There is a version of this page on every real estate site in the South Bay, and most of them list places that closed years ago. Mulligan Family Fun Center shut in 2020. Gable House Bowl and Palos Verdes Bowl are both gone. The Automobile Driving Museum closed in October 2024. If a guide is still sending you to those, it was not written by anyone who lives here.
This one is current as of September 2026, and it covers what there actually is: the attractions, the leagues, the camps, the teen centers, where to hold a birthday party and what each city will and will not let you bring to it.
What is the Junior Lifeguard program and how do you get in?
Start here, because it is the single biggest youth institution on this coast and almost everything written about it locally is wrong in the same way.
There is no Manhattan Beach junior lifeguard program. Or Hermosa, or Redondo, or El Segundo. The Los Angeles County Fire Department runs one program across every beach, and the city you live in does not run its own. People assume otherwise constantly and then miss the registration window looking on the wrong website.
The sites run the length of the coast: Torrance Beach, Redondo at Avenue A, Tim Kelly at 2nd Street in Hermosa, Hermosa 14th at the pier, Manhattan at Marine Street, El Segundo at the Jetty, Dockweiler, and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. Dockweiler takes ages nine to thirteen only.
Ages nine to seventeen, grouped by age as of 1 July. C group is nine to eleven, B is twelve to thirteen, A is fourteen to seventeen. Sessions run four weeks in summer, morning or afternoon, and not every site runs both.
The swim test is the gate. New participants swim 100 yards freestyle under 1:50 for C group, 1:40 for B and 1:30 for A, and must bring a birth certificate or passport. Tests are held in March and April at pools around the county. If your child cannot make that time in March, that is your winter project.
Registration is neither a lottery nor first come first served, and this is the part people get wrong. Returning participants get a priority window in February and March. Everyone else is assigned a randomly generated selection number that determines enrollment order. Taking the swim test earlier does not improve your position. Sitting on the website at midnight does not either.
Cost runs in the range of $635 to $685 depending on the year and includes the uniform shirt and suit. Needs-based financial aid exists and must be applied for before you pay. Returning A-group participants can move on to the Lifesaving Team, and there is a Cadet track for sixteen and seventeen year olds with two years in the program.
Separately, City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks runs a pool-based Junior Lifeguard Training for ages nine to seventeen at around $50, which is the relevant one for San Pedro, Westchester and Playa del Rey families.
One caution: several private surf schools sell programs with similar names. They are fine as camps, but they confer no standing in the County program.
Where do you take kids on a weekend?
On the water and about it
- Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro. Tide pool touch tanks and the best aquarium in the area for young children. Free, with a suggested donation.
- Roundhouse Aquarium, at the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier. One room, free, and about twenty minutes of attention span, which is sometimes exactly right.
- Battleship IOWA, San Pedro. A museum ship you walk through, now joined by the National Museum of the Surface Navy which opened in 2026.
- Marine Mammal Care Center, San Pedro. A working seal and sea lion hospital. Viewing is free.
- Point Fermin Lighthouse, San Pedro. 1874, hourly tours, free.
Outdoors and free
- Polliwog Park, Manhattan Beach. The duck pond, the playground, the summer concerts.
- Hopkins Wilderness Park, 1102 Camino Real in Redondo Beach. Four habitats on eleven acres, and you can book tent camping. Closed Wednesdays. Note that people call this Wilderness Park and Hopkins interchangeably. It is one place.
- Madrona Marsh Preserve, Torrance. Forty three acres of vernal marsh with a nature center, in the middle of a city. Free.
- White Point Nature Preserve and Deane Dana Friendship Park, San Pedro. Coastal sage habitat, and Deane Dana protects the Palos Verdes blue butterfly.
- Abalone Cove, Rancho Palos Verdes. The tide pools are the real thing. Grounds are free, parking is paid.
- Dockweiler State Beach. Roughly forty first-come fire pits, no permit needed, bring your own fuel. The only local beach where you can legally have a fire.
Indoors, and for rain
- AdventurePlex, 1701 Marine Avenue in Manhattan Beach. Sixteen thousand square feet of indoor play with a rock wall and ropes course, ages four to twelve, run by the Beach Cities Health District.
- K1 Speed. Marketed as Torrance, physically at 19038 South Vermont in Gardena. Indoor electric karting.
- Sky Zone. Same situation, marketed Torrance, actually at 1625 West 190th in Gardena.
- Climbing. Hangar 18 in Hawthorne, Sender One near LAX in Westchester, Class 5 in Torrance.
- Bowling. Bowlero Torrance and Gardena Bowl. That is the entire list. There is no bowling alley in Carson, San Pedro, Lomita or El Segundo any more.
- Ice. Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, which is the Kings practice facility and has three rinks, and Skating Edge in Harbor City.
- Old Town Music Hall, El Segundo. A 1921 theater running silent films on a 1925 Wurlitzer. Worth doing once with an older child.
- Western Museum of Flight, Torrance. Ten dollars, free under twelve.
There is no children’s museum or science center in the South Bay. The nearest are the Cayton in Santa Monica, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Kidspace in Pasadena and Discovery Cube. All are drives, and worth planning as a day rather than an afternoon.
Skate parks, all free
Charles Wilson Park in Torrance, where helmets are required and under-tens need an adult. Marine Avenue Skate Spot in Manhattan Beach. Westchester Skate Plaza. Peck Park and the community-built Channel Street park in San Pedro. Veterans Park in Carson. Rowley Park in Gardena. El Segundo at 405 East Grand. Hermosa Beach has an outdoor skate park at the Community Center on Pier Avenue, which has been there for years. Redondo Beach now has one at the pier as well.
Getting between them is its own question, and e-bikes have changed how teenagers move around here. We wrote about the rules and the realities in our guide to e-bikes in the South Bay.
Where do you hold a birthday party?
This is the most searched and least well answered question in this whole category, because the answer is different in every city and the restrictions are buried in fee schedules.
What each city rents, and what it bans
- Manhattan Beach. Parks and Recreation at 310-802-5448. Joslyn Center halls run roughly $40 to $200 an hour, plus Manhattan Heights and the Marine Avenue Rocketship Hall. Book two weeks ahead, in person.
- Hermosa Beach. 310-318-0280. The Clark Building, renovated in 2025 and seating 200, plus the Community Center.
- Redondo Beach. 310-697-3386. Hopkins Wilderness Park day use is about $75 for three hours, and overnight camping is available. Anderson and Perry Park rooms run around $130 an hour plus staffing. The Alta Vista picnic shelter is roughly $125 for five hours.
- El Segundo. The Checkout Building at 310-524-2700. Rec Park picnic areas, the BBQ Pit and the Fire Circle. Built-in grills only.
- Torrance. 310-618-5982. Eight park buildings, but private party use is limited to Saturdays and Sundays, 11 to 3, at about $40 an hour for residents. Torrance also publishes the longest ban list in the region: no rock climbing walls, dunk tanks, obstacle courses, laser tag, Nerf courses, hamster balls, trackless trains, game trucks or oversized inflatables, and one 10 by 10 canopy only. Read it before you book the entertainment.
- Lomita. 310-326-0140. The Tom Rico Center, the Fosnaugh Gym, and, unusually, the Lomita Railroad Museum at around $55 an hour, which the city markets explicitly for parties. Lomita bans moon bounces, game trucks, Nerf parties, trackless trains, petting zoos, food trucks and alcohol.
- Rancho Palos Verdes. Hesse Park and Ryan Park rent by the hour. The outdoor picnic areas at all three parks are first come and cannot be reserved.
- Rolling Hills Estates. 310-377-1577. Ernie Howlett Park needs a permit for twenty or more.
- Palos Verdes Estates. No recreation department and no rentals. Group permits only.
- Gardena 310-217-9537 and Carson 310-847-3570 both rent halls and gyms, and Carson’s Veterans SportsComplex is the only city facility locally that holds 200 and allows an indoor jumper.
- San Pedro, Westchester and Playa del Rey book site by site through LA City Recreation and Parks. The Cabrillo Beach Bath House ballroom holds 200 at about $75 an hour with a four hour minimum.
- Any LA County beach requires a Special Event Use Permit for an organized group with tables, chairs or vendors, applied for between three weeks and ninety days ahead. Dockweiler’s fire pits need no permit.
Venues with actual party packages
Fit Kids Gymnastics in Redondo and Torrance, Aerial Gymnastics Club, My Gym in three locations, South Bay Aquatics Swim School, Sky Zone, Scooter’s Jungle in El Segundo, AdventurePlex, South Play in Redondo, K1 Speed, Go Kart World in Carson which lets you bring outside food, Bowlero Torrance, and Color Me Mine in Torrance.
Two that people do not think of. The Roundhouse Aquarium runs shark and dolphin parties for four to seven year olds and a squid dissection party for eight to twelve. The Peter Weber Equestrian Center in Rolling Hills Estates has a petting corral with alpacas, goats, a pot-bellied pig, a miniature donkey, a miniature horse and chickens.
Worth knowing what is not available: South Coast Botanic Garden has no children’s party package, and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium has none either, though groups over fifteen can call ahead.
What sports do kids play here?
AYSO was founded in Torrance in 1964 and is still headquartered there, which is a genuine piece of local history. Regions cover essentially the whole area: Region 18 for Manhattan and Hermosa, 92 for El Segundo, 17 and 34 for north and south Redondo, four regions across Torrance, 10 for the Peninsula, 6 for San Pedro, and 7 for Westchester and Playa. Fall is the main season, divisions run U5 through U19, and there are EXTRA and Alliance competitive tracks plus EPIC for players with disabilities.
Baseball and softball are dense: Little Leagues in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Redondo, El Segundo, four in Torrance, five across the Peninsula, Lomita, Westchester and Del Rey, plus PONY organizations for older players. San Pedro currently has no Little League and older-age play there runs through PONY.
Beach volleyball has a full youth pipeline, which is unusual anywhere else and normal here. Manhattan Beach Youth Volleyball takes ten to sixteen year olds, the Junior 6-Man Tournament runs 12U, 14U and 16U divisions during the International Surf Festival in early August, and AVP Juniors and CBVA Juniors both run circuits locally. Clubs include MB Surf, MBsand, South Bay Volleyball Beach Academy and Surfside Juniors.
Surfing has a high school league. The South Bay Scholastic Surfing Association runs from October to March at the Hermosa Pier, with teams from Mira Costa, Redondo Union, Peninsula and South. Campsurf is the official surf school of both Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.
Sailing runs through the King Harbor Youth Foundation in Redondo, which offers Learn to Sail, a nine week summer camp for ages eight to eighteen and a year-round Junior Race Team, accredited by US Sailing. Sea Scouts Ship 1992 in San Pedro takes fourteen to twenty-one year olds.
Basketball runs largely through the YMCAs as Junior Clippers, ages four to fifteen, at the Torrance-South Bay, San Pedro and Peninsula, and Gardena-Carson branches, plus city leagues in Torrance, Gardena and Lomita and PlayLA in San Pedro and Westchester.
Football and lacrosse. The Beach Cities Sharks are the Pop Warner program for Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo, ages five to fourteen, with cheer. Torrance and Gardena run city flag football instead. Youth lacrosse is concentrated on the Peninsula through the PV Youth Recreational Lacrosse League.
Water polo through South Bay United from 8U up, Palos Verdes Water Polo Club and Trojan Water Polo, which starts Splashball at seven.
Equestrian is a Peninsula thing. Peter Weber Equestrian Center in Rolling Hills Estates is city-owned and privately run, with pony camps from age three and Western lessons. Palos Verdes Stables in PVE takes riders from three. One current note: the Portuguese Bend landslide complex remains active, and the Portuguese Bend Pony Club relocated to a new address in February 2026.
Where do teenagers go?
Six cities run a dedicated teen center. Several do not, and that is worth knowing before you assume.
| Center | City | Who | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan Beach Teen Center, at Manhattan Heights | Manhattan Beach | Grades 6 to 8, residents or MB students | School year weekdays 3 to 6, summer 10 to 6 |
| Perry Park Teen Center, 2301 Grant Avenue | Redondo Beach | Not specified | Monday 2 to 6, Tuesday to Friday 3 to 6 |
| El Segundo Teen Center, 405 East Grand | El Segundo | Grades 8 to 12 | Weekdays 3 to 8, Saturday 12 to 8 |
| THE ATTIC, 2320 West Carson Street | Torrance | Ages 14 to 18, residents or Torrance public high school | School year weekdays 3:30 to 7, summer 1 to 5. $10 a year |
| Nakaoka Center teen camp | Gardena | Ages 13 to 17 | Seasonal |
| Lomita Teen Program | Lomita | Ages 11 to 14 | Summer only |
Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates and Carson have no dedicated city teen center.
allcove Beach Cities is worth knowing about on its own terms. It is an integrated youth mental health center for ages twelve to twenty-five at 514 North Prospect Avenue in Redondo Beach, open weekdays 1 to 7, covering mental and physical health, education and employment support, and peer and family support. It is free. The Beach Cities Health District also runs a Youth Advisory Council for grades eight through twelve, and members earn community service hours.
The Annex at the Peninsula Center Library in Rolling Hills Estates is a rooftop teen space for grades six to twelve, open weekday afternoons, with its own teen advisory council.
One structural thing nobody says out loud: after-school care in most of these districts stops at fifth or sixth grade. Hermosa runs TK through 6, Redondo grades 1 through 5, El Segundo TK through 5, Torrance TK through 6. PVPUSD covers 7th and 8th only as space allows. If you are moving here with a middle schooler, the after-school hours are a real planning problem and the teen centers above are much of the answer.
Where can a teenager volunteer?
Service hours are a requirement at most local high schools, and the minimum ages are the thing that catches families out. These are the published floors.
- Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy. Outdoor Volunteer Days most Saturdays with no minimum age, which makes it the most accessible option locally. The Rapid Response trail team takes fifteen and up, team leaders sixteen and up. Hours are verified for school credit.
- Friends of Madrona Marsh, Torrance. Short-term restoration is open to all ages, under fourteen with an adult. The Advanced Restoration Crew is fifteen to eighteen by application.
- Friends of Ballona Wetlands. Geared to ten and up, under thirteen with an adult. Staff sign off on the day only, so do not expect retroactive verification.
- spcaLA. Twelve to seventeen year olds only alongside an adult who completes the same application and training.
- Marine Mammal Care Center, San Pedro. Teen Greeter roles for fifteen to eighteen, six month minimum commitment.
- Libraries. Fourteen and up at LA County Library and LAPL, fourteen to eighteen for the Peninsula library’s teen council. LAPL’s Teen Council takes members from eleven.
- Torrance Memorial. Fourteen and up, but you must be in ninth, tenth or eleventh grade at orientation. Twelfth graders are not accepted, and the commitment is thirteen consecutive months. Apply in the winter of sophomore or junior year, not senior year.
- Torrance Youth Volunteer Leadership Training Program. Grades ten to twelve, a mandatory week of training in June plus 100 volunteer hours through the summer. It is an explicit pathway into part-time city recreation jobs, which makes it one of the few local programs that leads to paid work.
- Beach cleanups. Heal the Bay’s Nothin’ But Sand runs the third Saturday of each month, all ages, and Adopt-a-Beach issues a certificate after three cleanups. Surfrider’s South Bay chapter runs monthly cleanups. Coastal Cleanup Day is the third Saturday in September across sixty-plus county sites, and under-eighteens need a parent-signed waiver.
- LA Regional Food Bank takes fourteen and up, but has no South Bay facility. The nearest are Los Angeles, City of Industry and Long Beach.
Key Club and Interact chapters operate inside individual high schools rather than centrally, so the school activities office is the place to ask.
What costs nothing?
More than people expect. Every beach and all three piers. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium on a donation, the Roundhouse, the Torrance Art Museum, the Marine Mammal Care Center, Madrona Marsh, White Point, Deane Dana and Point Vicente. Polliwog, Live Oak, Columbia, Ernie Howlett, Angels Gate and the Korean Friendship Bell, Ken Malloy and Del Rey Lagoon. Every skate park. Every library branch and teen space, plus online homework help through the library card. Dockweiler’s fire pits. And allcove, which is a free mental health service for twelve to twenty-five year olds and probably the most valuable free thing on this page.
Continue exploring
Programs, ages, fees and reservation rules verified against city, county and organization sources in September 2026. Camp dates and registration windows move every year and fees change. Confirm with the city or organization before you plan around any of it.