Hollister Ranch: Why It's Nearly Impossible to Surf
Hollister Ranch holds roughly 8.5 miles of some of California's most consistent point-break coastline — and almost none of it is reachable by the public, despite the beach itself legally belonging to everyone.
Quick Facts
- Public land access
- Still closed as of late 2025, despite decades of legal pressure
- Legal basis for access
- California's public trust doctrine guarantees the tideland itself is public
- How surfers actually get in
- By boat or by paddling in from the water, below the mean high tide line
- Current status
- State agencies are running an Environmental Impact Report and public workshops on future access options; no opening date has been set
Private land, public tideline
The Ranch itself is private property, split among a small number of landowners who have kept land-based access locked for decades. But California law is unambiguous that the shoreline below the mean high tide line belongs to the public, regardless of who owns the land behind it.
Why nothing has changed for years
A 2019 state law (AB 1680) required a public access plan by April 2022. That deadline came and went. As of late 2025, state officials are still in the environmental review and public-workshop phase, weighing options like a coastal trail, shuttle service, or limited vehicle access — with no confirmed timeline for when any of it opens.
How surfers actually surf it today
Since land access is blocked but the water itself isn't, the realistic way in is by boat, kayak, or a long paddle from adjacent public beach — which is exactly why the Ranch has stayed a small, quiet, boat-access-only lineup for so long.
The beach is public by law. Getting to it is the part nobody's solved yet.
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