In 1969 and 1970, the beach and desert flats just north of San Carlos served as the primary outdoor location for Mike Nichols' film adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22. A full-scale wartime airfield was built here, complete with a runway long enough to land the actual B-25 bombers used in the film. The production was enormous — one of the largest Hollywood shoots of its era in terms of logistics and cost.
The runway itself is long gone, but traces of the site remain visible in the scrub north of the main beach. A few concrete foundations and earth berms survive. It is not a formal attraction — there are no signs or fences — but travellers who know the story find a certain pleasure in standing in the desert and picturing the chaos Heller described, transposed to this sun-bleached Sonoran shore. The local expat community keeps the story alive and most longtime residents can point you to the site.