East Beach of Santa Barbara is a well known spot of sand in Southern California. It is located at the southern end of the Santa Barbara coastline, just before you get into Montecito.
East Beach is known for its sand and the number of volleyball courts that line the beach. The sand is soft and deep, with a nice texture. There are no shells, but you do have some wood debris from the nearby trees - nothing dangerous, but just a bit annoying. With its golden color, the sand can get a bit toasty on hot summer days.
With the 15 or so volleyball courts, East Beach is a center of the beach volleyball world. A number of current AVP Pro Beach players practice here and the amateur tournaments that are held here during the summer weekends attract large numbers. During the weekday afternoons, you can find many of the UCSB college athletes playing games.
The edge of the beach has a number of trees upon a grassy area and picnic benches. This allows East Beach to really be perfect for families. On weekends the beach can get a little full with picnics and families just having fun. There is plenty of room outside the courts to toss a Frisbee and run around.
Three things that a new visitor needs to know about - Parking, the ocean and weather. During the week, parking is no problem, but the weekends can be another matter. The street that fronts the beach has parking on one side and many times you can park right there, along with a paid parking lot just up from the beach that is a 1 minute walk. But, on weekends, you have to get lucky to find anything close, because many of the area parking spots are taken up with people going to the local parks and Santa Barbara Zoo.
The ocean at East Beach is probably its worst feature. The sand is a dark gray color from the dredging that goes on in the bay (to keep it deep enough for boats). The water is cold, and I mean cold enough to take your breath away when you get in. Because of the way the bay is shaped, there are virtually no waves to play in, but it does make for a good kayak spot. Finally, because of the numerous off-shore and local coastal oil drilling operations, you will have many instances of tar/oil on your feet and clothes at the shoreline - not good.
Weather wise, Santa Barbara is much colder than one would expect. With its proximity to Los Angeles there is the belief the weather is similar, when in fact, it is noticeably cloudier and colder. Since Santa Barbara is on the water and surrounded by mountains, combined with the geographic layout of the coastline (great for vineyards!), you will get many, many overcast and cool days with beach fog. Unfortunately, this weather is not confined to winter/spring, but often occurs into June and July. If you are scheduling a trip, I would look at August and September as your best weather months.
East Beach has a number of hotel options along East Cabrillo Boulevard, the street that fronts East Beach. These places run from name brand to local flavor and a simple Internet search will list them for you. What is nice about the hotels along E. Cabrillo is the location - they are near to East Beach, across from the Santa Barbara Pier with great restaurants, on the weekends the beach side of E. Cabrillo is filled with local art work for sale and in 5 minutes you can be on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara.
I will caution you, Santa Barbara is not a cheap place to visit. The hotels are expensive, private vacation rentals are expensive, the gas is outrageous and the food is spendy. Santa Barbara and East Beach, with its location on the Pacific Ocean, the view of the Channel Islands and backdrop of the mountains is absolutely beautiful - this is why Ty Warner (who has bought about half of Montecito) and Oprah call it home. Just make sure you bring your wallet!
