Encinitas

Encinitas, CA: Five Communities Along Six Miles Of Coast

Encinitas runs along six miles of Pacific coastline in northern San Diego County. The city incorporated in 1986. It formed from five historically distinct communities. A July 2025 Census Bureau estimate counts about 60,736 residents. Coastal bluffs back much of the shoreline.

Those five communities are Old Encinitas, New Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Olivenhain, and Leucadia. Each keeps its own character. Leucadia leans toward beach cottages. Olivenhain stays rural. The City of Encinitas describes the mix as old world charm alongside new world culture.

Surfing shapes daily life here. Swami’s is among the named breaks that draw regulars. Moonlight Beach sits closer to downtown. The Self Realization Fellowship Encinitas Hermitage opened in 1937 and keeps meditation gardens above the water. The San Diego Botanic Garden holds what it calls the largest bamboo collection on display anywhere.

San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve is the largest coastal wetland in San Diego County. Nearly 300 bird species have been recorded there. MiraCosta College keeps its San Elijo Campus in Cardiff by the Sea. The city economic development office counts about 8,200 businesses employing more than 41,000 people. Most of that activity lines the Coast Highway 101 corridor and the North Coast Business Park.

Surf shops, boutiques, and sidewalk cafes fill the historic downtown stretch. Cyclovia Encinitas closes Coast Highway 101 to cars on the third Sunday in May. The Encinitas Holiday Parade follows the same road each December. Dog Days of Summer arrives on the first Sunday in August. Sunday concerts run at Moonlight Beach through July and August.