Empire Landing

Located to the east of the community of Two Harbors, Empire Landing is a north-facing beach with light brown sand. This beach is situated below a blufftop oceanfront residential area (also named Empire Landing).

There are many attractions near Empire Landing within an hour-and-10-minutes drive.  The Wrigley Marine Science Center (which is a part of the University of South California’s Wrigley Institute) is a research center and teaching facility which is generally only accessible to research scholars, faculty, and students from the University of South California, and other academic groups. However, from May 31 to August 30, the research center offers interesting tours of its premises for the general public on Saturday mornings. Visitors can view many interesting research exhibits, a touch tank, and a hyperbaric chamber. In addition, they can also attend an informative science lecture. If you are interested in being a part of this tour, you can visit the "Saturdays at the Lab" webpage of Wrigley Marine Science Center’s website or call (310) 510-0811 for more information. If you like arcade gaming, Three Palms Avalon Arcade has an amazing gaming arcade and a bowling alley. If you are looking for another attraction near Empire Landing, Machine Gun Park is a recreational park with a children’s playground and a German machine gun dating back to the First World War.

Getting to the beach in Empire Landing is easy - the beach is easily accessible via Empire Landing Road. Unfortunately, the blufftop area above the beach is a part of a private residential community and closed off to access by the general public. Nevertheless, you can access an abandoned rock quarry near this beach named Empire Quarry via boat. The water near this quarry offers a great scuba diving experience and you can explore a vibrant underwater landscape and marine biodiversity while diving here.

As an interesting fact, this beach is named after a large ranch in Arizona named the Empire Ranch. The owner of the ranch, Walter Vail, leased large parts of Santa Catalina Island from the original owners of the island (the Banning family) for grazing livestock. In addition, the area around the beach was often used for quarrying rocks, which were then transported across the Pacific Ocean for sale in mainland California. The area around Empire Landing also shows signs of settlement by the Native American Tongva people, who often quarried the soapstone (also known as steatite) deposits present near Empire Landing. The Tongva used soapstone to make crockery and also traded it with other Native American peoples living in mainland California. 

There are many attractions near Empire Landing within an hour-and-10-minutes drive.  The Wrigley Marine Science Center (which is a part of the University of South California’s Wrigley Institute) is a research center and teaching facility which is generally only accessible to research scholars, faculty, and students from the University of South California, and other academic groups. However, from May 31 to August 30, the research center offers interesting tours of its premises for the general public on Saturday mornings. Visitors can view many interesting research exhibits, a touch tank, and a hyperbaric chamber. In addition, they can also attend an informative science lecture. If you are interested in being a part of this tour, you can visit the "Saturdays at the Lab" webpage of Wrigley Marine Science Center’s website or call (310) 510-0811 for more information. If you like arcade gaming, Three Palms Avalon Arcade has an amazing gaming arcade and a bowling alley. If you are looking for another attraction near Empire Landing, Machine Gun Park is a recreational park with a children’s playground and a German machine gun dating back to the First World War.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Empire Landing within a 20-minute drive. Harbor Sands offers a pleasant oceanfront dining experience. In addition, the restaurant also serves amazing salads, seafood, burgers, tacos, and chicken skewers. Harbor Reef Restaurant offers outstanding seafood and serves amazing freshly-caught swordfish during summers. In addition, the restaurant also serves amazing American dishes including steaks and burgers. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Empire Landing, West End Galley offers amazing breakfast and lunch dishes including sandwiches, pizzas, wraps, burritos, salads, and burgers.

If you are looking for a hotel near Empire Landing, there are many great nearby options within an hour-and-10-minutes drive. The 4-Star Mt Ada Bed & Breakfast was the former retreat of renowned industrialist William Wrigley Jr. and offers many amenities including a bar, a fireplace, a terrace, complimentary access to the butler’s pantry throughout the day (which includes alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, fruits, mixed nuts, and ice-creams), access to a golf cart for exploring the city of Avalon, and complimentary shuttle service from the airport, heliport, boat terminal, or other hotels. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Banning House Lodge offers many amenities including complimentary breakfast, a terrace with views of the Pacific Ocean, a common room with a fireplace, a sunroom, and complimentary shuttle service. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Empire Landing, the 2-Star Casa Mariquita Hotel offers many amenities including two outdoor patios, complimentary breakfast, and a beach towel loaner facility.