The Last Good Oasis

It is a beach so remote that on a hot summer afternoon there might only be a handful of families scattered along the shore. It is a beach so placid and picturesque that when lifeguards want to unwind on their days off they often come here.

In a county where the crowds and the crime and the crises of the city are increasingly plaguing the beaches, Nicholas Canyon County Beach--about 20 miles down the coast from Oxnard--is an anomalous strip of shoreline. It is an uncrowded, unspoiled oasis where there is no highway noise, no snack stands, no pathways clogged with skaters and bicyclists.

“It’s the ultimate getaway of the L.A. County beaches,” said Tom Olson, who has been a lifeguard for 24 years. “It’s the prettiest beach I’ve ever worked.”

Nicholas is set in a small bay, between Mullholand Highway on Decker Road, and is cut off from the sounds and sight of Pacific Coast Highway by a serpentine mound of cliffs, dotted with yucca, bougainvillea and flowering ice plant. While those at beaches down the coast, hard by the highway, must contend with exhaust fumes and the rumble of traffic, at Nicholas there is only the crash of the surf and the pungent smell of eucalyptus, which dot the hilltops. At Nicholas, when it is clear, you can see the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Catalina Island and the faint outline of fishing boats at the edge of the horizon.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, just a few surfers and kayakers and a single family was at the beach. Rob Hanley of Westlake Village and his two children had a vast section of the beach all to themselves. Hanley said that during the past 20 years he has been moving steadily north in his search for the perfect beach.

When he was in junior high school he used to spend summer days at Santa Monica Beach. When he began surfing in high school he went to Topanga. When he and friends at UCLA wanted to meet girls, they headed to Malibu. When he got married, he and his wife used to sunbathe at Zuma. But when his kids were old enough to take to the beach, Hanley became disenchanted with Zuma and the rowdy surfers who flock there on weekends.

A friend took him to Nicholas one afternoon, and Hanley decided this was the perfect spot for a family outing.

“A lot of days it’s like we have our own private beach,” Hanley said. “It’s such a relaxing place, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re in Southern California. This beach reminds me of the beaches way up the coast, north of San Francisco. You can really unwind here.”

The beach was opened to the public in the early 1970s after county officials, using local and federal funds, purchased 49 homes for $3 million. Given the current price of beachfront property, that was a great bargain.

Nicholas Beach and nearby Nicholas Canyon are named after a bandit who lived in the area during the 1840s.

“Nicholas used to rob people in the Ventura area and hide out in the canyon,” according to a history of the area compiled by the county lifeguard service. “When a Mexican posse finally caught up with him, Nicholas jumped off a cliff in the canyon, killing himself.”

The serene setting is one of the reasons that the beach is treasured by the few regulars. But lifeguards, who enjoy lobster diving and surfing at Nicholas on their days off, do not like working at the beach.

“It’s too slow here,” Olson said. “None of the lifeguards want a schedule at Nicholas. We’re used to working Zuma and making a lot of rescues. Most days at Nicholas, it’s only when a diver gets caught in the kelp beds that you’ll get in the water.”