Mark - maybe in Maryland that is true but in California there is no restriction for the beach. What can be done is that; they (those who own the land adjacent to the beach can) restrict the access to that land, but not the beach.

Case and Point - in Ventura, CA I can launch my cat from the public launch ramp, land it on the "kiddy beach" party all day, leave the beach, go back to the ramp, haul boat out on go. What I can't do, is drive onto the dirt lot adjacent to the beach, set up, roll boat to the water and go, unless of course we have a permit to run a regatta with boogles of liability insurance.

The issue we have here is to many frigging lawyers looking to make a quick buck and many of the governing agencies that restrict the access to the beach afraid of being sued.

Glad to hear the area on the main beach in Santa Cruz is still cat friendly as I am still trying to get the Ventura Harbor District to open an area for beach storing and launching of boats.