What is Malibu? Its a magical fantasy place, famous for bikinis, starlets, surfers, mere millionaires and the serious money billionaires, where the famous faces of top celebrities are seen on locations featured endlessly in films and on TV. Its the place where you expect to see the rich and famous, driving expensive luxury cars, dressed in the latest latest, having it all in their mansions by the sea.
Malibu can deliver on that star-studded vision, but it is also a very real southern California community where regular people live and work. And its a destination for millions of tourists annually, who come to see for themselves what Malibu is or is not and to enjoy the shopping, dining, recreation and entertainment while they visit.
Malibu Beach Life
The beach along the Malibu Coast is the focus of activity almost every day of the year. Summer, winter, it doesn't matter much in the California sunshine. Although January temps along the water can be chilly, you can still do something at the beach in Malibu year round.
Malibu beach activities are endless, continually evolving to include new sports and old: wind-surfing, para-surfing as well as plain old swimming or just walking to observe and absorb. Here is a rundown of the most popular activities and events centered on the beach or Malibu waters.
- Malibu Beach Sunbathing
- Malibu Surfing
- Diving from Malibu Beaches
- Malibu Fishing (Sea)
- Boating from Malibu
- Malibu Volleyball on the Beach
- Malibu Beach Walking
- Malibu Beach Nature Walks
The mystic allure of the beach attracts artists who find ways to express the deep connection to beach and ocean felt by most everyone, the connection that explains some of the fascination with Malibu. The album 'Zuma' by artist Paul Harryn puts you on the Malibu beach with photos, surf sounds and music.
Geography and Landscape of Malibu
Around 30 million years ago, the interaction between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate shifted from a direct collision to a lateral sliding motion. This area of movement, stretching almost the entire length of California, is known as the San Andreas Fault. As a result of this lateral slip, the sea floor along the edge of the North American Plate folded and buckled, giving rise to the Coast and Transverse Ranges, which are formed from the compressed and twisted sediments of the ocean floor.
The Transverse Ranges are the only east-west-trending ranges in California. The Santa Monica Mountain Range, which is the southernmost of the Transverse Ranges, is 46 miles long and averages 7.5 miles in width. The geologic structure of the Santa Monica Mountains is exceedingly complex after tens of millions of years of often violent geologic activity, evidenced by many ancient volcanoes and a long history of earthquakes. The main mass of the Santa Monica Mountains is comprised of complex folded and faulted structures of Late Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years bp) through Middle Miocene (approximately 18 million years bp) as well as sedimentary and volcanic rocks. This complex structure was caused by major thrust faulting, and was made more complex by localized faulting.
In the eastern, upper-most reaches of the mountains, a wide valley floor consisting of Holocene alluvium up to 60 feet deep overlies and is surrounded by Miocene Conjeo volcanics. The middle northern reaches of the mountains are Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments. Shallow alluvium fills in the relatively steep canyons. Tertiary basaltic and andesitic flows, pillow breccias, intrusives, and dikes are found in the eastern reaches of the watershed. Malibu Canyon cuts through Tertiary sandstones, siltstones, and breccias interbedded with Tertiary volcanics. Quaternary landslides occur throughout the watershed but are especially noticeable near the coast and in the Cold Creek subwatershed.
The Malibu area is a rare coastal Mediterranean ecosystem, found in few parts of the world.
Malibu's Wealthy People
There are many residents of Malibu who are wealthy. Measured against national averages, Malibu's population is off the charts as is the cost of living here, considering the price of housing. This section of MalibuComplete.com is about the top of that pyramid, the wealthy who are wealthier than most, even in Malibu. These are not ordinary celebrities, rather they are primarily successful business people who have made extraordinary amounts of money by building very successful busniesses that grew to enormous size and value. Most on the the list came from either the entertainment industry, real estate development, or finance.
- A. Jerrold Perenchio
- Jerry Bruckheimer
- Marcy Carsey
- Lloyd E. Cotsen
- Jamie and Frank McCourt
- Barry Diller
- John Paul DeJoria
- Michael Eisner
- Lawrence Joseph 'Larry' Ellison
- Bradley Wayne Hughes
Movie & TV Locations in Malibu
The first recorded use of Malibu as a loation for a film was in 1926 when Warner Bros. was given permission to use a beach in Malibu for their film "Across the Pacific" about the U.S. Army in the Philippines, starring Myrna Loy. Ever since then, Malibu has been the star (or at least had a supporting role) in more feature movies, TV shows and commercials, music videos, magazine covers, and commercial photography than can ever be fully documented.
In Malibu, film crews are so common that their presence often goes unnoticed. On most days, a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) will likely reveal one or more active filming locations. The City of Malibu, on average, issues around 500 filming permits annually, a statistic based on data from the year 2000. Over the years, Malibu has served as the backdrop for an astounding number of TV shows and movies, including recent productions like *Baywatch*, *Diagnosis Murder*, *Terminator 2*, and *Lethal Weapon 4*. Thanks to its diverse scenic spots, close proximity to Los Angeles, and familiarity among talent and location scouts, Malibu has become a natural choice for countless film projects.
Malibu is full of recognizable locations, such as the "MTV Party House", a state-owned property built in the 1960s, on a bluff overlooking the ocean on 11 acres straddling the L.A./Ventura County line. Besides filming for the MTV series, the house was featured in the 2000 film "Cast Away" starring Tom Hanks, and in the television series "Melrose Place." While Malibu is naturally the location for beach/surf movies and "Malibu's Most Wanted", Hollywood has converted Malibu locales into Cape Cod, Tarzan's jungles, MASH's Korea, the Planet of the Apes and many more far flung sites as well as the expected Old West.
Significant locations in Malibu include these, with more added all the time:
- Malibu Creek State Park
- Paramount Ranch
- Westward Beach
- Surfrider Beach
- Malibu Mansions
- Homes on the Beach
- Mountain Roads
