Malaga Cove (Palos Verdes)
Palos Verdes Estates · near Palos Verdes Estates / Torrance · Los Angeles / SoCal
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Depth
- 25
- Water temperature
- 58–68°F · 5mm wetsuit
- Best season
- Calm summer/fall days
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit. Malaga Cove (RAT Beach area), Palos Verdes Estates — street parking + a walk/trail down. The gentlest, sandiest PV entry, good for beginners on calm days. The wider PV coast is exposed; this cove is more protected but still check swell.
What is here
- Marine life
- Reef & sand mosaic · Garibaldi & opaleye · Bat rays & guitarfish · Tide pools
- Features
- Gentlest Palos Verdes entry · Sandy-and-reef mosaic · Beginner-friendly PV snorkeling · RAT Beach access
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- No
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- snorkel · scuba
- Entry
- shore
- Viz
- 10–25 ft
- Intl tip
- Malaga Cove / RAT Beach — street parking and a walk down from the bluff. The gentlest, sandiest PV entry, good for beginners on calm days. Still check swell (the coast is exposed). Tide pools at low tide. Combine with Abalone Cove and the PV bluff trails. Best on calm summer/fall mornings.
The guide
Malaga Cove is the gentlest snorkel and shore dive on the Palos Verdes Peninsula — a relatively protected, partly sandy cove at…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Malaga Cove (Palos Verdes) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.802, -118.396