Abalone Cove (Palos Verdes)
Rancho Palos Verdes · near Rancho Palos Verdes · Los Angeles / SoCal
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Depth
- 40
- Water temperature
- 58–68°F · 5–7mm wetsuit
- Best season
- Summer/fall calmest · check swell
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit. Abalone Cove Shoreline Park, Rancho Palos Verdes — paid parking, a State Marine Conservation Area (limited take). A steep trail leads down to the cove; the reef and tide pools are excellent for snorkeling on calm days. Rocky entry.
What is here
- Marine life
- Rocky reef & tide pools · Garibaldi, opaleye, sheephead · Octopus & lobster in crevices · Kelp patches
- Features
- Protected rocky-reef conservation area · Rich tide pools · Kelp & reef snorkeling · Dramatic PV coastline
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- No
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- snorkel · scuba
- Entry
- shore
- Viz
- 10–30 ft
- Intl tip
- Abalone Cove Shoreline Park has paid parking and a steep access trail to the cove. It's a marine conservation area — respect take limits. Calm summer/fall mornings are best; the rocky entry is rough in swell. Water shoes help. Combine with the PV tide pools and Terranea. Nearby Christmas Tree Cove is a more advanced adjacent option.
The guide
Abalone Cove is the Palos Verdes Peninsula's best accessible snorkel and shore dive — a protected rocky cove backed by dramatic…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Abalone 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
- 33.738, -118.376