Local Swims
Santa Barbara and Goleta offer more than 15 miles of beautiful coastline, all publicly accessible (thanks to the California Coastal Act), and except perhaps for the harbor entrance, all quite suitable for open water swimming.
If you are seeking other people to swim with, we suggest dropping in with one of the informal groups known to meet at the following times and places:
- Leadbetter Beach. Monday-Friday @ Noon
- Goleta Beach. Monday, Wednesday, Friday @ Noon.
- Butterfly Beach. Sunday @ 9:00am.
Please note: The SBCSA is not affiliated with any of these informal local swim groups. We don’t have any further information about them.
Semana Nautica
Semana Nautica is an annual summer sports festival in Santa Barbara since 1933. The festival schedule includes four ocean swimming races: a one-mile ocean swim, a three-mile ocean swim, a five-mile biathlon, and a six-mile “marathon” ocean swim.
The six-mile ocean swim is organized by SBCSA board member Jane Cairns, and is highly recommended as a “starter” marathon swim for someone building up to a channel swim such as Anacapa. Every SBCSA board member has participated at least once in this classic swim.
Reef & Run
Reef and Run is a weekly series of ocean swim races at East Beach in Santa Barbara - generally Thursday evenings from early June through late August. Swimmers can choose from three courses: 500m, 1km, or 1 mile. Live music and adult beverages follow each swim.
For more information, see their website or Facebook page.
Elsewhere in California
- Southern California Open Water Swim Calendar (via Marathon Swimmers Federation)
- Avila Beach Open Water - web , Facebook
- South End Rowing Club (San Francisco) - web
- Laguna Beach Open Water Swimming (LBOWS) - web