Butterfly Beach
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
36 reviews for Butterfly Beach
36 reviews in English
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Review from Joanna T.
San Jose, CA
9/19/2011
This is the most beautiful beach I've seen in Califorina, and I've been to many. Except that pretty one I always see when I drive by San Luis. But yeah, it has wonderful ledges that you can sit on or walk on. There's not a lot of sand, so I guess it's not good if you want to run around and play on the beach a lot. But it's long and has an amazing view, as well as beautiful hotels and mansions all around it.
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Review from Anthony C.
Cupertino, CA
12/12/2011 1 photo
Nice secluded beach with cliche landscaping.
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Review from Erica S.
9/10/2011
Came here for a friend's wedding and it was a perfect place for a sunset wedding! Parking can be hard to find so come early.
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Review from Mikey J.
1/18/2011
Gorgeous beach!
Sand is soft and there are great sights along the beach (including the Four Seasons Biltmore). Also, sometimes there will be some excitement (we saw a fire blocks away the day we went)! Plus, and I'm not sure if Chicago or medical school has dropped my standards, but the slim and tan California women laying out along the beach are lovely as well. Oh, Santa Barbara I love you!
Would get 5 stars, but parking can be a b*tch for this beach.
Be sure to check out the shrine in the meadow about 100 yards south from the Four Seasons! -
Review from Andrew W.
Los Angeles, CA
9/18/2011
Great sunset, gentle waves for kids, lots of little sand crabs (harmless) feeding in the surf.
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Review from anh l.
San Diego, CA
8/22/2011
Awesome beach, you can rent out those big bike thingees and explore!, Fun, Nice Weather. Gorgeous. 2nd best to San Diego, Parking SUCKS.
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Review from Lynette T.
Hidden Hills, CA
9/6/2010
(Post 2/5 on our "Get the heck out of LA for a day" road trip)
Lovely beach! We wished we had come later in the day to catch the sunset. From looking at other peoples' pics, it looks to be a stunning view!
Very dog-friendly here too! We were regretting leaving our little Weezer at home.
We had come straight from the Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden and saw many Monarch Butterflies there. I had a vision in my noggin that we'd be seeing many more at this beach. It's got to be named Butterfly Beach for this reason, right? Aw well, we enjoyed our brief visit.
I am pea-green with envy because the local beaches in the LA area are so..............not as lovely (polite wording here).Listed in: Places to go, things to…
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Review from Christopher J.
Santa Barbara, CA
11/25/2011
By far my favorite beach in SB. This is coming from someone who lives a block from Hendry's! Butterfly is the best place to catch a sunset or to go late at night. Weekdays are pretty empty. Weekends can be packed during the summer! Get there early these days to find parking, as you might end up having to walk a good distance. Will also be tough finding a spot to lounge.
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Review from Kayla V.
Westminster, CA
11/7/2008
Why I thought a picnic on the beach would be romantic beats me. By the time I got to the beach, it was 80 degrees and I'm wearing jeans and a sweater. I was literally sweating on my pasta =(
Comfortableness aside, Butterfly Beach is gorgeous. No oil rigs, no light polls, no strip malls obstructing your view of the waters. Unlike the beaches in LA, I didn't see any crazy homeless people or trash cluttered around. Just white sand, palm tress, and the water (no seaweed!). A beautiful beach - but I wouldn't rate this as the best in California (Pebble Beach is!).
Google maps the Four Seasons since it's across the street from the beach. I had no problem finding free parking. Dog friendly. -
Review from Dza D.
3/20/2010
Tourst alert - worst beach in SB.
Stay far away, nothing exciting.
Matter if fact, I can't recommend this to anyone....
Yeah....it's awful.....I hear Goleta beach is awesome....You should check that one out. -
Review from ElisaBeth S.
Lancaster, CA
8/11/2010
Pretty beach right across from the beautiful Four Seasons Biltmore.
You can run on the beach, or walk above it on the paved sidewalk, or enjoy the view sitting on the wall (or even go wandering around the Blitmore like we did)
Don't forget your well behaved dog! Its an off the leash beach :) -
Review from Jim P.
Palo Alto, CA
2/8/2010
This is where I take out-of-towners when they want to experience a breathtaking Santa Barbara beach. It's usually bustling with activity, ranging from walkers, people running with their dogs, high school kids playing around, even the occasional DJ daytime party. It also has some of the best sunsets around, and later in the day makes for a great moonlight walk with a special someone.
With the Biltmore across the way, you can hop by for a nibble or a drink after you're done, which is handy. Thank goodness beaches are public land in CA, unlike some other states! -
Review from Noah S.
Seal Beach, CA
6/9/2011
Gorgeous stretch of sand along the California Riviera. I ran into Anthony Kiedis, Kylie Minogue, Boyd Tinsley, and Julia Lois-Dreyfus. I have only seen famous people here, no butterflies though.
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Review from Lise L.
Oakland, CA
4/4/2007
One of my best memories ever was one particular afternoon at Butterfly Beach - watching the dolphins swim by, lying in the sun with friends, taking a dip in the warm water and actually not getting covered in tar.
Heaven!Listed in: Santa Barbara Favorites
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Review from Angeline D.
Long Island City, Queens, NY
4/21/2009
Being near a beach most of my life, I would like to go out on a limb and say that this is seriously one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to, ever.
My boyfriend and I enjoyed a lovely break from sightseeing here, and it was very romantic despite it being relatively hot. The beach was clean, no oil rigs in sight, no huge crowd of 909 tourists *insert HB native laugh here*, and a beautiful view of the clean water. Wished we could've watched the sun set at this beach before we left SB.
Parking was relatively easy for being a Saturday afternoon; we found spots along the road and walked less than a few minutes to the beach. Dog-friendly beach, but still very clean (as they always are). Use Google maps to help you locate the beach -- we looked up the Four Seasons Biltmore in Montecito, as it was across the street from the beach.
Highly recommended for a romantic date!
Oh, I've heard that celebrity sightings are common here. Didn't see anybody famous, but who cares when you've got the most handsome man cuddling with you while wiping sweat off your brow from the heat? :) -
Review from X R.
Griffith Park/Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA
10/20/2006
Oh so beautiful... Emphassis on beautiful (Typo here but works! Brilliant!!) Surreal beach in Santa Barbara. If possible, I highly recommend some Bud Light Tall Cans (You don't want to deal with bottles). Although it is illegal to drink on this beach, people do it all the time, just move underneath the cliffs to the right when you walk up so you'll have some time and they'll bust the other people first. And bring your guitar:
"Hmm Jenny, where should we sit?"
-"Let's sit by that guy playing guitar" -
Review from D. R.
Malibu, CA
6/16/2008
Great for a light lunch snack and gaze at the wondrous prism of nature and earth, the sands of sweet America, I love the light that springs up and into the eyes of the person you are taking a picture of .....literally, or maybe, just your mind.
Yes, handle with care. Travel light. And may the wind guide your back and hold your dreams above fate. -
Review from Jenna C.
8/30/2009
We went to Butterfly Beach on a rare 90+ degrees day in Santa Barbara, and it was semi-crowded but our overall experience was good. The beach was very clean, but the water was freezing. The water at this beach has a lot of seaweed, but much less than Goleta Beach which is a plus. Some attempted to surf, but the waves broke pretty close to the water. Casey enjoyed jumping in the waves, and I enjoyed relaxing in the sun.
Make sure to bring your own water, food, umbrellas, etc., because as many say, this is a "locals beach," so there are no amenities like bathrooms or tables - just sand and water! -
Review from jessica z.
Brooklyn, NY
5/13/2008
This is very much a locals beach. Probably because its so damn hard to find. And despite the fact that I used to live 3 blocks from another sand and ocean water filled locale, I always drove 20 minutes to get to Butterfly because its just so much better than everything else in the area.
The beaches of Goleta are filled with college students, and the beaches of Santa Barbara around the pier are filled with bugs, tourists, volleyball players and have dirty sand.
Butterfly (which is in Montecito) is everything the other beaches are not. It can be hard to find and parking is often painful. But butterfly beach is one of those rare beaches where you can bring the family or you can bring the leftover keg and nobody cares. The sand and the water are clean. And I might just pack up my towels and be there before dawn tomorrow morning. -
Review from Douglas K.
Marin County, CA
9/6/2008
HELLO. I'm here to review Butterfly Beach, in Santa Barbara (CA).
My girlfriend (whom I love very much) and I just returned from Butterfly Beach. We had seen the effusive enthusiasm all over Yelp for this "best beach on the West Coast".
We arrived at evening, with a low-hanging sun still giving its warmth. We found the beach certainly pleasant, enjoyable, and beachy.
However, 5-star-status it cannot deserve. There were a number of swarthy locals huddled around a thumping dj/turntable setup on one end of the beach -- they were blasting horrific techno pulses that we couldn't get out of our brains.
Lest you think us curmudgeons, we are ourselves young and vibrant and good-looking and open to the occasional beach party. This was not the only factor in the one-star markdown, however -- the beach itself was narrow, lacking in stunning vistas or extraordinary privacy, and overall was enjoyable, but not spectacular.
Thank you very much, and I hope you will read more of my reviews in the future. Just search for "Douglas K.". That's me!
Douglas K. -
Review from Tricia E.
5/30/2010
If you're going to the beach in Santa Barbara, then Butterfly Beach is probably the best place to go! This is my favorite beach in the area, because it's well-maintained and generally peaceful. The views are breathtaking and the sand is pristine. It's very difficult to be in a bad mood when you're here, it's just that nice of a place! This is a great place for a relaxing sunset stroll.
Listed in: Happy! My Ultimates, Santa Barbara!
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Review from Alex J.
Santa Barbara, CA
2/5/2010
Just a heads up to everyone. The beach is gone right now. The recent storm came in and sucked all the sand out to sea. Have no fear though, it'll be back over the next couple months as its washed back in.
When there is a beach this place is beautiful, however there is no surfing anywhere near here so don't bother strapping those boards on the car. Also the Biltmore Hotel is right across the street so if you're in the mood to drop $70 on brunch you can do so with a view of the beach and nearby cliffs. -
Review from Jennifer T.
Long Beach, CA
5/18/2009
Sorry to go against the grain, folks, and, maybe I went on a bad overcast gloomy day... but, what is the big deal? The view isn't that great, there weren't that many people or dogs for that matter. The sand isn't all that... this beach is small... there are HUGE tangles of seaweed all over the damn place, hmm... maybe I need to come back to re-evaluate when it's a lot warmer.
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Review from Matthew J.
Palos Verdes, CA
9/19/2010 1 Check-in Here
Nice beach in front of some very nice homes. We couldn't figure out how to drive down so we just parked and walked down. Nice stroll past mounds of lantana plants filled with butterflies. It was a foggy day but I can see why people love this place.
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Review from Holly M.
Costa Mesa, CA
9/26/2007 1 photo
I have lived in Orange County my whole life surrounded by Newport and Laguna beach and nothing compares to this beach. This definitely has to be the most beautiful beach in California. The locals come out at night and are great to talk to and everyone brings there dogs to play in the water. Local photgraphy students use the beach for photoshoots and the atmosphere is just surreal and something out of a movie. I can not say enough good things about this place.
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Review from Alita M.
San Francisco, CA
7/15/2008
Perfect sand. Little or no breeze. A tree to take cover under, if necessary. Right next to the Biltmore, so you don't get the gross beach bums and trash everywhere. Minimal tar deposits (a curse in Santa Barbara) and overall my number one tanning spot every summer.
Listed in: When in Santa Barbara...
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Review from Adrienne D.
Los Angeles, CA
5/14/2008
Beautiful beach, beautiful name...My college roommate actually got married on this beach in an impromptu ceremony. Across the street is the tony Four Seasons resort, it's a very upscale, peaceful beach.
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Review from David A.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2009
This is my favorite beach. It seems every time I go here I mostly see Golden Retrievers, not sure why but it makes it all that more interesting. One of the best benefits of this beach is that it's not as crowded as the one more downtown.
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Review from Brad R.
San Diego, CA
12/20/2008
I've spent my life in San Diego, one of those scenic, picturesque photo magnet/postcard sorta places, and I still have no problem finding beauty in my city's landscapes.
That said, Butterfly Beach is kinda ridiculously gorgeous. A small strip of sand hidden away from any major road, no surf to speak of due to the Channel Islands keeping it quiet, plenty of free parking, seems to be devoid of the homeless that mob State Street, and at sundown is the sort of place at which you wouldn't mind having a heart attack and dying if it meant the view being your last sight.
Also, take the bike route south from the wharf, and when you come around the cemetery and see the hill, keep going - my girl and I went this way not exactly sure if the bike path was going to lead to the beach, and the site of a hill for an out of shape guy like myself on a bike too low to the ground was enough to get me to turn around. We drove around there later in the day and approached it from the south, and not until we left the beach and headed north did we realize how close we were to the beach on our bikes. Lush greenery on the car and bike path just north of the beach/cemetery if you're in to that stuff, too. -
Review from Rock H.
Santa Barbara, CA
12/30/2009
Come here if you're looking for a fun and busy atmosphere. Good for people watching and drinking with friends. Not so good for quiet walks and romance. When tide is high there's dramatically less beach.
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Review from Jennifer S.
San Diego, CA
12/18/2009
breathtaking, but i am biased.
i'm a so cal girl at heart who absolutely loves beaches, sunsets, and more... and even though i've lived along the coast from santa monica, sf, newport to sd, i have to say, nothing beats SD beaches...
BUT ...
it definitely is a must go place when one is in sb...Listed in: BEST Beaches of So Cal
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Review from yes p.
San Francisco, CA
1/11/2010
shhhhhhhh
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Review from Ed O.
Setauket- East Setauket, NY
9/4/2010
Beautiful views, clean Montecito family beach, sheltered and a little hard to find. It's helpful if you live or are renting nearby because there are no restrooms on the beach itself. An alcohol ban is enforced but some couples can be seen trying to circumvent it by imbibing discretely from paper cups. Dog friendly. Occasional celebrity sightings.
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Review from Rick R.
Tiburon, CA
9/25/2006
Possibly the best beach on the West Coast.
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Review from Leslie S.
Oakland, CA
12/8/2008
Great beach as long as it isn't high tide :)
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Review from Pedro A.
Santa Barbara, CA
1/19/2010
best beach ever, nice place to get away to.
