Encinitas and North County Surf Towns: Swami's Point, Moonlight Beach and Highway 101

Continuing north from Del Mar and Solana Beach along historic Coast Highway 101, North County unfolds as a classic chain of Southern California surf towns: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. Listed among the greatest surf towns in the world by National Geographic, Encinitas captures the soul of coastal California with its golden lotus towers overlooking acclaimed point breaks, retro 1920s neon welcome arches, hillside botanical gardens, and family bonfire beaches.

Swami's Beach, the Self-Realization Fellowship Gardens and Highway 101

As you enter southern Encinitas from Cardiff-by-the-Sea along Highway 101, three unmistakable white-and-gold lotus towers rise on the cliff edge above the ocean. Built in the 1930s by Indian yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, the Self-Realization Fellowship Hermitage and Meditation Gardens open their cliffside koi ponds, tropical paths, and silent ocean overlooks to the public free of charge (closed Mondays). Directly below the cliff garden lies Swami's Beach, immortalized in the Beach Boys' hit song "Surfin' U.S.A.", where a shaded bluff-top park and long wooden staircase lead down to one of the best right-hand reef point breaks in North America.

Walking ten minutes north into downtown Encinitas brings you beneath the landmark 1928 Encinitas Welcome Arch along Coast Highway 101. The five blocks between D and I Streets buzz with historic surf shops, vintage single-screen cinema La Paloma Theatre (opened in 1928 and one of the first theaters to show talking pictures), organic taco counters, and record stores. At the western foot of B and C Streets opens Moonlight State Beach, a wide sandy amphitheater equipped with free fire rings, volleyball courts, snack bars, and gentle family surf, while two miles inland on Quail Gardens Drive sits the thirty-seven-acre San Diego Botanic Garden, showcasing bamboo forests, desert succulents, and subtropical rainforest plants.

Leucadia, Carlsbad Village and the Spring Flower Fields

North of Moonlight Beach, Highway 101 runs under a canopy of towering eucalyptus trees through Leucadia (where steep wooden bluff stairs descend to hidden surfer coves at Beacon's and Grandview beaches) before entering Carlsbad. While families with young children know Carlsbad for the LEGOLAND California Resort and SEA LIFE Aquarium inland, coastal Carlsbad Village provides a charming walkable grid of cafés, murals, and a long flat beachfront promenade.

If you visit between March 1 and early May, do not miss The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, when fifty-five acres of hillside overlooking the ocean burst into striped rainbows of Giant Tecolote ranunculus blossoms.

Oceanside Pier and Riding the Coaster Train

At the northern tip of the county sits Oceanside, anchored by the long wooden span of the Oceanside Municipal Pier, the California Surf Museum, and the restored 19th-century Victorian beach cottage serialized as the "Top Gun House" (High-Pie shop) right across from the sand. The easiest way to explore the North County coast is aboard the NCTD Coaster commuter train from downtown San Diego, which stops directly in central Encinitas, Carlsbad Village, and Oceanside just blocks from the beach.