Malibu beach is famous for its collection of the homes of the wealthy, it also has a road like the M4 running right behind the beach as do many of the beaches on the Pacific coast. Contrast this with the British beach which might be signposted from a small country road not as wide as many of the cars out here. The woooden signpost may not tell you that it might be a mile or so trek to the beach with some rock scrambling in places and when you get there it will be charming and without any facilities. It’s a beach for heavens sake, not a theme park. You’re meant to make the effort to get there and to take all necessary survival gear, like a thermos of hot tea and egg sandwiches, with you.

Most beaches on the Californian coast have parking lots for you and you simply step out of there onto the sands. The only beach hut you might find is occupied by fit tanned people with binoculars looking out to the heads and bodies bobbing in the waves waiting to ride the surf. The lifeguard huts are present on most beaches and are generally to the same design as this pictured here.

Facilities in the area, apart from a 5 lane highway, are cafes and lavatories, fast food outlets ( you may have to cross the 5 lane highway ) and shops selling all things surf related.

There’s a pier too at Malibu, and that is in good order with fishermen ( it seems to be exclusively men ) whiling away the hours looking at the ocean. No concert party on this pier, but a gathering of media people filming a you tube video. I was told that the star is a well known ( and consequently very rich ) clown on a kids channels. There’s a very good restaurant on the pier too, no egg sandwiches here. Huge array of choice from big snacks to ginormous meals, there’s no such thing as small in these here parts.

A walk along the beach apres lunch and I find a wildlife area, beyond the surfers. A sort of lagoon with a wide array of bird life including pelicans. You could almost have been in Britain, save for the temperature in the mid 20s, though over here strange as it seems to us they still use Fahrenheit, so around 74 degrees.