The intent of this report is to provide a broad picture of the physical, mechanical and geological processes pertaining to coastal engineering along the shorelines of southern California, and to give references to data sources. Citation to the originators of concepts, theories, etc. are not always given because this is a data summary for the region, not a review of the nearshore processes literature. Interested readers should consult the extensive coastal engineering and nearshore processes literature for a historical perspective of the topics discussed. Because of space constraints, some topics are only scantily covered. Chapters 1 and 2 and portions of the following chapters were written by Douglas L. Inman. Chapter 3 and the sections on neashore waves and currents for each cell described in Chapters 4 through 11 were written by Robert T. Guza. For Chapters 4 through 11 the sections on coastal erosion, shoreline changes, sediment sources and the budget of sediment were written by David W. Skelly; while the sections on sediment transport modes and sediment sinks were written by Thomas E. White. Unpublished notes provided by Dr. Reinhard Flick were used for the preparation of Chapter 3.4 on tides and sea level fluctuations.