Shi Shi Beach and Point of the Arches — Wednesday, Jul. 31, 2019

We arrived at the trail head at 11am and there were a few spots still open. The pit toilets at the trailhead were surprisingly nice, even had hand wash stations in them. There were 6 in our party, my two kids (10 and 7) my parents (68 and 75) and my husband and myself. The first mile of the trail was very easy with numerous boardwalk sections and bridges. Then the trail took a turn for the worse. It was .7 miles of mud. Most of the really bad sections had side trail detours that were well worn but also a lot of tree roots and sometimes involved balancing on logs to avoid the mud. It made the last part of the trail much slower going since we were trying to avoid the deep mud. I suggest you wear good water proof boots and then you can hike right through it. Once you come to the end of the mud bog, you reach the top of the cliff and now it gets really wild. The "stairs of death" (as my kids called them) now await. Good news is there are sturdy handrails, bad news is you have to come back up them when you leave!
Once at the bottom the trail winds behind the trees line and there are various spots to access the beach. I took us an hour and 15 mins to make it to the beach so we found a spot to eat lunch before exploring. The views are stunning and even though we were there when the tide was in, it was still spectacular. There are a few sea stacks right at the bottom and the kids had fun playing in the water and climbing the rocks. I am glad I brought beach shoes for them to change into and a small chamois type towel as they were super wet by the time we left and I didn't want them to hike back with wet feet.
Now a note about the toilets at the beach. I had heard mixed messages about if there were toilets at the beach. The map clearly shows three, including one right at the bottom of the stairs (more or less). In fact while eating lunch a family with several girls passed us and I asked where the pit toilet was. They responded they had hiked/ camped all along the 2 mile route to Arches and never did find them. We encountered a few other who told us the same thing. Well my daughter had to go so we decided to walk back towards where the stairs hit the beach because we saw a place were people had piled up debris that had washed up onto the beach (insulation, boat pieces, rope, etc.) and I figured it would give her a bit of privacy to go behind the pile. Well to our surprise the pit toilet was actually there. The debris was forming an enclosure (id you can call it that) for the toilet. Then will looking around I saw an orange ribbon hanging from a tree with the words "toilet" written on it.  Once we found it, it was obvious. I talked with another lady who had camped further down the beach who said the other 2 toilets are there, but also a bit hard to find. So yes there are toilet, but it will take some searching.
Final thoughts: It was worth the hike getting there, I am glad we found the toilet (my daughter wasn't too keen on going w/o one) and proper shoes will make the trek much easier.