Point Vicente Whale Watching and Lighthouse

Save
Point Vicente Whale Watching and Lighthouse

Photo: Mike Quach · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🎃 Seasonal · Rancho Palos Verdes

2 hours · Free · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 3.0
1–3 yrs
★ 4.0
3–5 yrs
★ 4.0
5–10 yrs
★ 4.0
  • 🚗
    About 50 min drive
    From Arcadia · Parking: Free Interpretive Center lot, plenty of room on weekend mornings
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Little shade
    Great on sunny days · Good on cool days · Wind-OK · Fine on cold days
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 2 hours
    Best seasons: Winter · Spring

A free little marine museum on the tip of the Palos Verdes Peninsula; from December to April, volunteers with binoculars count passing gray whales from the terrace every day, and will lend you a look and point out where to watch. The flat bluff-top path takes strollers, and the 1926 lighthouse is right next door.

💡 Tips
There is no telling when a whale will pass, so bring snacks and sit for half an hour; even without whales there are dolphins, sea lions and the whole Pacific. It is windy, so bring jackets. The nearby Terranea resort has public trails and a cafe.

What this place offers

✓free
✓whale watching
✓lighthouse
✓bluff trail
✓small museum
✓picnic
✓restrooms

Featured in these guides

This weekend's weather in Rancho Palos Verdes

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

☁️
Sat 10/17
Overcast · 76–87°F · 0% rain
☀️
Sun 10/18
Sunny · 73–80°F · 0% rain

Location

Rancho Palos Verdes, California

More like this

Lake Balboa Cherry Blossoms
Kid favorite

Lake Balboa Cherry Blossoms

5.0

Van Nuys · 40 min drive

2 h · stroller-friendly

Free · Parking: Free park lot off Balboa Blvd, full after 10am on weekends in bloom season

Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Festival
Kid favorite

Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Festival

5.0

Pomona · 20 min drive

2.5 h · stroller-friendly

$ · Parking: Campus lots next to AGRIscapes, with attendants on weekends, crowded on festival days

Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch
Kid favorite

Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch

5.0

Orange · 45 min drive

3 h · stroller-friendly

$ · Parking: Irvine Regional Park entry about $5–7 per car, long lines at midday on October weekends, arrive by 9am

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

4.0

Lancaster · 80 min drive

3 h · carrier recommended

Free · Parking: Reserve lot about $10 per car, lines to get in on bloom-season weekends, arrive before the 8:30am opening