Your First Weekends Home, Sand Between Your Toes

Hueneme Beach Park is 50 acres of sand at the end of Ventura Road, a few minutes from Knott Gate.

• The pier is about 1,250 feet long and open daily.
• Parking is $2 an hour or $8 for the day. An annual pass is $50 for city residents.
• On the sand: seasonal lifeguards, barbecue pits, picnic areas and volleyball. Dogs must stay leashed and off the sand.
• The memorial sundial near Lot B honors the 88 people lost on Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in 2000.

Pier fishing. You do not need a fishing license on a public pier in California. Size and bag limits still apply, and you can use two rods. People catch surfperch, croaker, mackerel, halibut and the odd small shark. Step off the pier to fish from the beach and you need a license.

The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum sits outside the fence at Ventura Road and Sunkist Street, next to Knott Gate. You do not need base access.

• Open Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Closed Sundays and federal holidays.
• Admission and parking are free.
• For kids: a hands on Bee Fun Zone and story time events.
• Phone: 805-982-5877.

It covers the Seabees from Pearl Harbor through today. If you are joining a battalion, start here.

Five islands off the coast with no cars, no stores and a fox found nowhere else on earth.

• Boats are run by Island Packers from Ventura Harbor and Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.
• Crossing takes about an hour to Anacapa or Santa Cruz.
• Fares to Anacapa or Santa Cruz are $72 for adults and $52 for kids 3 to 12. A service member and one dependent pay $67 each.
• The park is free. There is no entrance fee.
• Do: kayak the sea caves at Scorpion Anchorage with a guide, hike, snorkel the kelp, camp.
• Whales: gray whales from late December to mid March. Blue and humpback whales in summer.
• Bring water, food and layers. There is nothing for sale on the islands and you pack out your trash.

The park visitor center at Ventura Harbor is free and open daily. Active duty families get a free annual pass to every national park, and veterans get a free lifetime pass.

Fifteen miles down Highway 1, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the ocean.

• Trails: more than 70 miles. The Chumash Trail climbs to Mugu Peak in under three miles round trip, steep the whole way.
• Camping: Sycamore Canyon has full campground comforts. Thornhill Broome puts your tent on the beach. Reserve through ReserveCalifornia.
• Parking is $12 a day, or less by the hour.
• Dogs are allowed in campgrounds and day use areas and not on trails.

California veterans with a 50% or higher disability rating can get a free Distinguished Veteran Pass for state parks. Anyone can borrow a free state parks day pass from a public library.

• Channel Islands Harbor. Sunday farmers market, kayak and paddle board rentals, and protected beaches for small kids at Kiddie Beach and Hobie Beach.
• Oxnard Beach Park. Lawns, barbecues and a pirate ship playground behind the dunes.
• Ventura. The pier, Main Street downtown and Surfers Point.
• Heritage Square, Oxnard. Restored Victorian homes with weekend tours and summer concerts.
• Camarillo Premium Outlets and The Collection at RiverPark for shopping and movies.
• Underwood Family Farms. Pick your own produce in Moorpark and Somis, with a fall harvest festival through October.
• Channel Islands Maritime Museum. Free for active duty families from Armed Forces Day through Labor Day.

The 2026 Banana Festival was September 26 and the 2027 date is not posted yet. The Strawberry Festival moved from Oxnard to the fairgrounds in Ventura in 2023. The Oxnard Salsa Festival skipped 2026 and plans to return in July 2027. For the air show, see the Point Mugu Air Show page.