ATTENTION!! CLOSURE UPDATE: Effective January 1, 2012, Point Dume north to Encinal Canyon Road will be designated a State Marine Conservation area with special regulations. Just south of Point Dume, Little Dume Cove is also named as a Marine Reserve and is a special closure area. Check the Department of Fish and Game website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/scmpas_list.asp for the new restrictions for these areas.
This week we wrap up the Zuma Beach series with an article about south Zuma Beach. 
Access to this area is via Westward Beach Road located just south of the entry to Zuma’s main beach. This is a one way road that ends a quarter of a mile from Point Dume, and it has plenty of convenient parking. You can also walk south of the road all the way to Point Dume if you wish.
As you work south from the main beach the shore line becomes steeper so it’s faster and easier to work through the surf. There can be stronger currents running parallel to the beach though, especially as you get closer to Point Dume. In fact, if you elect to dive off the point, make sure the current isn’t too strong, because if it is, you may have trouble returning to your entry at Zuma. Yes, I like to tow a float here too.
There are a scattering of clams, especially at the north end of this area, but not in the quantities found off the main beach. The main attraction is halibut. You’ll find a few shale and pebble outcroppings offshore just south of the end of the road in 20 to 30 feet of water, and these are good areas to hunt for halibut. I’ve had more consistent luck along the north beach than here, but this area isn’t too shabby, and it can produce large halibut at times.
There’s some interesting structure outside of the road’s end in 60 to 100 feet of water that can be accessed by boat. A series of low shelving ledges angles out to sea here, and there’s a nice population of calico bass that make this their home. Many years ago when it was legal we used to take limits of red and pink abalone along these ledges, too. When they were running fishing boats out of Malibu pier, this was one of their favorite haunts. It was called the Zuma Beach Oil Well because of a derrick on the hill behind Point Dume that was used as a landmark. Outside of this reef it was popular to drift for large sole in 150 to 200 feet of water. There’s a deep underwater canyon whose neck ends just outside the wash rocks off Point Dume that was also a popular rock cod fishing area. The north rim of the canyon has some rocky outcropping at 300 feet of water that produced well.
If you go further south around Point Dume you’ll be in a popular diving area called Little Dume Cove. There’s a steep access trail running from the road above the cove all the way down to the beach. The entry is over small rock and patchy sand, and it’s fairly easy unless the surf is up. The structure is rocky with a fair sized kelp bed. You can hunt for bass and halibut, but the scallops have long since been picked over. If you continue further south you’ll come to Paradise Cove where you can drive down to the beach. There is a parking fee, but it’s worth the convenience if you wish to dive there. This is also a good place to launch a kayak or small boat.