hey guys, so here is the deal about fillming. I may be new to riding the spot but I am not new to camp pendelton. I big tower just to the north of were we ride. that is were I work. I build the hovercrafts that you see flying in and out of there. Part of that beech belongs to the navy then it splits and become the usmcs as you come south. Untill you get down below the river there is no governed structure (just open Federal land). Federal being the key word there (If You Have A Record Do Not Beach Your ski On Base). Technically to be on it you need permision, but like you said, it is rairly patroled or enforced and to be honest most of the guys are pretty cool if you just explain yourself. If they do try to stop you and you run back out they can do one of 2 things, call amphib and ask them to go get you (where my best friend works) who will tell them they have better things to do. or call coast gaurd how will come get you and turn you over to the MPs (you dont want that) I know this because we recently had a couple guys trying to spy on our projects and take pictures.
The tanks drive that beach all the time. They wont stop for you, but if you see them coming, go back out in the water till they all pass or they complain then they will start patroling.
Pictures and videos are fine as long as they so not show any sort of training of person or machine, the inside of any federal facility or the working of anything (how thing work) which you cant see anyways. for the most part as a general rule, if you can see it from the public access areas, as in 500yds into the water, then it is fine to take a picture of. Or if you work for a company like mine that part of the job is taking close of pictures of that stuff, but unfortanitly no one else out there does.
also they are now curently building a facilitly just a hundred or so yards perfectly inland of the beach we ride at. I do not know if it is visible from the water but if it is. Do not photograph it and stand clear of the vehicals around it, go into the water if they come. they are civilian contractors and will invalve MPs
(this is all on top of California State laws which are still in affect on Federal land)