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Times Description

At the southern tip of San Pedro, with a scenic view of big ships in the nation's busiest container port, is a blue-collar beach with great ethnic diversity. Actually, Cabrillo is two beaches in one: a calm swimming beach inside the harbor and a bigger rough-water beach facing the open ocean.

But the water quality can be disgusting. Unless you enjoy being wrapped in seaweed like a human California roll or want to try sitting on a floating oil puddle, don't go in the water. Stick with the museum. Or picnic at the grassy park by the inner beach where there are barbecue grills on pedestals. The outer beach has eight or 10 fire rings on the sand.

Separating the two beaches is a curving arm of land that points to a perpendicular rock jetty. Beyond is the long breakwater reaching out to the Angels Gate entrance to Los Angeles Harbor. Opposite the jetty inside the harbor is a relatively new fishing pier, which is becoming a novelty of uselessness.

Ever since a sand replenishment program on the outer beach in 1991, big winter waves have carried sand over the breakwater and deposited it under the pier. Grain by grain, the build-up has been steady until about half the length of the pier is over a beach, especially the side paralleling the breakwater about 50 feet away. This certainly limits the pier's use -- who wants to fish over dry land?

The standout feature here is the nonprofit Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, whose staff of marine biologists and volunteers are a great resource, especially for introducing children to the underwater world.

Cabrillo Beach is absolutely the best place to go grunion hunting. From March through August, the silvery, slippery little fish come ashore at night to spawn. It happens usually four nights in a row after a full moon and a new moon, which is every two weeks.

The run lasts only about two hours during high tide. Grunion are 5- to 7-inches long, and if you must catch them it must be by hand, except during April and May, when the season is closed and all you can do is watch. Hunters 16 or older must have a state fishing license. -- Los Angeles Times