Arroyo Burro Beach County Park — Attraction in Santa Barbara

One of the best beaches in town, especially due to the fact that it is Santa Barbara's only dog friendly beach. Are allowed off leash on the beach to the left of the entrance (East). most visitors do a great job of both cleaning up after their dogs and only bringing friendly dogs.

there is a parking lot with tons of spaces although it does get very busy on warm weekends and first thing weekend mornings. The Boathouse Restaurant is also located in the parking lot This is a great spot for Sunday morning brunch, or a great sunset happy hour. The boathouse specializes in seafood cuisine and has an amazing windows overlooking the ocean. They have a bar which has a couple of TVs which is great for sports fans. I like to sit in the bar area and eat some fried seafood and a couple of draft pacifico beers.

Arroyo borough Beach also has a local name called the pit, It has good surf sometimes, but not regularly. I would suggest checking a surf forecast before visiting if you're planning on surfing. Even though it's against the rules, I found this is a great beach to have an evening bonfire, you'll need to bring your own wood as there's not typically much around the beach. Head to the West for bonfire, about a quarter of mile down you'll see some fire spots that have been used in the back, these are great because any rangers can't see down the beach around the bend. It's very rare to see rangers walk...

HONEST REVIEW THAT FOR SOME REASON NO ONE TALKS ABOUT- we have been to many, if not most beaches in California. This one was on our bucket list. Pictures looked beautiful so we were excited for this beach. The only PRO we found was that the parking was close to the “beach”, that is if you find a spot. Parking is CRAMMED and limited; a lot of people honking and yelling. As for it being a “beach”… it doesn’t give you a beach vibe. It’s just a small patch of sand that is super crowed with people and dogs. I love dogs, but a big problem here is that the owners don’t watch their dogs. A lot of UNTRAINED dogs running around. And yes there is an area for dogs without leashes, but we saw a few dogs getting into it and the owners would just stare and wait for the OTHER owner to pull thier dog off… a few dogs jumping on small random kids in the water (dangerous) and the the owners would just laugh thinking it’s cute or funny… and you can not eat or have personal space here because random dogs come up to you and start jumping all over you, the owner nowhere to be seen. Second, the beach smells like dog poop and dog pee all over the place. Also, there is tar everywhere!!! All our gear and feet had tar over it. We had to toss all our gear out. Will NEVER come back here again! EVER. Probobly our worst experience was...

A great beach with tourists and longtime locals alike. Plenty of parking and a nice beachy type restaurant and bar with lots of indoor and outdoor seating. The beach is wide and you can walk for miles in either direction, so it's a great place for laying out in the sun or talking a long romantic walk. Or you can let the kids run and scream all they want. The place is big enough so everyone can do their thing without incringing on anyone else. Also a good place to bring your dog, play Frisbee or fly a kite (which is exactly what I did last time I was there). About the dogs: I noticed last time I was there that most dogs (and there were quite a few) were offleash and running around happily and playing in the waves. I don't know what the official leash policy is here, but in any case, just know that there's gonna be doggies running around. They weren't causing any trouble and nobody seemed to mind, (they were actually all very friendly and cute) so it's really not an issue, I only mention it in case you get nervous or anxious when there's dogs roaming around unleashed, so just keep it in mind.

In summary, this is a great place to spend a few hours with friends. And it's vintage Santa Barbara. Most locals call it...