Point Dume in Malibu and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Shore entry or a short boat ride.
Malibu and Palos Verdes
Two pairs of protected areas on the Los Angeles coast. At Point Dume and Abalone Cove the conservation areas allow white seabass and the named pelagics by spear; the reserve at Point Dume and the no-take area off Point Vicente allow nothing.
The next three mornings
Is it worth getting out of bed?
Reading the forecast for every spot…
What divers actually saw
Loading reports…
Get a ping the evening before Malibu & Palos Verdes looks good
Go means wind under 8 kt, under 3 ft of swell reaching the spot and under 1.5 ft of surge at 30 ft, every hour from 7 to 11 am. Rules of thumb, not a safety call: how each spot is judged. Visibility is not in the verdict, because no feed measures it at the spot: the Vis column shows a diver’s report from the last 48 hours when there is one, and otherwise an estimate from satellite water clarity, surge and rain.
4 protected areas, and what each one allows
Every boundary is CDFW’s and every rule is quoted in full on the card, with its section of CCR Title 14 §632(b) and the date it was read.
These three labels are this chart’s shorthand for four separately written regulations. Each area is governed by its own section of CCR Title 14 §632(b), named when you hover it. The rules differ area by area and change — check CDFW before you take anything.
Somewhere else in mind? Tap the open water to drop your own mark.
Tap the spots you’d actually get on a boat for. No commitment — it tells us which water to plan the first season around.
The rule, in CDFW’s words · §632(b)(118)
Point Dume State Marine Reserve
It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource.
Outside every protected area — general California regulations apply.
The rule, in CDFW’s words · §632(b)(119)
Point Vicente State Marine Conservation Area
It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource. Take incidental to certain permitted activities may be allowed. Other restrictions may apply. See CCR T14 §632(b) (link below) for details.
The rule, in CDFW’s words · §632(b)(120)
Abalone Cove State Marine Conservation Area
It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource, EXCEPT: Recreational take of market squid by hand-held dip net, and white seabass and pelagic finfish (northern anchovy, barracudas, billfishes, dorado (dolphinfish), Pacific herring, jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, Pacific sardine, blue shark, salmon shark, shortfin mako shark, thresher shark, swordfish, tunas, Pacific bonito, and yellowtail) by spearfishing is allowed. Commercial take of coastal pelagic species (northern anchovy, Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel, and market squid) by round-haul net, brail gear, and light boat is allowed. Not more than five percent by weight of any commercial coastal pelagic species catch landed or possessed shall be other incidentally taken species. Commercial take of swordfish by harpoon is allowed.
MPA boundaries: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, ds582. Regulations: CDFW per-MPA pages, retrieved 2026-10-04. Spot positions: USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names, California), public domain.