Back in the 1920’s a land developer in Southern California sought to create beach houses with beautiful cliffside views at Point Fermin, which is the southern most tip of San Pedro, CA. Little did he and his cohorts know that nature had other plans, as a series of landslides would take the developed area into the Pacific Ocean. The land moved at a rate of almost one foot per day, and what remains, nearly 90 years later, is a popular Los Angeles attraction known as, “Sunken City.”

Through DiscoverLosAngeles.com and the recommendations of a few rideshare passengers, I had heard of Sunken City probably back in 2015, but had never taken the time to visit and explore. I’m on a mission in 2017 to “get back into California.” The rhythm of working and sitting Los Angeles traffic started to wear on me over the last couple of years and I started to forget to take advantage of California’s beautiful landscape. But in 2017, I’m going back to the ocean or high on a hill as often as possible.

Lacking any cliffside fencing and with bluffs anywhere from 50-100 feet to the ocean, Sunken City is pretty dangerous. It’s technically blocked to the public with many signs denoting “no trespassing.” Enter at your own risk. Of course, for artists and explorers, that makes the area all the more attractive. Street artists/graffiti artists have claimed the jagged concrete remains as an open canvas, and expressive, vibrant color fills the landscape.

On a random Tuesday, I decided that it was time to check it out. I drove down to San Pedro, parked and walked over to Point Fermin Park, found the little hole in the fence, broke the law, and had a great time exploring. (If you’re ever interested in going, there are plenty of websites that describe where that little hole in the fence is located. Just Google, “how to get into Sunken City.”)

As soon as I saw the ocean and cliffside bluffs, I knew it was worth the trip and trespassing:

Hello my squirrel friend:

As you'll start to see, there were others in the area that day. Again, it's a popular attraction. Some of the people out there went as far as having a professional photoshoot at the site. I'm sure that's very common, but it was wild to see them with cases of gear and setting up equipment.