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Travel & Experiences

California Beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is about 23 miles south of downtown L.A. and includes four cities: Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. The beaches, stretches of sand and rocky coast -- some of it difficult to access -- have avid local fans of all ages. The peninsula provides some of the most dramatic coastal terrain in Southern California, with ample tidepools and rocky cliffs. Misha Burton, 4, of Hawthorne collects rocks and seashells at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park, where there are tidepools, bluff-top pathways and access to a rocky beach. For more in this series exploring Southern California's beaches, visit our Cruising the Coast page.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is about 23 miles south of downtown L.A. and includes four cities: Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. The beaches, stretches of sand and rocky coast -- some of it difficult to access -- have avid local fans of all ages. The peninsula provides some of the most dramatic coastal terrain in Southern California, with ample tidepools and rocky cliffs.

Misha Burton, 4, of Hawthorne collects rocks and seashells at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park, where there are tidepools, bluff-top pathways and access to a rocky beach.

For more in this series exploring Southern California’s beaches, visit our Cruising the Coast page.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is about 23 miles south of downtown L.A. and includes four cities: Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. The beaches, stretches of sand and rocky coast -- some of it difficult to access -- have avid local fans of all ages.
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Southern California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Abalone Cove Shoreline Park contains two beaches -- Abalone and Sacred coves -- and a California Ecological Preserve.

A keyhole view through a rock at the beach at Abalone Cove.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

A hermit crab hides between rocks that are revealed when the tide recedes at the tidepools at Abalone Cove.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

A hermit crab plods along the patterned rocks at Abalone Cove.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

In the tidepools, ochre sea stars gather amid periwinkles, sea anemones, acorn barnacles and crabs. The sea life at Abalone Cove becomes evident as the tide recedes.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Sheets of colorful rock at tideline reveal barnacles, crabs and periwinkles.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Christian Roas, 3, of San Pedro, views his sea-glass treasure of the day while collecting rocks along the beach at Abalone Cove.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Young visitors from Taiwan gleefully bear the brunt of a wave at Bluff Cove in Abalone Cove Shoreline Park.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Sunset lights up the cliffs and historic Point Vicente Lighthouse, erected in 1926 in response to a petition from ships’ masters who feared this treacherous stretch of coast. Made in Paris in 1886, the lighthouse lens saw 40 years of service in Alaska before being brought to the peninsula. The lighthouse is open to the public on the second Saturday of each month.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

An elaborate but abandoned sandcastle sits near Rat Beach on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

A beachgoer takes in the sunset at Malaga Cove, a little-known spot on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California beaches: Palos Verdes Peninsula

Andy Hajduczek of Rancho Palos Verdes is silhouetted by the sun as he paraglides above the Portuguese Bend area of the peninsula. “Sometimes you can almost touch the hawks,” Hajduczek said.

For more in this series exploring Southern California’s beaches, visit our Cruising the Coast page.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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