Seal Beach, CA

Seal Beach combines a compact oceanfront district with two land uses that occupy much of the city: Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach and the age-restricted Leisure World community. Seal Beach had 25,242 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated 24,075 in 2025. Before incorporation, Anaheim Landing served as a port for inland communities and the settlement later took the name Bay City. The city officially incorporated as Seal Beach on October 27, 1915. Old Town's Main Street runs toward the municipal pier, beach, and Eisenhower Park, concentrating many public activities within a few blocks. The wooden pier supports fishing, and a current city capital project is addressing structural deficiencies in its concrete abutment. In summer 2026, weekly Wednesday concerts at Eisenhower Park used the adjoining stretch of Ocean Avenue for vendors and pedestrian gathering space.

ATTRUS Bureau of Ocean Energy Management / Public domain

The Mary Wilson branch of OC Public Libraries sits beside the former Pacific Electric right-of-way and lends mobile hotspots, laptops, musical instruments, technology, toys, and other items; it also maintains Spanish-language collections and recurring adult book groups. A different coastal landscape survives behind the weapons station's controlled boundary. Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge protects tidal marsh and other estuarine habitat used by migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway, including the endangered light-footed Ridgway's rail and California least tern. Because the refuge shares an active military installation, general access is limited to preregistered escorted tours, normally offered on the last Saturday of each month except December.