Published November 7, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 7, 2026
Most people head to the beach on a Saturday night to watch the water. One Tesla went for the sand itself.
Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, a Tesla jumped the curb near Cypress Street on the Balboa Peninsula, drove across the Oceanfront boardwalk and kept going onto the sand, according to a friend of The Balboa Local who watched it happen.
The beach won.
A video shot at 7:05 p.m. shows a dark gray Tesla sedan dug into the soft sand next to the boardwalk with every door open, like it was airing out after a long day. A guy in a white shirt and shorts walks around it and looks down at the tires, which have sunk in. Nobody in the video looks hurt.
The car belongs to a company famous for self-driving software. Apparently nobody packed the sand-driving software.
The boardwalk has a whole chapter of city code. It sets an 8 mph speed limit, bans motorized scooters and covers e-bikes, electric skateboards and who passes whom. Nowhere does it plan for a sedan. Fair enough. Nobody figured it would need to.
Locals have been telling the city for years that the boardwalk feels like a highway. At an April 2025 Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission meeting, one public comment said there’s “little to no enforcement” of the boardwalk’s speed limit and its ban on motorized vehicles. They were talking about e-bikes. We doubt anybody had a five-seat sedan in mind.
What we don’t know yet: who was driving, why the car went onto the beach, whether police or lifeguards responded, whether anyone was cited and how the car is getting out. We’ll update when we know more.
For now, the peninsula’s newest beach rental is a Tesla, and it’s not going anywhere soon.
Photo and video: The Balboa Local
Sources
- Witness account from a friend of The Balboa Local, Nov. 7, 2026
- The Balboa Local video, Nov. 7, 2026, 7:05 p.m.
- Newport Beach Municipal Code Chapter 12.54 (Boardwalk)
- Public comments, Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission, April 1, 2025 (15th Street Restroom Renovation and Boardwalk Improvements Concepts), p. 99
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