Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab & Aquarium

South Bay Beaches


At this compact aquarium at the end of the 928ft-long Manhattan Beach Pier, you can pet a slimy sea cucumber, check out the deep-ocean tank with its anemones, baby sharks and sunflower starfish, and see eels…lots and lots of eels.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby South Bay Beaches attractions

1. Manhattan Beach

0.22 MILES

If Manhattan Beach had its own magazine, it would surely be called Gorgeous Living. Classy beachside cottages, bougainvillea-lined walk streets, bustling…

2. Hermosa Beach

1.66 MILES

Strolling down Hermosa Beach’s Pier Ave on a summer weekend, you’re immediately struck by two things: everybody’s wearing flip-flops, tiny tees and a tan,…

3. Redondo Beach Pier

3.28 MILES

Arching from the bottom of Torrance Blvd all the way to King Harbor, this classic 1960s multilevel beast is the Redondo hub, with plenty of pierside…

4. Veterans Park

3.57 MILES

Come here for the weekly farmers market, Thursdays 8am to 1pm.

5. Redondo & Torrance Beaches

3.83 MILES

Redondo Beach is a working-class beach town, the largest in the South Bay and the most ethnically diverse. As it wanders inland it bleeds into neighboring…

6. Dockweiler State Beach

4.52 MILES

With jumbo jets soaring overhead, sailboats bobbing beyond the rolling surf, bonfires raging in the pit and a waxing moon rising high, summer nights on…

7. Ballona Wetlands

5.84 MILES

These last remaining wetlands in LA County are home to at least 200 migrating and resident bird species, including the great blue heron. Their habitat,…

8. Fisherman’s Village

6.39 MILES

Most boats, including party fishing boats and winter whale-watching boats, leave from this kitschy strip of candy-colored cottages filled with tacky gift…