Best beaches in Southern California for every kind of beachgoer
Jalama Beach is in the middle of nowhere. More specifically, it’s at the end of a gorgeous 14-mile country road that veers west from Highway 1, which splits from U.S. 101 at the Gaviota Pass near Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. At the end of Jalama Road, you find a long, windswept beach, a 107-site campground with seven cabins and — this is important — the Jalama Beach Store. The store’s Jalama Burgers are a selling point for all of Santa Barbara County. The beach is big with skilled surfers (three breaks, intermediate and beyond), windsurfers and RVers. The varied shoreline, with bluffs and dunes, makes for great long walks. Now back to the burgers. Their secret sauce was created in the 1970s by the late Kathy Eittreim, whose widower, Don Eittreim, 89, still runs the store with help from daughter Linda Eittreim. When they started, “It was tough for a couple of years. No volume. We dipped into savings,” Don Eittreim recalled recently. “We didn’t have the campers in the winter months. Now we …
