Volleyball isn’t common at Leadbetter Beach, but here it provides a foreground to surfers and Wet Wednesday boats. 
Santa Barbara’s Madeline Dippel finishes as the top female in a recent Nite Moves 5K run. 
Michael Lewis, right, leads his Leadbetter Beach Park yoga class in a pose. 
Rowing teams provide a backdrop for Leadbetter Beach surfers waiting for their wave. 
Nite Moves swimmers take the plunge at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara. 
Nite Moves 5K runners near the finish line. 
Yoga instructor Michael Lewis demonstrates a pose. He leads the class on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:15 p.m. and Sundays at 11:15 a.m.
[Noozhawk’s note: This is the latest in a series of articles on the myriad of recreational activities along the Santa Barbara waterfront. Click here for the complete series index.]
For an accidental beach, Leadbetter sure sees a lot of action.
The Leadbetter Beach we see today, stretching eastward from where it tucks into the cliffs of Shoreline Park, didn’t start forming until the breakwater was built off the Santa Barbara Harbor to the east in the late 1920s.
The breakwater, which keeps harbor waters calm and doubles as a scenic promenade, disrupts the natural flow of sand in ocean currents.
With nowhere to go, sand created a beach where once ocean water lapped 200-300 feet closer to the Mesa cliffs that Santa Barbara City College is built on, according to Santa Barbara historian and author Neal Graffy.
Sand also settled in the new harbor, requiring dredging, and created West Beach.
Folks began populating that accidental beach and adjacent grassy areas with ever-expanding uses. Activities at Leadbetter Beach includes sunbathing, picnics, events, yoga classes, surfing, jogging, ocean swimming, kite surfing and more.
On summer Wednesday evenings, Leadbetter hosts one of Santa Barbara’s premier sports parties — the popular Nite Moves Summer Sunset Series, running through Aug. 25.
The event features ocean swims, a 5K run, aqualthons, kids’ runs, and a post-exertion party including Firestone beer, catered food and live music — all included in the entry fee of $25, a price that’s held for years.
“It’s the best bang for your buck,” said organizer Jay Campbell, who has been involved with the event since its beginning in 1993.
“We wanted the community to have a place for friends and family to enjoy running and make it fun and keep it affordable,” Campbell said. “That’s been the goal and it’s true to this day. We have third generations that are here.”
Nite Moves attracts elite athletes training for triathlons and UCSB water polo seasons, among many others, Campbell said, as well as regular folks of all ages (and sometimes their dogs) looking to get in shape, with a fun, social event to boot.
“By having it every week, it’s a great way to measure your progress,” Campbell said. “And so it’s a motivator, too. Of course, you want to try to beat your time every week and get that personal best.”
Participants missed last year’s Covid-canceled season, and so did Campbell, who makes a business of running this and several other local fitness events.
So he’s happy to see strong participation in Nite Moves’ comeback season, with 300 to 500 — and as many as 800 — participants.
Surfing
The mesa of Shoreline Park juts out seaward from Leadbetter Beach, and on good days that geography helps create a long, gentle surf break particularly popular with beginning surfers.
City Parks and Recreation hosts a surf camp for youngsters there in the summer, given by a third-party provider that furnishes surfboards, wet suits and travel.
In addition, the Carpinteria-based school Surf Happens finds Leadbetter a good learning locale, too.
“It's a great break for lessons with its easy access from downtown Santa Barbara, ample parking and peeling point break wave offering an ideal learning wave,” said Jenny Keet of Surf Happens.
Even for those moving on to more challenging waves at Rincon Point and beyond, Leadbetter remains a fond memory to revisit.
“Leadbetter was one of the go-to spots for me growing up,” said Blake Dorfman, dean of students at Laguna Blanca School. “The waves there are mainly gentle and surfable on the smallest of days. I’ve had a couple of big days there, but for the most part, it is an ideal beginner’s wave.
“Also, with it being so close to the heart of town, it’s sort of like our Waikiki — a gentle, fun wave for all ages right in the middle of the action.”
Yoga
Michael Lewis has led yoga classes at Leadbetter for more than 10 years, on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:15 p.m. and Sundays at 11:15 a.m. The classes are on a drop-in, donation basis. The certified yoga instructor also teaches privately and at Gold’s Gym.
Regulars enjoy his engaging manner and sense of humor, along with his yoga expertise.
He still offers a zoom simulcast, as he did during the pandemic — for awhile, he hosted the zoom session from home.
“I absolutely love it, everything about it,” said Rachel Ziemer, 34, a Santa Barbara native who moved back to town last year. She’s been doing yoga about 15 years, and returning to town during a pandemic, there were no indoor yoga studio options.
“He’s silly, he’s fun, he makes it very inviting for beginners, and I love that,” she said. “I think yoga should be available to everybody, and I love that he is very welcoming and open to new yogis.”
And “it’s still a wonderful class” for experienced practitioners such as herself.
“And look where we’re at,” she added, gesturing to the beach and sea.
After the down dog, the cat cow, and many other poses, the sessions end with a meditation.
For Stuart Goldfarb, who drives up from Camarillo, the class has been a restorative after losing his wife last year following a lengthy illness during which he cared for her. His wife, as Adrienne Golday, wrote books on spiritual matters.
“We were very blessed,” he said. “I was married 51 years, and we were a fit. And we got lucky. When she was born, the spirit came down and said, ‘Adrienne, it’s a shopping spree.’
“My mother died when I was a teenager, and when she was on her deathbed, she called me over and she said, ‘I want you to live, I want you to travel, I want you to have the best. Don’t hold back.’
“So the two of us found each other,” he said of Adrienne.
They traveled, and they loved Santa Barbara.
As he takes in the yoga surroundings, Goldfarb said:
“It’s beautiful here. We have breezes, openness — it lends itself to the atmosphere of what we do.”
— Noozhawk correspondent Dennis Moran can be reached at sports@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.