Alamitos Bay is the best place to paddle board in Long Beach. For a first time on a board, launch at Mother’s Beach on Naples Island, where the water is calm and shallow. For the prettiest paddle, start at Bay Shore and wind through the Naples canals past waterfront homes and private docks.
Long Beach is unusually calm for the Southern California coast. Alamitos Bay is tucked behind the Long Beach Peninsula, so ocean swell never reaches it. Even the open beaches are sheltered: the federal breakwater, finished in 1949, shields the whole city shoreline, so on most days there’s only a small lap of waves at the sand. The trade-off is water quality. Because the breakwater also stops the water flushing, the beaches are best avoided for a few days after rain.
Quick answer
- First time on a board: Mother’s Beach (Marine Park), inside Alamitos Bay.
- Most scenic: the Naples canals, launching from Bay Shore.
- Renting: Kayaks on the Water on the Bay Shore beach, directly across from the canals.
- Quieter water: the bay-side beaches along the Peninsula.
- Flat-ish ocean: Belmont Shore, launching near Granada Avenue, on a calm morning.
The best places to paddle board in Long Beach
Mother’s Beach (Marine Park)
DirectionsBest for: beginners and families with young kids. Flat water.
Marine Park, which everyone calls Mother’s Beach, is on the northeast side of Naples Island at 5839 Appian Way. The City of Long Beach describes it as having gentle waves, a shallow swim area and lifeguards at busy times, and because it sits inside Alamitos Bay just below Marine Stadium, it stays calm when the ocean is rough.
Where to launch: From the sand outside the roped swim area. There’s a parking lot right behind the beach, ringed by grass and trees, plus a playground at the north end and restrooms with showers at the south end. Park hours are 8 a.m. to sunset.
What to avoid: Marine Stadium, the long straight channel just north of the beach, is a water-ski course. The city allows water skiing there in designated areas from 8 a.m. to sunset and reserves early mornings for rowing, so it’s not a place to wander on a paddle board. Stay in the bay.
Good to know: There’s a small pier in front of Mom’s Beach House Café (open weekends) where you can tie up a kayak or paddle board and grab breakfast. Dragon boat and outrigger clubs are based here, so expect company on weekend mornings.
Bay Shore and the Naples canals
Directions
Best for: sightseeing, rentals and an easy loop. Flat water, with some boat traffic.
Bay Shore is the beach on the southwest side of Alamitos Bay, at Bay Shore Avenue and East Ocean Boulevard (5415 E. Ocean Blvd). It’s separated from the ocean by the Peninsula, so the water stays calm year-round. Across the bay is Naples, a set of three small islands split by canals that open into the bay. Paddling the canals is the classic Long Beach outing: waterfront homes, little private docks, and the occasional Gondola Getaway gondola drifting past.
Where to launch: The city provides a loading and unloading area for kayaks, paddle boards and other small craft, and a wash-down area for rinsing your board afterwards. Bayshore Park, at the base of the Peninsula, has a parking lot. The roped swim area and the 500-yard marked open-water swim course are for swimmers, so launch outside them and steer clear when you’re coming back in.
Rentals and lessons: Kayaks on the Water (5411 E. Ocean Blvd) rents paddle boards and kayaks right on the beach and offers SUP instruction. You pay when you come back, by the minute after the first hour, with rates starting around $14 an hour per person at the time of writing. No reservation is needed.
Good to know: The canals are narrow and lined with private docks and boats. Keep to the middle, keep your voice down, and don’t climb onto docks. Gondolas and small electric boats use the canals too, so give them room. The shop reports that paddlers here regularly see dolphins, sea lions and harmless moon jellies in the bay.
The Peninsula
DirectionsBest for: quieter beaches and longer paddles along the bay. Flat water, busier near the channel.
The Long Beach Peninsula is the narrow strip of homes between the ocean and Alamitos Bay, running from Bay Shore to the jetties at the bay entrance. The city calls its beaches quiet and out of the way. You can watch boats coming and going through the channel and, with luck, spot dolphins or sea lions.
Where to launch: There are two city parking lots, at Bayshore Park and at Alamitos Park, one at each end of the Peninsula. From either, carry your board to the bay-side sand.
What to avoid: The far end of the Peninsula faces the entrance channel, where every boat from Alamitos Bay Marina passes on its way to sea. Don’t paddle into the channel or out between the jetties. Wind and current funnel through there, and the ocean side is a different place from the bay.
Belmont Shore beach and Belmont Pier
Directions
Best for: confident beginners who want ocean views without real surf. Open water, but sheltered by the breakwater.
Long Beach’s main beach runs for miles along Ocean Boulevard. Thanks to the breakwater, waves are usually tiny compared with Huntington or Newport, and a calm morning paddle along the sand toward Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier is a good first taste of open water. You’ll see the city’s oil islands offshore.
Where to launch: The city runs a small-vessel sand launch at Granada Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, open year-round from 8 a.m. to dusk, for small boats and personal watercraft. There’s metered parking at the Granada Avenue lot. Expect to share the water near the launch with personal watercraft.
Good to know: Rosie’s Dog Beach, an unfenced off-leash zone, sits on the same stretch of sand between Granada and Roycroft Avenues (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.). Water inside the breakwater is often among the worst on the West Coast after rain, so check the health advisory first. Read our guide on how to paddle board in the ocean before your first trip out here.
When to go
You can paddle Long Beach year-round, and the bay is calm in every season. The water stays cool, though. NOAA’s nearest station in its water temperature guide, at the Port of Los Angeles next door, averages about 58°F from January to April and around 64°F from August to October.
- Summer and early fall: warmest water and the busiest beaches. Arrive early for parking at Mother’s Beach and Bay Shore.
- Winter and spring: quiet water and empty beaches, but you’ll want a wetsuit. Our wetsuit check tells you what to wear for the water and air temperature.
- Time of day: mornings are usually calmest. An afternoon sea breeze can make the paddle back across the bay harder, so head into the wind first.
Planning a longer loop around Naples or along the Peninsula? Our Trip time calculator estimates how long it’ll take at your pace.
Rules and safety in Long Beach
California treats a paddle board like any other human-powered vessel. According to the state’s Division of Boating and Waterways:
- Life jacket: every vessel must carry a US Coast Guard–approved life jacket for each person. Children under 13 must wear one while underway. See our pick of the best PFDs for SUP.
- Sound device: carry a whistle.
- After dark: you need a white light, such as a bright flashlight, ready to show in time to prevent a collision.
Local rules and habits on top of that:
- Stay out of roped swim areas at Mother’s Beach and Bay Shore, and off the Bay Shore swim course.
- Keep out of Marine Stadium during water-ski hours (8 a.m. to sunset).
- Avoid water contact for 72 hours after significant rain. The Long Beach Health Department issues this advisory after storms because runoff from storm drains and the Los Angeles River reaches the city’s beaches and bays. Its water quality line is 562-570-4199.
- Don’t paddle the harbor entrance at the end of the Peninsula, or through the main channels of Alamitos Bay Marina, where boats are coming and going.
- Wear a leash in the bay and on the open beach, and give dolphins and sea lions plenty of space.
FAQ
Where can beginners paddle board in Long Beach?
Mother’s Beach on Naples Island is the easiest. It’s shallow, sheltered inside Alamitos Bay and has lifeguards at busy times. If you need to rent, start at Bay Shore instead, where Kayaks on the Water rents boards on the beach.
Can you paddle board the Naples canals?
Yes. Launch from Bay Shore (or rent there) and paddle across the bay into the canals. Keep a slow, quiet pace, stay off private docks, and give the gondolas room.
Do I need a permit to paddle board in Long Beach?
Not to paddle Alamitos Bay or the ocean beaches. The city’s launch ramps for trailered boats charge a day fee ($15 at the time of writing), but you don’t need a ramp to carry a paddle board into the water.
Can I bring my dog paddle boarding in Long Beach?
Rosie’s Dog Beach in Belmont Shore, between Granada and Roycroft Avenues, is a city off-leash zone open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. It isn’t fenced, and dogs must be back on a leash as soon as they leave the zone. If you’re planning to take your dog on the board, read how to paddle board with a dog first.
Is there anywhere similar nearby?
Just down the coast, Newport Harbor has its own calm bay paddling, islands and a quiet back bay. See our guide to where to paddle board in Newport Beach. Heading north instead? Our Los Angeles guide covers Marina del Rey, Redondo’s King Harbor and Castaic Lagoon. Not sure what size board you need for flat bay water? Try the Board Fitter.
