The Names of Beaches

Mostly they come from the street that ends there, like T Street at the end of Trafalgar, like Riviera at the end of Riviera. But they might be named after a famous local, like Doheny, who built a town in 1920. Or after an obvious landmark, like Cotton’s Point, which floats above the sand and holds up the mansion Richard Nixon used to own. Or Trestles, where Santa Mateo Creek creeps under the tracks to meet the sea. South of here, below where Paramahansa Yogananda built a center for the study of quiet, someone named the beach Swami’s, and it stuck.

A name can get too general, like Malibu, which really refers to miles and miles of sand, and maybe only then to keep the property values up. In San Diego, the Silver Strand separates Mission Bay from the ocean, and Coronado from the city of Imperial Beach, but as a name it refers to too much, perhaps eight miles, of real estate. The best names are the local ones, names that refer to a stretch no more than a hundred or so yards before one word yields to another:

Pocket
Aliso
Camel Point
1000 Steps
Salt Creek
Dana Harbor
Swim
Doheny
Capistrano Park
Poche
North
Mariposa Point
Linda Lane
Corto Lane
San Clemente City
T Street
Boca
Lost Winds
Riviera
Calafia
San Clemente State Park
Cotton’s Point
Trestles
San Onofre