Solana Beach is a city in San Diego County, California, on the South Coast. Its population was at 12,940 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 Census. The area was first settled by the San Dieguitos, early Holocene inhabitants of the area. The area was later inhabited by the Kumeyaay, who set up a village they called Kulaumai, on the southern banks of the San Elijo Lagoon. During the Spanish colonial era, trails heading north near Solana Beach crossed inland to avoid the marshes and inlets of the area.