The City of Long Beach is a huge port city with a beautiful coastline. Located on the southeast edge of Los Angeles County, it contains everything from exclusive and affluent neighborhoods to large industrial areas. With immigrants from all over the world, the Port of Long Beach is a culturally diverse city that feels more like an East Coast blue-collar city than chic coastal California. While it is not well-known as a tourist destination, the Port of Long Beach is close to many Southern California attractions. Cruise passengers will more likely travel through the Port of Los Angeles. Despite its highly-competitive neighbors, the Port of Long Beach has some tourist attractions that are world-class. For details on the things to see and do in the Port of Long Beach, please visit the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau website.
RMS Queen Mary
Photo by David Lofink
Being adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, the Port of Long Beach enjoys moderate temperatures and wonderful weather throughout the year. During the summer, fog and low clouds are common overnight and in the morning. In the afternoons, the sea breeze keeps it cool despite high temperatures. Rain falls during the winter, but the Port of Long Beach receives less rain than many nearby locations near the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. Temperatures range from an average high of 29 °C (84 °F) in August to an average low of 7 °C (45 vF) in December.
The Port of Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the biggest and most modern aquariums in the United States. With 19 major habitats and 32 focus exhibits, visitors will love viewing almost a thousand marine species from the Pacific Ocean's three major regions: the Northern Pacific, the Tropical Pacific, and Southern/Baja California. At the aquarium, visitors can touch deep-sea legends in Shark Lagoon or hand-feed lorikeets. You can take a Behind-the-Scenes tour or enjoy a Harbor Cruise. The film "Monsters of the Abyss" is a 3D digital animation and adventure of the deep ocean, and "A Fish Story" is a great 3D film for kids.
One of the most popular attractions in the Port of Long Beach is the Queen Mary, the world-famous ocean-liner and World War II troopship that has been restored and docked in the Port of Long Beach since 1967. Visitors can explore the amazing vessel, enjoy a meal, go shopping, luxuriate in the spa, or spend the night in a first class stateroom. More adventurous travelers may want to join the two-hour paranormal shipwalk tour to explore for ghosts and see the "paranormal hotspots" not usually open to the general public.
Gerald Desmond Bridge
The Gerald Desmond Bridge connects the east side of Terminal Island and POBL to downtown Long Beach.
Photo by neighborhoods.org
The Port of Long Beach is proud to be the home of the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA). Founded in 1996, the MOLAA is the only museum in the United States featuring modern and contemporary Latin Art. In addition to the galleries, it has a 1.4 thousand square meter sculpture garden. The permanent collection includes works by artists from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Today, the collection includes over 900 works of art that include paintings, photography, video, sculpture, and works on paper from more than 350 Latin American artists.
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