The 10 Most Underrated Beaches in California
The 10 Most Underrated Beaches in California
Karoline Jagel/Shutterstock
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/california/experiences/news/photos/best-under-the-radar-california-beaches
Escaping the crowds on California's beaches is easy if you know where to go.
With 840 miles of coastline, California is synonymous with beaches in many people’s minds. Beaches like Venice and Santa Monica are world famous, but with over 420 beaches in the Golden State, many more underrated beaches offer scenic views, soft sand, or unique geological features you can explore without the large crowds. Some are secluded and undeveloped, while others come with complete facilities mostly enjoyed by locals. Stretching from San Diego County and north to Humboldt County, here are the ten most underrated beaches in California.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS, 2026
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South Leucadia State Beach
Just north of downtown Encinitas is Leucadia, a beachside neighborhood known for its bohemian vibes and secluded beaches. One of those beaches is South Leucadia State Beach, also known as Beacon’s Beach. Beacon’s Beach is accessible via a switchback trail from a small parking lot and gets a lot less visitors than most beaches in the area. Parts of the beach are rocky, but there’s also plenty of soft, sandy areas to lounge around in. The gentle waves here make Beacon’s Beach a good spot for beginner surfers and for swimming (although lifeguards are only here seasonally). Other than the parking lot, there’s no other amenity or facility here. The lot is also small and can fill up, but there is street parking around the neighborhood.
PHOTO: AVILA BEACH TOURISM ALLIANCE
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Avila Beach
Avila Beach is said to have the most sunny days of all the beaches on California’s Central Coast, yet this beach is somehow still less famous than neighboring Pismo Beach. The beach’s sheltered location makes it a safe and family-friendly beach for swimming. There are restrooms, picnic areas, and a playground. Plus, it’s flanked by a walkable and cute town with affordable parking. The beach does get busy on weekends thanks to San Luis Obispo residents and Cal Poly SLO students who make the 15-minute drive for a beach day, but it’s still not as packed as other, more popular beaches. Weekdays are perfect for a quiet and long walk on the sand.
PHOTO: J2CHAV/ISTOCK
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Jalama Beach
Located about an hour from Santa Barbara, Jalama Beach is a rather remote beach that offers good waves for surfing and some of the best sunset views. It’s also one of the best spots in California to camp on the beach. While the beach itself doesn’t get crowded, the campground does get booked up early for weekends and summers, since all campsites pretty much offer an ocean view, and many even have direct beach access. Thanks to the campground, there are restrooms and coin-operated showers here. There is also one business here, the Jalama Beach Store & Grill, which serves up a burger that has a cult following. Day-use parking is available for $10 per vehicle.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS, 2026
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Schooner Gulch State Beach
This beach near Point Arena in Mendocino County is also known as Bowling Ball Beach because the northern part of the beach features dozens of large sandstone concretions that look like bowling balls. This feature is what makes this beach special, and they’re only visible during low tide. The sand here is mostly coarse sand and gravel, but it is a long and wide beach backed by cliffs that is great for a scenic walk or catching the sunset. There are no facilities at this beach, and it takes a 1.5-mile hike to reach the beach, so most of the time, there are only a handful of people here. There’s a (very small) parking lot near the start of the trail.
PHOTO: TRACE ROUDA/ISTOCK
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Shaw’s Cove
Tucked away under a residential area of Laguna Beach, Shaw’s Cove is a small but lovely sandy beach that’s mainly frequented by locals. Since it’s a protected cove, many come to this beach to swim or boogie board. It’s also a popular spot for scuba diving lessons. During low tide, tide pools are exposed at both ends of the cove.
There’s no dedicated parking area, so you’d have to find street parking in the neighborhood to visit this beach, which is accessible via a 58-step staircase. One of the city’s free trolley routes stops right near the stair entrance, so you can always park further and take the trolley.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS, 2026
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San Buenaventura State Beach
The town of Ventura sits between Malibu and Santa Barbara, but it often gets overlooked by those traveling between the two. That’s why the beaches around Ventura also tend to be less crowded. One of the best beaches in Ventura is San Buenaventura State Beach. It’s a wide, sandy beach that stretches two miles long with complete amenities. There is plenty of parking (for a $10 fee). You’ll also find restrooms, picnic tables, bike rentals, and beach volleyball courts. Most importantly, the Jolly Oyster beach shack is one of the best places to get fresh oysters anywhere in the area.
PHOTO: VISIT MENDOCINO
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Big River Beach
None of the beaches in Mendocino County gets crowded, really, but Big River Beach is one of the best ones. This beach is unique as it sits at the mouth of the Big River where it meets the Pacific Ocean, making it a popular spot for kayaking and wildlife spotting. The white sandy beach changes year over year depending on the storms that year, and sometimes a sandbar island would appear. Located next to an estuary, visitors can often see birds, harbor seals, and river otters from Big River Beach. It’s a dog-friendly beach with a free parking lot and public restrooms.
PHOTO: VISIT MENDOCINO
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Gold Bluffs Beach
Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is often overshadowed by the nearby Fern Canyon (the lush canyon was the filming location of The Lost World: Jurassic Park), but this long and sandy beach is well worth the side trip. First of all, Gold Bluffs Beach is ten miles long, and the old-growth redwood trees behind it make for a stunning backdrop. It’s also perhaps the only beach in California where you might see wild Roosevelt elk roaming around. You can camp along the beach, and the campground has restrooms and solar-powered showers.
PHOTO: YHELFMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Bean Hollow State Beach
The remote location helps the rugged Bean Hollow State Beach remain unspoiled and free of crowds. This beach is located between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, and it got its name from the honeycomb-like tafoni formations found in its sandstone cliffs. This state beach is actually formed by two coves: Bean Hollow Beach and Pebble Beach, which are connected via a one-mile nature walk where wildflowers bloom in the spring. Bean Hollow State Beach is dog-friendly and is also a good spot for tidepooling. Anemones, crab, and sea urchin are just some of the marine life you might encounter. Free parking and chemical toilets are available near both coves.
PHOTO: SONOMA COUNTY TOURISM
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Gualala Point Regional Park
Gualala Point Regional Park is located on the northern border of Sonoma County. This oceanfront park is more than just a beach, but it does contain a wide, sandy beach that sits between the Pacific Ocean and the Gualala River. This beach just so happens to be one of the best spots along the coast for whale watching in the winter months. There are usually piles of driftwood on this beach, and you’ll often find shelters and sculptures that people have built using the driftwood. This beach is dog-friendly, and there are restrooms and parking available (parking costs $8 per car).
Inside a hotelier's labor of love to restore a nearly 100-year-old Texas hotel
Historic Faust Hotel reopens with an elevated experience for fast-growing New Braunfels
Originally opened in 1929, The Faust Hotel recently underwent a $10 million, two-year renovation that modernized the interior space while restoring the historic exterior. (The Faust Hotel)
https://www.costar.com/article/1357722703/inside-a-hoteliers-labor-of-love-to-restore-a-nearly-100-year-old-texas-hotel
Every summer, New Braunfels, Texas, northeast of San Antonio, attracts families and groups looking to cool off by floating down one of the nearby rivers. However, a hotelier who recently revamped a nearly 100-year-old property is confident the German town in the Texas Hill Country has untapped potential for heartier year-round business.
After two years and $10 million of renovation work, Andy Duettra has reintroduced The Faust Hotel to New Braunfels just in time for the region's peak season. The complete renovation included a suite of new food-and-beverage concepts — delivering an upscale experience right as New Braunfels blooms with downtown redevelopment and population growth.
"We have a particular draw being that we're right downtown in New Braunfels," said Jason Roberts, general manager of The Faust Hotel. "Outside of the summer travel, which will definitely impact us and provide room nights for us, there's really not a nice place to get away to, and we provide a full-service operation for our guests and an elevated experience, and I think that that's really going to be the draw for us."
Rediscovering The Faust Hotel
Local businessman Walter Faust Sr. originally opened the property on Oct. 12, 1929, as The Travelers Hotel. Faust saw an opportunity for a quality hotel as more people began traveling through the area.
"When the hotel was first built, it's because New Braunfels had really become a crossroads of commerce, coming from Houston or San Antonio," Duettra said. "If you're going one way or the other, you're pretty much going through New Braunfels."
As the banker, Faust backed the project and even provided the land where the hotel stands today, lifting and rolling away the Faust family home down the street to make room for the hotel.
Another interesting part of The Faust's history was the use of pentile bricks, Roberts said. Prison inmates made the bricks, and they were brought in to build what was advertised as a fireproof building — since it was made up of metal and concrete — which was rare at the time, Duettra added.
The Travelers Hotel opened just weeks before the stock market crash that kicked off the Great Depression. New Braunfels took a huge hit as the U.S. economy cratered, and the town also suffered from infestations of boll weevils that devastated crops in the region.
In 1936, Faust took over the hotel as banker, and it was renamed. During World War II, the Faust Hotel gained a reputation as the “honeymoon capital of Texas” due to its proximity to Texas' military bases.
"The hotel has been known as an event center in the Central Texas area since World War II, when soldiers would come in and get married here before they would ship off, so we're definitely known as a wedding venue," Roberts said.
Both Roberts and Duettra have seen The Faust Hotel and New Braunfels change over the years, each with their own personal or familial ties to the building.
"Growing up here in the Texas Hill Country — I grew up in San Marcos— I knew the Faust from its history," Roberts said. "As a kid back in the '80s, my parents and my grandparents would take us to Sunday brunch at The Faust, and it was a big to-do, it was a fancy space, and we dressed in our Sunday best. And that's really kind of where I saw this property in the renovation kind of hearkening back to."
Duettra, who grew up in Santa Fe, said his grandparents lived in Galveston, and New Braunfels was a convenient place for his parents to stop and let their kids jump in the river to cool off. Duettra's wife, who's family is from the area, has brought him back regularly to New Braunfels. After Duettra managed some successful vacation rental properties in New Mexico, he saw an opportunity in The Faust.
"We've been coming here over the last 35 years a ton, and just before our 30th anniversary, we were pulling out of my wife's dad's law office, which is right across the street from The Faust, and it was the final sort of straw that broke the camel's back," Duettra said. "It's always looked kind of like crap every time I've seen it for 30 years, and being in it one or two times, I've confirmed that it was crap. And I had finally had enough and called a realtor friend."
Duettra managed to track down the hotel's previous owner, a local electrician who cared for the building but didn't have much hospitality expertise. In May 2022, Duettra purchased the hotel. At first, Duettra said he struggled to put a value to the hotel since there's really nothing like it in the region.
"We ran it for about 18 months while we tested the proposition that it just basically [had] not been run in a modern way with modern marketing and all that kind of stuff that would draw in people because the prior owners just weren't really hospitality folks," Duettra said.
He added that his own expertise also fell short when it comes to the food and beverage space. As a result, Duettra brought in Lark Hospitality to manage the hotel and its restaurants.
With a plan in place, Duettra and his team closed down The Faust Hotel at the end of 2023 to begin a total renovation.
Renovating a 'glittering jewel'
Over the years, the Faust Hotel's owners contributed a varied amount of upkeep, but the building needed a total overhaul, Duettra said. The plan was to gut the building but maintain the historic exterior and refurbish key elements of the property when they could.
"100 years in, we all need a little reset," he said, adding that the building is now "fresh from top to bottom."
The construction and design teams peeled back plaster, rediscovering the building's original pentile construction, and also preserved some of the design elements of the building.
The Faust "was a glittering jewel in the 1920s and '30s," Duettra said. "What if you were doing that today? What would it look like? And that's what this [renovation] is. It's upgraded, roaring '20s and '30s style. ... The entire lobby has the original cast iron chandelier fan units there, the sconces in the ballroom, and we kept everything that we could.
"It's just a really great blend of old and new and leaning into that '20s era."
The hotel's design features that are new are made to look old, Duettra said. Roberts added that each of the rooms are unique and the whole style is cohesive.
"Everything has this artwork and wall coverings — this whimsical feel to it, and our lighting package really lends itself to that Art Deco 1920s feel," Roberts said. "I'd say each room is bespoke, and you'll never see the same artwork in any room throughout the hotel. Same with the art in the guest room corridors — they're all original pieces, and create a individual experience in every single guest room."
The construction process didn't have any major obstacles since it was almost completely a full gutting and rebuilding, Duettra said. As part of the renovation, internal systems like plumbing, electric, HVAC, fire suppression and Wi-Fi were modernized. The project also decreased The Faust Hotel's room count and added three food and beverage concepts.
"We shrank from 63 to 45 rooms by expanding all them, making bigger bathrooms, all that, but we really needed was folks who could run what was essentially an entertainment complex with rooms upstairs, which is what it is, because there's three bars and four different places to eat," Duettra said.
The hotel's F&B concepts includes Wilhelm & Werner, a Texas-style brasserie that pays tribute to and is named in honor of Duettra's father and father-in-law. Walter's Speakeasy, which is located underground in a former laundry room, is named in homage to Walter Faust. In addition to the private dining option The Faust will have, the last restaurant is the Magnolia Patio, a patio bar and eatery.
All three of the restaurants will be expanding their hours over the course of the next few weeks, Roberts said.
"Wilhelm & Werner will be the main food-and-beverage outlet," he said. "We're open for dinner now, and we're going to start leaning into lunch service mid-June as we bring in more staff and train over the next couple of weeks. Then after that, we'll look into Saturday and Sunday brunches, so ... we're trying to perfect each meal period at a time."
From the renovated rooms to the new dining areas, Duettra said his goal was to showcase The Faust's history while providing an experience that reflects the growth of New Braunfels.
"It's a beautiful building, ton of history, and we're trying to kind of set it up for the next 100 years of creating history in town here," he said.
The future of New Braunfels
Founded in 1845 by German Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, the town established itself as a manufacturing and shipping hub with the nearby Comal River and later the railroads. But summer tourism became a dominant industry beginning with the opening of Schlitterbahn Waterpark in 1979.
With the park and the nearby rivers primed for tubing, New Braunfels has long been a drive-to summer destination for Texans between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But that's been changing, Duettra said. According to a recent report from MoneyLion, New Braunfels' five-year population growth is 31.7%. The New Braunfels Convention & Visitors Bureau reported a 13% growth in hospitality from 2022 to 2024.
"But what's been missing is upscale product for sure to stay," Duettra said, pointing to new public-partnership development adjacent to The Faust and other recent food-and-beverage openings.
"There's a whole entertainment complex that's bubbling up here that's much better than what was here five and 10 years ago," he added.
Where the Faust Hotel can come in is to fill the gap for a higher-end overnight stay.
"We're looking at a much more elevated restaurant experience, elevated cuisine. We have a fantastic chef, [Adam Gilly, who's] a super talented individual that has been working in fine dining establishments his entire career," said Roberts, who began his hospitality career as a chef for Hilton.
The combination of the area's population growth, recent downtown revitalization, and the town's annual calendar of festivals all point to a new era for The Faust and New Braunfels, both.
"I think it's just the natural evolution of town that's going to, I hope, over time tilt New Braunfels back to maybe what it was, which is a bit more of a sophisticated center," Duettra said.
Pivoting hotel procurement strategy in the wake of war in the Middle East
Project flexibility, government initiatives crucial to overcome global supply disruption
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17. (Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/920839283/pivoting-hotel-procurement-strategy-in-the-wake-of-war-in-the-middle-east
The U.S.-Iran war and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz have been major disruptors of global supply lines.
The procurement side of the hospitality industry — responsible for ordering furniture, fixtures, and equipment to fill up a hotel — relies heavily on global trade and shipping moving uninterrupted to fill orders and help hotels finish development or renovations on time. When the U.S.-Iran conflict broke out at the end of February, hotels in the Middle East and their procurement partners had to scramble to adjust their ordering strategies.
Manesh Balani, managing director of Dubai-based procurement firm Orsini SPI, joined “The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News” podcast to discuss his company's pivot over the last several months. The first priority was safety, followed by coming up with a new strategy to meet hotel clients' needs and address their concerns.
“OK, now what do we do and how do we continue to operate? … We’ve been working together with our clients seamlessly, making sure that their projects are not going to be interrupted,” Balani said. “Saudi Arabia, fortunately, their shipping ports have remained open; likewise, across Africa, there is no disruption.”
Getting deliveries is a little tougher in the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai located on the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
One ship that was unable to move on the strait contained all the table tops for one of Balani's hotel clients, he said. The table bases had already been delivered, and the stalled ship contained the very last delivery piece for that particular project. The ship was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan, resulting in a two-month delay.
By and large, the solution to the shipping disruptions was to get the shipments diverted, along with a lot of paperwork, to a different freight corridor that saw the goods come ashore at Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea side of the UAE.
That change was made more difficult by the sheer number of other ships needing new routes and new timelines. But Balani added government entities were quick to aid the process of getting goods to where they were needed.
In the UAE, the government opened “green corridors” from Oman and Saudi Arabia to ease the bureaucracy and flow of goods to and from the UAE and its neighbors, he said.
Balani added that a major consideration of his work is around due diligence and process concerning developments’ budgets.
“Where do we make sure that we are putting the right money to get the right value for the product that is going to be felt, is going to be touched, by a customer. … What we're saying to [our clients] is that with all the uncertainty that is out there, rather than the just-in-time strategy that we used to work with, let’s make sure we are going with a strategy that will make sure the goods are here, that they are next to you and that you are going to be able to have them delivered and installed,” he said.
For the full interview with Manesh Balani, please listen to the podcast embedded above.
Subscribe to this CoStar News Hotels podcast wherever you like to listen.
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