The beach in Santa Barbara is very nice although it can be a struggle to find parking on busy days (like most CA beach towns). There are also the beaches in Goleta next to the university that are nice as well (about 10 minutes north of SB depending on traffic). There are also really great beaches north of the SB area as well (Pismo, Avila, etc.) If you do go to one in the SB area, I would bring nail polish remover with you. There are oil-drilling rigs of the coast of SB and the oil can wash up on the beaches. You will often come away with like oil spots on the bottom of your feet from walking on the beach. The acetone in the nail polish remover cleans it up. Have fun! I love Santa Barbara and their mission is one of the nicest in CA (it also helps that it was never taken away from the Catholic Church and sold to other people who let it run down like many other missions). The priests have kept everything up beautifully there and I love their cemetery - absolutely gorgeous!