Westward Beach Road is open, so why can't you drive to Point Dume Beach? The City of Malibu answered that in a correction it posted on October 20. Westward Beach Road and Birdview Avenue are both open to traffic, and Point Dume Beach is open. The access road at the end of Westward Beach Road, the one that goes into the Point Dume lot, is still closed to cars. People on foot and on bikes can still use it, with care around workers and construction vehicles.
That's a better picture than the one in August, but the past five years suggest this short road won't stay fixed. The rock wall now going in is the third emergency repair on this stretch since 2021. The tide forecast for the coming months points the same way. If you're on Point Dume most weekends, for a surf, a walk on the sand, or dinner at Sunset Restaurant, the walk-in setup is probably how things will run this winter.
Three Public Notices, Three Different Answers
If the closure has been confusing, part of the reason is that three public agencies have posted three different versions of it, and only one is current.
The LA County Beaches and Harbors page for Point Dume Beach was last updated August 6. It still describes the construction hours from early August. The California State Parks page has a notice posted August 28. It says cars can't reach the lower lot because Westward Beach Road is closed, and it adds that the beach itself is still open. The City of Malibu's October 20 alert is the newest of the three. It's also the only one that says exactly what's closed: the final access road, and only to cars.
The City alert also says Point Dume Beach has erosion, exposed obstacles on the sand and underwater, and active construction. It suggests checking with lifeguards before going in the water. Before you go, the City's Alert Center is the place to check for the latest status.
How August Became October
The closure started on the night of July 31. High tides and surf washed away more of the shoreline, and on August 1 the City posted Beaches and Harbors' notice. It closed Westward Beach Road past the pay gate, along with the Point Dume Beach parking lot. Restrooms 1, 2 and 3 also closed because the erosion had damaged their water line. The notice warned that the bluff edge was unstable, with drops of nearly eight feet in places. The Los Angeles Times reported the closure on August 2, and at that point there was no estimate for reopening.
In its August 5 report, The Malibu Times put the closed lot at about 260 spaces. City spokesperson Matt Myerhoff told the paper the beach itself was still open, and people could reach it on foot by walking along the sand. Warren Ontiveros, a deputy director at Beaches and Harbors, said the County was working with coastal engineers. It also needed a contractor, funding, emergency permits, and permission from private property owners for access.
The repair plan reached the City Council on October 12, listed as agenda item 1B10, "Westward Beach Road Repairs." The Malibu Times reported that the County began building an emergency rock wall, called a revetment, near Birdview Avenue. It's meant to protect the road, a water main, a fire hydrant and access to the beach lot. The work was first scheduled for October 8 through October 17.
Then the ocean hit the next stretch of road. Around 8 p.m. on Monday, October 19, erosion just west of the new rocks undermined Westward Beach Road and broke a County water main. Crews placed rock until midnight. KTLA placed the damage between the cul-de-sac at Birdview Avenue and the west corner of Sunset Restaurant. It said asphalt had washed away and the water main was exposed. Malibu.FM reported that surf had gone over the top of the rock barrier and washed away the beach beyond it. Water service to Sunset was back on, and the restaurant was open that Monday night.
This Is the Third Rock Rescue Since 2021
The same short stretch has needed major emergency work twice before, and each time it took weeks or months to get cars back on it.
| Episode | What happened | Cars back on the road |
|---|---|---|
| Summer 2021 | Road collapsed August 21 after more than a month of erosion from high tides and surf | Rebuilt road reopened November 16, 2021 |
| Winter 2023 | Rainstorm erosion closed the entrance January 20 | Reopened February 11, 2023 |
| Summer–fall 2026 | Lot and road past the pay gate closed August 1; new damage October 19 next to the new rocks | No reopening date announced as of the October 20 City alert |
The size of the 2023 fix shows what it takes to hold this road. County spokesperson Nicole Mooradian told The Malibu Times that the 2023 emergency revetment used 875 truckloads of boulders, each estimated at 28 tons, and cost more than $3 million. The current project, from the report prepared for the October 12 council meeting, was estimated at $766,025. That's about a quarter of the 2023 cost.
The cost split matters too. State Parks says Westward Beach is run by Los Angeles County. Even so, the City of Malibu is paying 70% of this repair, or $536,217.50, and the County is paying $229,807.50. The City made its first payment of $268,108.75 on October 2, and it owes the rest once the County sends its invoice. So Malibu's own budget is covering most of the cost of keeping a County beach road in place.
The Tide Calendar Points to a Walk-In Winter
The ocean conditions behind this summer's damage aren't letting up. On October 24, the Los Angeles Times reported a National Weather Service coastal flood advisory for Los Angeles County. It runs from Sunday, October 25 through Thursday afternoon, October 29, and forecasters said significant-to-moderate beach erosion was likely. The same article said tides are expected to climb even higher around Thanksgiving, Christmas and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. UC climate scientist Daniel Swain told the paper that "it's likely to get worse before it gets better."
The Times article named Point Dume as one of the places on the coast hit hardest this year, describing a beach where the ocean has threatened to cut off road access for cars. The rock wall went in only weeks ago, the October 19 damage happened right next to it, and the highest tides of the season are still ahead. With no announced date for cars to return to the lot, the safer bet is to plan your Point Dume routine around walking or biking that last stretch for now.
Getting to Point Dume Now
Each of these options comes from the latest official notices.
- Walk or bike the access road. The October 20 City alert keeps the final road into the Point Dume lot open to pedestrians and cyclists. Watch for crews and construction vehicles on the way.
- Park along Westward Beach and walk the sand. State Parks lists more parking at Westward Beach. Back in August, Myerhoff said people could reach the beach on foot across the sand.
- Start from the top of Point Dume. State Parks offers free two-hour parking at the top of the headland. Spaces are very limited, and parking isn't allowed on residential streets. There's some disabled parking on Cliffside Drive, next to the bluff-top park.
- Take Metro. LA County lists Metro Bus 534 at the Cliffside/Dume stop.
If you're going for dinner, Sunset Restaurant manager Franco Simplicito told The Malibu Times in August that the restaurant was open and customers could use its parking lot during the first closure. The road past Sunset has been damaged again since then, so it's best to call before you count on that lot.
The Headland Trail Ahead of Whale Season
The Point Dume Nature Preserve trail starts at the cul-de-sac at the end of Westward Beach Road. It climbs gradually up an ancient sand dune on the bluff, and State Parks asks hikers to stay on the trail to protect it. On a clear day, the view from the top takes in all of Santa Monica Bay, the north Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains and Catalina Island. Just below the summit, a boardwalk leads to a viewing platform that's usually more sheltered when it's windy.
That platform is also where gray whale season starts. State Parks says Point Dume is a great place to watch California gray whales during their migration, which runs from December to mid-April. Those are the same months the forecast calls for the highest tides, so whale watchers may well be parking along Westward Beach and walking in, with the beach lot still closed to cars below them.
For longtime Point Dume homeowners, a beach access road under repair raises practical questions about how the neighborhood is used and valued day to day, and those questions deserve a careful answer. If you'd like to talk through what this winter's access changes mean for your plans, Pence Hathorn Silver is glad to share what we're seeing up and down the Malibu coast. Schedule a Free Consultation.
