This view along the Pacific Coast Highway 1 shows off a beautiful view of Portuguese Beach. Like most beaches along the Sonoma Coastline, it is not recommended for swimming. Strong rip currents, heavy surf and ground swells have created a scenic beach vista, albeit a dangerous one.
The waves along this portion of the shoreline seldom approach straight on. Waves are usually directed and bent (refracted) by the shallow water beach bottom. Headlands that project out into the water are targets for wave erosion. These headlands are eventually changed into sea stacks, caves and sea arches. At Oxnard, California, geologists have measured more than 1.5 million tons of eroded sediment each year.