California’s 1,100 miles of coastal beaches, many with soft sand and great waves and fun piers, are among the state’s greatest assets, destinations for locals and visitors alike.

But new research shows that for many Californians, the beach is out of reach.

While the beach itself is intended to be free or inexpensive, ancillary expenses and social barriers often make it tough for low-income residents to enjoy a day on the sand.

This week, legislation was introduced in Sacramento aimed at fixing that problem. If passed, Assembly Bill 250 would direct the state Coastal Conservancy to develop new, low-cost accommodations and improve existing affordable accommodations, with the goal of making a trip to the beach more accessible for families that don’t have a lot of money and might have to travel far.

“It’s heartbreaking to see lower-income families and middle-class families who never have seen the beach or enjoyed waking up to the sounds of tides and the salt in the air,” said Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, who introduced the legislation Monday.

“It’s heartbreaking for me because it’s such a part of the California experience.”

The bill comes days after researchers at UCLA released a study that details how travel costs and lack of affordable accommodations prevent low-income families from going to the beach.

The average travel cost for a one-day visit to the beach was $22 (not including parking or food), according to the study. And an increase of $15, researchers found, could force many families to skip the trip altogether; that amount is typically eaten up by parking and day-use fees. Staying in beach towns costs an average $605 for a four-day stay, and three-quarters of the 1,100 people polled said an overnight stay was unaffordable.

In addition to showing why some people don’t go to the beach, the study – conducted last summer at beaches from Ventura County to south Orange County – also found who goes to different beaches, with questions focused on family income and demographics.

The least racially diverse of the 11 beaches studied were the Doheny and Strands beaches in Dana Point, where nearly 80 percent of the visitors were white. Less than 1 percent of the visitors at Doheny were African-American.

Those beaches also drew the wealthiest visitors, with 82 percent reporting household income of $50,000 or more.

Huntington State Beach was slightly more diverse, with 54 percent of its visitors white and most of the rest Latino and Asian. About two-thirds of visitors had household income of $50,000 or more.

Conversely, the majority of visitors to Dockweiler State Beach in the South Bay were nonwhite, with 63 percent Latino and 16 percent African-American. Nearly half of the visitors reported household income of less than $50,000.

And on the sand in Redondo Beach, 47 percent of visitors were white, and 40 percent were Latino. More than a third of those visiting Redondo Beach earn $50,000 or less.

If the beachgoers look different at different beaches, researchers say, a variety of issues are at play, including cost, self segregation and amenities such as fire rings and RV spaces, which the report said attract different groups of people.

“We believe it’s a combination of factors,” said Jon Christensen, a researcher at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA who co-authored the study.

“There are historically patterns of visitation and discrimination … where people feel they’re welcome (at some beaches) and where they might not feel as welcome (at others),” Christensen said.

The research found that among key demographic groups, African-Americans generally were less likely to visit a beach, with about a third of those polled saying they get to the sand less than once a year.

Christensen said a legacy of discrimination that prevented African-Americans from using public pools and beaches continues to play a role.

“This is a very real issue and a real concern,” he said.

Effie Turnbull Sanders, 44, a lawyer and a member of the California Coastal Commission, grew up as a competitive swimmer. By the time she was swimming for UCLA in the 1990s, she noticed that the swimmers and the fans mostly came from the same white background.

“I was keenly aware that kids of different socioeconomic backgrounds didn’t make it to the beach, even if they lived only 10 miles away,” she said.

There are efforts to change that. Nonprofits such as the Oakland-based Brown Girls Surf push to promote surf culture among women and girls of color.

Turnbull Sanders said transportation is a problem, so the Coastal Commission is partnering with Caltrans to help get more young people to the beach. The state agency also is working to lower beach parking fees and create more beach camping and low-cost accommodations, both of which are important for people who live hours from the coast.

Though many Californians are prevented from visiting the beach, in part because of the cost, most have a relationship with the ocean. Up to 94 percent of California voters said in surveys that the health of the ocean and beaches is personally important.

“People across all of these demographic categories … want the same thing when they visit the beach: clean water, clean sand, a place to relax and enjoy the scenery and a place for their kids to play,” Christensen said. “People at the beaches, though they look different, they all want the same things by and large. That’s true even across income. The beaches are still these great democratic spaces.”

For Daniel Ordaz, 56, who recently strolled the Huntington Beach Pier while visiting from El Paso, Texas, seeing people from different walks of life was part of the draw when he lived locally as a teen.

“That’s why I came,” Ordaz said. “To see the diversity here.”

Contact the writer: lawilliams@scng.com