Things to Do Near Port of Los Angeles

Free to walk into, small enough to finish before anyone melts down, and full of Southern California species a child can put a hand in the water next to.

Best for: Toddlers through about ten, families on a budget, a first stop before the beach next door

Pro tip: Weekday hours start late — noon to 5pm Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm at weekends, closed Mondays — so a morning plan needs a Saturday or Sunday. A morning plan only works at a weekend, and a Monday plan does not work at all. The great advantage over a big-city aquarium is scale — it is a one-hour building, not a three-hour one, so nap schedules survive it. It shares the Cabrillo Beach lot, so the aquarium and the sand are one $9 parking day, and the machines take cards only. It sits at Cabrillo Beach, so the aquarium and the beach are one parking session rather than two, and the parking machine takes cards only. The aquarium's focus is Southern California species specifically, which makes it a better primer for the coast you are about to sail down than a big-tank aquarium would be.

The harbor side of the point is flat, shallow and breakwater-sheltered, which is the version of the Pacific a four-year-old can actually stand up in.

Best for: Sand-and-bucket time with small children, families who need somewhere to put the afternoon before an evening flight or a morning sailing

Pro tip: There are two beaches here and the difference matters with little ones. The inner beach faces the harbor and is calm; the outer beach around the point faces open ocean and has real waves. The inner beach faces the harbor and is calm and shallow; the outer beach faces open water and has actual surf, and they are a two-minute walk apart across the same lot at 3800 Stephen M White Drive. The lot runs on cards only. Do the beach the day before you board rather than boarding morning — sand plus a check-in queue plus a stroller is a bad hour for everybody. That lot is the aquarium's lot too, so one $9 day covers both. Bring a card — the machines do not take cash. This is the swim to have the day before you board rather than the morning of, because sandy teenagers and a check-in queue is a bad combination.

The museum hands small children a scavenger hunt for Vicky the dog, which turns a warship into a treasure map for the length of an adult's visit.

Best for: Kids from about five up, grandparents and grandchildren together, one big memorable thing before a week at sea

Pro tip: Vicky's Scavenger Hunt comes with general admission and is the single reason this works with a young child — the museum's own copy says so, and following a cartoon dog around seven decks beats reading placards. Be realistic about the ship itself: it is a stair-and-ladder environment, so a toddler will be carried and a stroller will be parked. Check the day first — the site's header and footer say Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm, while one interior page still claims seven days a week, so a Tuesday or Wednesday drive is a gamble. Vicky's Doghouse Cafe on site solves the snack problem. For a teenager the paid add-ons are the difference between a museum and an experience: the museum describes the Gun Tour as a behind-the-scenes route through the weapons systems, the Engineering Tour as a trip below to the eight boilers and four steam turbines, and Escape the Fleet as an adventure built around the 2011 campaign that pulled the ship out of the Navy's reserve fleet. All three are ticketed on top of general admission. Seven decks means steep ladders between them, which is a warning for some families and the whole appeal for others. Treat Tuesday and Wednesday as closed unless a phone call says otherwise. Allow the full two to three hours the museum asks for — seven decks and more than 75 exhibits is not a walk-through. Parking is the Berth 87 lot next door, which the Port of Los Angeles covers under the same Parking Concepts rate card as the cruise terminal itself.

A surrey with a canopy and four sets of pedals on a flat mile of new waterfront path — the closest thing San Pedro has to a stroller with entertainment built in.

Best for: Getting wiggles out near the ship, families with a mix of ages, an hour that costs nothing if you skip the rental

Pro tip: Trust the operator over the landlord on hours: Wheel Fun's own West Harbor page gives summer hours of Monday to Friday 10am to sunset and Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10am to 9pm, while West Harbor's site still lists it as weekends only. Call (424) 482-1858 if your date falls midweek. The surreys are the right rental for a family — canopy, bench seats, no balance required. Set expectations about the district: West Harbor is 42 acres still opening in stages on the old Ports O' Call site, so finished waterfront sits next to construction fencing, and what is running is the Berth 84 Waterfront Park area, the San Pedro Fish Market pop-up, the harbor cruises and the tall ships.

Open bluff-top lawn above the ocean with a storybook 1874 lighthouse in the middle of it — and one height rule worth knowing before you promise anything.

Best for: Running around on grass, picnics, families who need free and outdoors

Pro tip: Read this before you promise a child the tower: the city states that children under 48 inches tall are not admitted to it, and that anyone under 18 must be with an adult. The grounds and the park are the real draw for little ones anyway — lawn, ocean below, and a lighthouse to look at. The scarcity is real and worth planning around: interior access is guided-tour-only, tours run at 1, 2 and 3pm Tuesday through Sunday, they are first come first served, and each one takes eight people. Grounds are open 1pm to 4pm and the lighthouse is closed Mondays, and the city notes it can also close for major holidays and park events — the number to call ahead is (310) 241-0684. Turn up at the hour, not after it. That is the whole of the day's capacity, so arrive at the hour rather than ten minutes past it. Point Fermin Park around it is open lawn on a bluff with the water below, which is where the actual view is. Closed Mondays, and (310) 241-0684 confirms holiday closures.

Children twelve and under get in free, the whole thing is one floor of ship models and harbor history, and it takes an hour.

Best for: A cheap indoor hour, rainy or too-hot days, kids who like boats

Pro tip: The price is the point: two parents and three children under twelve is $10 in total. Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5pm, last entry 4:30, and closed Monday and Tuesday. It sits at Berth 84 in the old ferry building, a short walk from the West Harbor waterfront and the Harbor Breeze ticket booth, so you can chain all three onto one parking session instead of moving the car twice with children in it. Wednesday to Sunday only, noon to 5pm, with last entry at 4:30 — the Monday and Tuesday closure catches people who assumed a museum this small keeps park hours. It is a short walk from the West Harbor waterfront and the Harbor Breeze ticket booth, so the three make one easy loop on foot rather than three separate parking sessions. There is a research library and a ham radio station inside as well as the exhibits.

Under-threes ride free and three-to-elevens are $35, which makes a real whale-watching boat cheaper than most family outings on land.

Best for: Families with children who like boats and can sit for three hours, a day-before outing rather than a sailing-morning one

Pro tip: Be honest with yourself about the length. Two and a half to three hours on open water with a small child is a real commitment, there is nowhere to get off, and swell outside the breakwater is not the flat harbor water you can see from the shore. If that sounds fine, the vessels are double-deck catamarans with a snack bar and lavatories, and dolphins and sea lions are near-certain even when the whales are not. Book online in advance — the operator says it costs less than the walk-up rate and that trips fill in migration season. The ticket booth and boats sit at 550 S Harbor Blvd, right beside the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, and West Harbor's own site lists Harbor Breeze as running Friday through Monday, so confirm your date against the operator's schedule. A teenager counts as an adult here — the $50 rate starts at 12, so a family of four with two teens is priced as four adults. Do this the day before you sail, never on embarkation morning: it is a three-hour round trip and the boat comes back when it comes back. Whales are seasonal and unguaranteed; dolphins and sea lions are close to certain. This is a three-hour commitment on a boat, so it belongs on the day before you sail rather than embarkation morning — a late return and a boarding deadline do not mix. Whale sightings are seasonal and nobody guarantees them; dolphins and sea lions are the near-certain part.

Wide open grass on a clifftop with a giant bronze bell in a painted pavilion, ten minutes from the ship and free.

Best for: A short free stop, running on grass, families who want a view without paying for one

Pro tip: Time it against the parking lot rather than the park. The park runs 6:30am to 10pm, but the lot only runs sunrise to sunset, so late afternoon is the practical cutoff with children in tow. It is windy and exposed up on the bluff even when the terminal below is warm, so bring a layer for everyone. Point Fermin Park and the lighthouse are a couple of minutes further down the coast road, which makes the two an easy pair for one outing. The park itself runs 6:30am to 10pm, but the parking lot only runs sunrise to sunset, so an evening visit means parking on Gaffey Street and walking in. The bell sits on the old Fort MacArthur upper reservation, and the Fort MacArthur Museum is on the same 3601 Gaffey Street site — its hours are not published on the city's page, so call (310) 548-7705 before you plan around it. Bring a jacket: the bluff is exposed and it is reliably windier and colder up there than at the terminal.

An hour and a quarter across open water to a car-free island town, leaving from a terminal three minutes from where your ship docks.

Best for: Families flying in two days early, teens who would rather be somewhere than see something, a real day out

Pro tip: Note where the child fare stops: 2 to 11. A twelve-year-old pays the full $99 adult round trip, so this gets expensive fast with teenagers. Do it two days before you sail if you possibly can, and the day before at the absolute latest — it is a timetabled boat on open water and the return leg is the part that can slip. The Catalina Sea and Air Terminal is at Berth 95, on the same 100 Swinford Street road as the cruise terminal parking, which is the whole reason this works as a pre-cruise day at all. The single most important thing here is what day you do it on. This is a full-day, weather-and-sea-dependent round trip on a boat, and the return can be delayed — do it the day before you sail at the very latest, and preferably two days before. The upside is the geography: the Catalina Sea and Air Terminal is at Berth 95 on the same 100 Swinford Street road as the cruise terminal parking, so if you are already parked in San Pedro you are already there. Book the specific crossing in advance rather than turning up; sailings are timetabled, not continuous.

Open until 10pm six nights a week, free to walk into, and the view of Los Angeles from the terrace is the one they will actually post.

Best for: A fly-in evening, families staying in Los Angeles rather than San Pedro, teens who want one recognizable thing

Pro tip: Go in the evening. It is open noon to 10pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 10pm at weekends, closed Mondays, and the late hours are when the telescope on the lawn and the city lights below both work. The observatory's page separates paid parking near the building from free parking downhill without pricing either, so budget for the paid lot. Thirty-odd miles from San Pedro on Los Angeles freeways means this is a night-before plan and never a sailing-day one. The late close is the point: go after dinner, when the traffic out of downtown has eased and the city is lit up below you. This is a Los Angeles evening rather than a San Pedro one — thirty-odd miles each way, on freeways that can double the trip, so it is not an embarkation-morning idea under any circumstances.

The replacement for Ports O' Call, opening in stages — worth an hour today, and a different place by the time you sail again.

Best for: A short waterfront walk near the ship, anyone who remembers Ports O' Call and wants to see what replaced it

Pro tip: Set expectations honestly: this is a 42-acre district still under construction, and what its own site lists as open today is the Berth 84 Waterfront Park area — San Pedro Fish Market, Harbor Concessions, Wheel Fun Rentals, Harbor Breeze harbor cruises and the Los Angeles Maritime Institute tall ships — plus a 6,200-seat amphitheater that debuted as the city's World Cup fan zone. Several of those keep part-week hours, so check the operator you actually came for. The old Ports O' Call village is gone; if your memory of San Pedro is a 1990s fish-market boardwalk, this is not that, yet. Downtown San Pedro up the hill is the walkable alternative, but do not build an evening around the Warner Grand Theatre: its own Friends group, Grand Vision Foundation, says the city closed it on January 1, 2024 for accessibility, plumbing, electrical and seismic work and has it scheduled to reopen in late 2026.