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 Waterfront Beaches Santa Barbara |
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WATERFRONT/BEACHES
The focal point of the waterfront, the area from the freeway to the beach, is Stearns Wharf. Shops and restaurants line the Wharf, including the Harbor Restaurant, originally opened by Ronald Coleman in 1941 and at one point purchased by another movie star, James Cagney. At the west end of the waterfront is the harbor, the center of the City's commercial fishing industry and a rendezvous for the yachting crowd. The ocean-facing side of Cabrillo is dotted with hotels boasting a superb Santa Barbara ocean view. Palm Park, which runs the length of Cabrillo, is the place to go for a stroll (there is an outdoor arts and crafts exhibition almost every Sunday). The bike path attracts rollerskaters, cyclers, skateboarders and joggers. Some of the world's finest volleyball players can be seen in action on East Beach. The Cabrillo Arts Center, the Bird Refuge and the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens are all located in this vicinity. NO, THE SUN DOES NOT RISE A newcomer to Santa Barbara might swear that the sun rises in the south. However, there is an explanation for this apparent madness. From Alaska to Cape Horn the entire length of the western hemisphere's Pacific Coast there is only one stretch of east-west shoreline: the 60-mile length from Point Conception to Carpinteria. So Santa Barbara's beaches actually face south, not west (like the rest of the California coastline). And that is what accounts for the disorienting Santa Barbara sunrise. But it is this unique southerly exposure, along with the east-west direction of the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Santa Barbara, plus the shelter offered by the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara's coast, that contributes to the City's celebrated Mediterranean climate. |