Malibu Lagoon Museum on the east side. Surfrider Beach and the Malibu Pier are part of the same state beach.

What the Park Includes

The park is small and packed together. Walking from west to east along the sand you pass four things that most people think of as separate places.

• Malibu Lagoon. The wetland at the mouth of Malibu Creek. LA County describes it as 22 acres of wetlands, gardens and sandy beach. The Malibu Lagoon Trail runs along its edge to the beach and back.
• Surfrider Beach. The famous surf break between the lagoon and the pier, with almost a mile of ocean frontage. See Surfrider Beach.
• Adamson House and Malibu Lagoon Museum. A 1929 house covered in Malibu Potteries tile, open for guided tours. See Adamson House.
• Malibu Pier. A 780-foot pier first built in 1905, now with a restaurant and fishing. See Malibu Pier.

LA County notes that all of these sit next to each other, yet each gives a different kind of beach day.

Who Runs It

California State Parks manages the whole unit through its Angeles District, and its rules apply on the trails, the beach and the Adamson House grounds. LA County lifeguards cover the beach in daylight hours, and the County runs the Surfrider Beach parking lot. The restaurant and shops on the pier are run by a concessionaire, Malibu Pier Partners.

This website is an independent guide. It is not run by any of them.

A Short History

The land was part of Rancho Malibu. In 1892 Frederick Rindge bought the 13,000-acre ranch. The first Malibu Pier was built in 1905 to serve the ranch, shipping out hides and grain. His daughter Rhoda Rindge Adamson and her husband Merritt Adamson built the Adamson House on the lagoon from 1929, decorated with tile from the Malibu Potteries factory that her mother started in 1926.

The State of California bought the pier in 1980 and the Adamson House in 1968. The Malibu Lagoon Interpretive Association, formed in 1981, opened the house as a museum two years later.

Surf History

Surfers have ridden Malibu's long right-hand waves since the 1920s, according to Save The Waves. The Gidget book and film were set here. On October 9, 2010, Surfrider Beach became the first World Surfing Reserve.

Nature

LA County lists the lagoon as a resting and feeding stop for more than 200 species of migrating and native birds. Its saltwater marsh is a kind of habitat that LA County says is greatly diminished in Southern California. The Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society leads a free walk here on the fourth Sunday of each month.

Upstream, State Parks is designing the removal of the old Rindge Dam in Malibu Creek State Park. Sand trapped behind the dam would otherwise reach beaches like Surfrider, which State Parks says was named a Beach Erosion Concern Area in 2010.

What to Know Before You Go

• The end of the Malibu Pier has been closed since January 2025. Repairs are due to finish by the end of January 2027. The rest of the pier is open.
• Dogs are allowed only in the parking lot, and on leash on the Adamson House lawns. Not on the beach or trails. See Dogs.
• Parking at the lagoon lot is $3 an hour or $12 a day, 8 a.m. to sunset. See Parking.
• Stay out of the water for 72 hours after rain. See Swimming.