White Point/Royal Palms Shoreline Complex off Paseo del Mar at the base of a 100-foot bluff, enjoys glittering ocean vistas and Santa Catalina Island in the distance. A shelf of shore curving west from a rocky point, a reef, and some large trees to the west are remnants of the Royal Palms Recreation Center, developed by Ramón Sepúlveda. 

Any day is a fantastic day to visit this stunning Los Angeles County park. Located near the northern edge of San Pedro and southern point of Rancho Palos Verdes, it was once the the White Point Hot Spring Hotel, a spa that was popular in the 1920s and '30s, especially with Japanese-Americans. While you can still see the ruins on the beach, White Point and Royal Palms County Beaches now  attract a diverse population of Los Angeles beach-goers and tourists. Great spots for family picnics, fishing, rock climbing, surfing, plus restrooms and picnic facilities overlooking stunning views of Catalina Island, glass cases near the picnic facilities include 1920s and ’30s era images of the location.  

The paved road to the beach is steep, so it’s best to drive down the hill and park in the public spaces. A large patio at the upcoast end of the beach was once the dance floor of the Royal Palms Recreation Center. Now the area is a shaded  picnic spot furnished with benches. A stream (dry in the summer) runs down the cliff face, under the patio, and out to the ocean.

White’s Point, at the downcoast end of the beach is less accessible. Boulders line the shore and surround the ruins of mineral baths. In 1933 an earthquake closed the warm-water vent. There are tidepools among the rocks and ruins, but you’d have to leave your chair behind and climb over the boulders to see them.

Tojuro Tagami and his brother Tamiji, built and operated the spa in partnership with the landowner, Ramón Sepúlveda. It included a sulfur-spring pool kids used to bathe in on their way home from school. They blasted roads, dug out the sulfur hot spring. It was a favorite place for Japanese-Americans to come for picnics. The Tagamis were not the first Japanese immigrants to discover White Point. Around 1898, 12 fishermen arrived from the small town of Los Angeles and discovered the abundance of lobster and abalone at the reef. Sepúlveda built housing for them on the shore, and they soon were harvesting two tons of abalone a day. In 1906, with stocks being rapidly depleted, the state legislature restricted the take and the operation folded. Contributing to its demise was fear of the "Yellow Peril," fueled by Randolph Hearst in the Los Angeles Examiner. Yellow Peril was a racist term, a color metaphor for race, referring to the skin color of East Asians, and the xenophobia that a mass immigration of Asians would threaten wages and standards of living.

The Tagamis, who farmed at West Adams Street in Los Angeles, were attracted to White Point by the healing qualities of the spring. Tamiji suffered severely from arthritis but after several weeks of immersion in the hot water from the ocean, he recovered and was again able to work. So they built a bathhouse, and went on to build a saltwater swimming pool, cabins, a restaurant, and a hotel. The next generation of Tagamis continued to operate the spa. There was a pier and fishing barge where Spanish mackerel, bass, and jack smelt were plentiful. The Tagamis also trapped lobsters and dove for abalone for their Rancho de los Palos Verdes was divied out in land grant deeds with Don Delores Sepulveda receiving his parcel in 1822 for his support of the Mexican Revolution. He held the land for 60 years till 1882. The Bixby family, whose holdings stretched the coast and included Long Beach ranchos to the south, sold a parcel to Frank Vanderlip  in 1913. This president of National City Bank in New York and one time owner of the peninsula acquired the property from Jotham Bixby, and was reportedly so inspired by what he saw that he called in design experts who created set back requirements, prohibited billboards and imposed a system of  architectural review.  Builders administered by the Palos Verdes Homes Association and the Palos Verdes Art Jury set the tone for a newly formed development that even today includes only small road signs as you enter the cities that feature properties ranging from modest homes to mansions, many with stunning cliff-top ocean views. 

Tourists who want to see the splendor of the ocean and to enjoy the natural resources can take docent-led nature hikes.  Los Serenos de Point Vicente docents conduct guided tours of the Ocean Trails Project. The walks begin at the public parking lot at the end of La Rotonda Drive off of  Palos Verdes Drive South. Docents lead hikers through paved trails along a bluff and habitat corridor. They provide information about the history, geology, marine ecology and habitat restoration work of the Ocean Trails project. Tours last approximately two hours. No reservations required. Monthly walks led by PVP Land Conservancy 310-373-0202 

There are six blue spaces in the lot at the beach, none in the blufftop lot. Park restrooms have wide stalls and grab bars.
Facilities: Tidepools, Swimming, Surfing, Diving, Picnic area, Promenade, Restrooms, Showers
Children: playground
Parking: 191 spaces, (13 disabled),
Electric Vehicle - 1inductive, 1 conductive
Lifeguards: Lifeguards are on the beach during daylight hours.
Southern Surf Report (310-379-8471)