Oceano Dunes & Central Coast Area Information
Pismo Beach Tourism
Oceano Dunes / Coastal Dunes
Oceano Dunes is recognized by scientists, conservationists, government agencies, and the public as the finest, most extensive coastal dunes remaining in California. Most of the materials which form the dunes has been carried down to the ocean by various rivers and creeks, or deposited by ocean currents and then shaped by the wind into the dunes that we see today.
The prevailing winds that blow in from the ocean push sand particles up into wave-like crests that run north and south. On the west, or the "windward" side, the slope is gentle. On the east, or the "leeward" side, the slope is quite steep. Sand grains, as they are blown over the dune crest, tend to accumulate high on the leeward slope, slip down the slope as thin tongues of sand. For this reason the leeward slope is called a "slipface.
