Abalone Cove Shoreline Park
Notice: "As of July 9, 2024, Abalone Cove Beach, Sacred Cove Beach, and all beach access trails in the Abalone Cove Reserve are closed to the public until further notice due to impacts of accelerated land movement in the Portuguese Bend Landslide complex."
Abalone Cove Shoreline Park serves as the parking area for Abalone Cove Beach and Sacred Beach and for hikers in the Abalone Cove Ecological Reserve. The trail to Abalone Cove Beach begins at the parking lot in Shoreline Park. To reach Sacred Beach, visitors must walk ¾-mile along Palos Verdes Drive South to the trailheads above the cove.
Abalone Cove Beach
Abalone Cove Beach with its tide pools and places to explore is the main destination for most visitors to the area. Plan at least 15 minutes to hike down the steep trail to the beach, crossing a small bridge and passing a little waterfall. Visitors recommend bringing some kind of footwear you can get wet for picking your way across cobbles to the small areas of sand and for exploring the rocky area. Lifeguards are on duty there in the summer and on weekends the rest of the year.
Tide Pools
Abalone Cove Beach rates as one of the best tide pool spots in the Los Angeles area. The approach to the tide pools is across rocks. Plan your visit for low tide. You may need to negotiate a little inlet from one rock ledge to the other to reach the best tide pools. Look for a shallow sea cave. Sea life abounds among the rocks, everything from slugs and sea stars to octopi and sea anemones.
Abalone Cove Beach
Surfing at Abalone Cove
Good waves don't arrive often at Abalone Cove, but when they do the locals come out in numbers and enjoy the break. The area is best for experienced surfers. Sharp rocks pose a hazard. Surfers have three spots they like at Abalone Cove - The Point, an area west of the point known as Toilet Bowls, and another spot even farther to the west,
Diving at the Cove
With the surf usually fairly gentle, Abalone Cove is an easy place to enter the water. Diving depths there range from about 12 feet to more than 50. Currents are not usually a problem. Divers are rewarded with a variety of sea life from giant crabs and sheephead to horn shark and electric torpedo rays. On the west side of the cove are large kelp bed and a submerged reef.
Portuguese Point and Trail to Sacred Beach
Sacred Beach
The trail down to Sacred Cove (or Smuggler's Cove) is more difficult than to Abalone Cove. The steep, slippery route can be challenging. The trail closest to Inspiration Point is perhaps the easiest. The rewards are a secluded cove with tide pools, a sea cave cut through the rock, views of the two points and Catalina Island, and fewer people than at Abalone Cove. There are no facilities at the beach. Nude sun bathing is illegal in Los Angeles County, but you may encounter a few who are risking a citation.
