Goleta Point (also known as Campus Point) is a small

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

on the central coast in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located southwest of the city of

Goleta Goleta or La Goleta may refer to: * ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus * Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County * La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...

. The point forms an extension into

Santa Barbara Channel The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Count ...

and is situated within the campus of

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

(UCSB). It is characterized by a beach cliff, crashing waves, and a view of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. The rock formation is frequented by

shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

History

From 1870 to 1890, Goleta Point was used as a whaling camp, with Italian and Portuguese crews situated at the locale. Goleta Point contained a defunct

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Santa Barbara Air Station when it was purchased in 1950 by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. The site is now known as Campus Point. The

Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that protects the waters along and off the coast of the University of California, Santa Barbara, the student community of Isla Vista, and the University's Coal Oil Poin ...

was established in 2012.

Geography

Goleta Point, located west of

Santa Barbara Point Santa Barbara Point also known as Point Felipe is a cape in Santa Barbara County, California. It has an elevation of , located on Leadbetter Beach, in Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a ...

, terminates in a cliff about in height.

Coal Oil Point The Coal Oil Point seep field (COP) in the Santa Barbara Channel offshore from Goleta, California, is a marine petroleum seep area of about three square kilometres, within the Offshore South Ellwood Oil Field and stretching from the coastline so ...

is west of Goleta Point. The

Isla Vista Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. As of 2020 census, the community had a population of 15,500. The majority of residents are college students at t ...

community is located between Goleta Point and Coal Oil Point. From Goleta Point to

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north-s ...

, , the coast is more rugged than further east. A rock projecting lies in the ocean, west of Goleta Point. The point is west of the

Santa Barbara Light Santa Barbara Lighthouse was a lighthouse in California, United States, on the Santa Barbara Harbor, California. History When Santa Barbara Lighthouse was established on December 1, 1856, it was typical of the other pioneer West Coast lights, ...

. Goleta (Mores) Landing, east of Goleta Point, has a depth of at the end of the wharf. The Goleta Pier is located about from this point; from the pier, the university campus is to the west. Goleta Point is on sheltered stretch of the coast line which is not affected by the westerly and northwesterly winds. The water is clean. Goleta point is said to contain one of Santa Barbara's best

surf break Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web brows ...

s. The break conditions are dependent entirely on the wind direction, direction of the swell, and the tide can create unfavorable conditions. But generally, waves generated in a southwest direction are head high and to a slightly medium height. During an above-average break point "swell wells up to create a solid face that has a wide peak." During low and medium tide periods, the rides can be of longer duration provided the tide does not bounce back from the

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Landforms of Santa Barbara County, California Peninsulas of California Goleta, California University of California, Santa Barbara