The February "Where in CA is This?” was of course the view looking northwesterly towards the San Elijo Lagoon river mouth provided by Rick Coffman, PLS, President of Coffman Land in San Diego.

There were several winners, some based on local knowledge.

Seth M. Doherty, PLS 9183, of Latitude Surveying in Ventura recognized the San Elijo lagoon river mouth and "a fantastic surf spot!"

Second to answer was Andrew LaBine, PLS, of Praxis Land Surveying in Fresno who said, "This photo was taken in the approximate position shown on the attached kmz (Lat: 33° 0'57.44"N, Lon: 117°16'47.62"W). Closest streets are San Elijo Ave and Dublin Dr. between San Elijo State Beach and Cardiff State Beach.” He followed-up with his method, "I know the CA coastline pretty well from about San Onofre up to the bay area. Based on the palm trees I knew it was southern CA, and wherever the photo was taken, the road the surveyor is on runs roughly parallel with Hwy 101 or Hwy 1. So, my first thought was Ventura. I had a particular spot in mind on the north side of Ventura but after consulting Google Earth I decided that wasn’t quite right. My next thought was some place south of Dana Point, as I have been to some San Diego beaches but I am not super familiar with them. There is obviously some sort of creek outlet there, so starting in San Clemente, I worked my way south on google earth from creek outlet to creek outlet. I saw a lifeguard tower at San Elijo State Beach and thought that must be the structure in the background, and the railroad and street run parallel to Hwy 1, so I tried street view there. Low and behold, that is the place. So it was sort of luck, with a couple basic observations about the creek, structure, and highway orientation.”

Steve Martin chimed in with a correct answer saying, "The Tower looked familiar.” Former photo identifier Bill Tuck, PLS said, "This month’s 'where is this' is next to guy pole P1995169 at the intersection of Dublin and San Elijo, in Cardiff, looking out at Cardiff Reef. I know the area well, but I got the pole number from Google Street View.”

Andy Karydes, PLS of Cardiff said, "I happen to drive by this beach at least once a day, Cardiff State Beach/San Elijo Campground in Cardiff. The photo was taken on San Elijo Avenue overlooking the train tracks.”

Try to identify the location of this month’s photo OUTSIDE of California. Please tell me how you identified the location. Submit answers to: Rob McMillan