Things To Do With Family in Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a lively city on the coast in Los Angeles County that has lots of fun things for the whole family to do. Everyone can find something fun to do in this area, from beaches and parks to museums and other sights.
This piece will show you 12 of the best things to do in Long Beach, California with your family. This guide will help you plan a fun and memorable trip, whether you’re from the area or coming from somewhere else.
Bike, Skate or Scooter the Shoreline Path
Rent wheels from one of the many bike, skate, or scooter rental shops along the shoreline path and glide along the water for another fun and cheap family adventure. Select from self-powered or electric bikes, rollerblades, skateboards, or scooters. Ride at your own pace and enjoy the ocean waves and views of surfers and sailors at sea.
Along the way, stop at parks and beaches to cool off in the sand or a coffee shop or snack stand for a break. Actively navigating The Shoreline path is a classic SoCal thing to do with kids, whether you make it a relaxed, leisurely trip or an adventure sport trip.
Stroll Through Shoreline Village
Shoreline Village is a cute coastal area right next to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It has shops, restaurants, fountains, and views across the bay. The different candy shops and toy stores will be fun for kids, and the boutiques and gift shops will be fun for adults. You can listen to live music or let the kids run around the ponds.
You can ride the bright Shoreline Village Carousel or the small Shoreliner train. Play one of the fairground games that are set up next to the water. There are many places to eat in Shoreline Village, ranging from casual to fancy. This makes it easy for your family to relax and refuel while you’re in Long Beach.
Learn Ocean Science at the Aquarium of the Pacific
The Aquarium of the Pacific has amazing animal displays, but it also has ways for children to learn about science and taking care of the Pacific Ocean. Active learning center called “Ocean Science” is a great place to visit. Kids can do projects, touch specimens, and ask teachers questions.
You can hold sea stars and urchins, look at plankton and shells under microscopes up close, touch a cloud sponge, use dynamic models to learn how tide pools work, and get a close look at small sharks and rays that live in the area. The show “Ocean Science” is fun for kids and helps them learn about animal classification, anatomy and physiology, geologic processes, physical geology, and more. It’s fun and useful at the same time!
Enjoy Pelican Island Views
Pelican Island is a protected nature area in the bay and a great place to see brown pelicans. It is right across the marina inlet from Shoreline Village. Many different kinds of birds, including seagulls, terns, and cormorants, live along the small strip of land with its sandy shores and rock jetties. This is where the California brown pelican lives.
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The paved path around Pelican Island is a great place to get close to pelicans as they glide, dive, and rest just offshore. As you watch the pelicans dive for fish or sit in groups on exposed rocks and pilings, signs along the walk tell you interesting things about how they act. There are benches along the walk where you can stop and enjoy the view of the busy harbor full of boats while watching the pelicans.
See a Show at the Performing Arts Center
Bring your friends and family to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center for a night of great shows, plays, classical music, and more. What makes up the Performing Arts Center are the Long Beach Terrace Theater, the Center Theater, and the Beverly O’Neill Theater. All three are famous and beautiful.
They put on all kinds of concerts, comedy shows, kids’ shows, musical theater productions, and films all year long at prices that most people can afford. You can look at their online list of events to find something that might interest your family, from shows for kids to shows with music and dance from around the world. Getting kids involved in the arts at a young age sets them up to be inspired and creative for a long time.
Go Whale Watching
About a thousand gray whales swim past Long Beach every year from January to March as they make their way from Alaska to Mexico on the annual gray whale migration. Family fun that you’ll never forget: go on a whale watching tour and try to spot spouts, flukes, and splashes in the water. The busiest time for whales is from the middle of January to the beginning of February, which is when most schools have winter break.
From Rainbow Harbor, whale watching boats run by companies like Harbor Breeze leave all day, giving you plenty of chances to see these beautiful mammals in action. Get warm because you’ll be out on the water for hours trying to see gray whales passing by.
Explore the Aquarium of the Pacific
One of the best places for children to visit in Long Beach is the Aquarium of the Pacific. There are over 12,000 animals from more than 500 different species in this world-class aquarium. They are kept in areas that range from tropical coral reefs to the cold northern Pacific. At the shark lagoon, you can meet sharks and rays and learn about them. You can also watch sea otters play and be amazed by the beauty of the sea dragons.
Children will enjoy the Lorikeet Forest enclosure, where bright lorikeet birds will land on your hand to eat. The jellyfish exhibits and the big Pacific octopus are also not to be missed. With shows, feedings, and encounters happening every day, this aquarium has a lot to offer. You could easily spend half a day or more exploring it all.
Walk or Bike the Beach Path
The paved bike and pedestrian path that goes along Long Beach’s beaches is one of the best free things to do. You can walk, jog, ride a bike, or skate on it. You can begin near the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier and go east to get to the lighthouse.
A trip to the beach with views of the ocean and other people enjoying the water and sand is fun and busy for the whole family. You can rent bikes, skates, or scooters and ride down the road at your own pace. You can stop along the way to play in the water or build sandcastles. You can spend the whole day at the beach and work out while you’re there.
Tour the Queen Mary
An old British ocean liner called the Queen Mary is permanently docked in Long Beach and is used as a hotel and tourist attraction. You and your family can take a tour of this beautiful ship and see the cabins, dining rooms, bridge, and engine rooms. You can see how people used to cross the Atlantic by going through narrow hallways and up and down steep stairs.
If you really want to be scared, go on one of the spooky tours they offer at night. This old ship is perfect for ghost stories and other supernatural events. Visit the famous Queen Mary, whether it’s day or night. It’s one of the most interesting things to do in the Long Beach area.
See Sea Life at the SEA Lab Aquarium
Visit the SEA Lab Aquarium on the Long Beach shore, right next to the Aquarium of the Pacific, for a more personal and hands-on encounter with sea life. This smaller tank only has sea creatures that live in the waters off the coast of Southern California. In these touch pools, you and your family can get close to sharks, rays, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and urchins.
You can also look at rare California desert pupfish, Moray eels, giant black sea bass, leopard sharks, and other animals in tanks and displays that show how they live in different areas. The SEA Lab is great for younger kids and is a fun extra that you can do at the aquarium to learn more about and appreciate local sea life.
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Take in the Views from the Long Beach Lighthouse
To get a great view of the Long Beach bay, go to the Long Beach Lighthouse. This 40-foot-tall lighthouse is right on the water next to Shoreline Village and the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was built more as a tourist draw than as a way to help people find their way.
You can’t go inside the lighthouse, but you can look at the falcon sculpture on top and the etched bricks that lie around the outside. There are also signs nearby with information and diagrams that show which ports, terminals, and sites can be seen from the lighthouse. Take some pictures and look out at one of the biggest and busy shipping ports in the world.
Go for a Gondola Ride
Go on a relaxing gondola ride to see the canals and rivers around Naples Island and Belmont Shore in a way that no one else can. Since 1981, Gondola Getaway has been giving trips of the canals in Long Beach. They were the first company in the US to do this.
Your gondolier will sing traditional Italian songs as he or she leads your family through narrow canals on a 40- to 50-minute walk. You’ll learn about the history and way of life of people who live on the canals as you go by some riverside homes, Marine Stadium, and the rowing course from the 1932 Olympics. You’ll also go under some bridges. It’s a great way to relax that the whole family will love.
Conclusion
Long Beach has six miles of clean beaches, two harbors, and a lively downtown area. It also has a lot of fun things for kids to do besides going to theme parks. This coastal city has lots of fun things for kids and adults to do, from museums and tours that show off the city’s unique nautical history to outdoor activities along the busy shoreline.
This list of twelve family-friendly things to do in Los Angeles can help you plan your next trip, whether you live there or are visiting from another city. Long Beach is a great place for a family holiday because there are so many fun things to do there, like seeing whales, going to the aquarium, gondola rides, and bike tours. The natural beauty, history, and good old-fashioned California fun will make your trip unforgettable.