A panel of travel experts chose their favorite beaches and the paper’s readership voted on the winners. Santa Cruz’s ...

8. Butterfly Beach. 9. Newport Municipal Beach. 10. Santa Cruz Main Beach "With so many incredible beach towns across California, we’re honored to consistently rank among the best,” said ...

On Wednesday, USA Today released its top 10 best coastal small towns for 2025, and the top honor went to Pismo Beach. USA Today editors and readers praised Pismo’s “quiet” beaches, wineries ...

California's state park system has the largest and most diverse group of parks of any agency in the country, with 280 state park units, over 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river ...