California's recreational spiny lobster season opened at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026, and runs through Wednesday, March 17, 2027. That's more than five months of hoop nets coming off Cabrillo Beach Fishing Pier and divers going in off Paseo del Mar. Most people in San Pedro learn the calendar. The rule that trips people up is about location. The same lobster, the same night and the same hoop net can be legal on one structure and need a license a few steps away on the next.
California doesn't require a fishing license on a "public pier" in ocean or bay waters. That term has a strict legal meaning. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says a public pier has to connect to the shoreline, allow free and unrestricted public access, and have been built for fishing or work mainly as a fishing structure. A breakwater only counts if it's publicly owned and forms the most seaward protective edge of an ocean harbor.
Cabrillo Beach Fishing Pier is on CDFW's official list of public piers, jetties and breakwaters. The same list entry adds a note: "on the adjacent breakwater a fishing license is required." Rock that sits right next to the pier at Cabrillo Beach falls under different rules than the pier deck.
The license exemption is narrow even on the pier. CDFW says plainly that size limits, bag limits, report cards and seasons all still apply on a public pier. Each person can use only two rods, lines, nets or crab traps there. For lobster, that means a maximum of two hoop nets per person on a public pier.
The pier sits inside Cabrillo Beach at 3720 Stephen M. White Dr. The City of Los Angeles lists the facility's hours as 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and allows fishing. The city doesn't post separate hours for the pier, so the beach hours are the only official hours on record.
Some paperwork applies everywhere. Every person who takes lobster in California needs a Spiny Lobster Report Card, which costs $12.70 under CDFW's 2026 fee schedule. That includes people fishing from public piers and children who don't otherwise need a sport fishing license.
That changes the math for a family night on Cabrillo Pier. Adults and kids alike skip the license on the pier deck. Anyone actually catching lobster still needs a card.
The card has a calendar of its own, and the dates that matter fall well after the last net comes out of the water:
The size and bag limits are the same no matter where you stand. You can keep seven lobsters per person, each at least 3¼ inches in carapace length. That's measured in a straight line down the middle of the back, from the rear edge of the eye socket to the rear edge of the body shell.
| Where you are | Fishing license | Report card | Gear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrillo Beach Fishing Pier | Not required | Required | Up to 2 hoop nets per person |
| Breakwater next to the pier | Required | Required | Standard rules |
| Shore dive, such as Royal Palms | Required, plus Ocean Enhancement Validation | Required | Hands only |
| Boat | Required | Required | Up to 5 hoop nets per person, 10 per vessel max |
| Point Vicente and Abalone Cove SMCAs | No lobster take allowed | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Leave the pier and get in the water, and every requirement on the list applies. Divers taking lobster need a report card and a California sport fishing license. In ocean waters south of Point Arguello, they also need an Ocean Enhancement Validation unless they're fishing on a one- or two-day license. Skin and scuba divers can take lobster only by hand. They also have to measure each lobster underwater and release undersized ones right away.
Royal Palms is a known lobster spot, and that's why CDFW enforcement shows up in the record there. The Daily Breeze reported in August 2025 that on August 1, wildlife officers found four divers at Royal Palms with 236 lobsters, during the closed season. For scale, the legal limit for four people on any open-season night is 28.
Getting to that stretch of coast takes a bit more planning this season. LA County Beaches & Harbors says the L.A. County Sanitation Districts have started construction at Royal Palms and White Point beaches. The work prepares the site for a tunnel boring machine arriving for the Clearwater Tunnel project. Both beaches stay open, but parking, including ADA spaces, is limited to the north and south sides of the construction zone. The restrooms and showers have moved and are still open. Work generally runs Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and is expected to continue through 2027. Weekday crews leave by mid-afternoon, so construction hours don't overlap with the evening hoop-net window.
The County lists the beach at 1799 Paseo del Mar, with public and street parking from dawn to 8:30 p.m. Its parking pass table lists separate winter and summer hours for the White Point/Royal Palms lot. Winter hours are 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and summer hours are 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and the table notes parking is limited because of construction. Anyone planning to stay into the evening should check which schedule is in effect.
Head northwest along the Peninsula and the rules stop changing, because lobster take ends altogether. Point Vicente State Marine Conservation Area is no-take. Abalone Cove State Marine Conservation Area allows some recreational fishing, but lobster isn't on its list of exceptions. Taking lobster is prohibited in both. CDFW publishes the boundary coordinates on its Point Vicente and Abalone Cove page. The agency's Ocean Sport Fishing Interactive Web Map is its own tool for checking a location before you set a net.
From Cabrillo Pier to the conservation areas, the stretch covers three rule zones: no license, full license, and no take.
The state's numbers show how popular the fishery has become. CDFW's 2026–27 fishery bulletin reports that divers and hoop-netters logged more than 49,400 trips statewide in the 2025–26 season and kept more than 136,800 legal-size lobsters. That's the highest count since report cards began in 2013. Those totals cover all of California, not San Pedro alone.
Two hoop-net rules took effect January 1, 2026, so this is the first lobster season they apply to. It's now illegal to disturb, move or damage another person's hoop net. The second rule bans unique line markings of the kind some other fisheries require. On a public pier where each person can drop up to two nets, the first rule covers every crossed line and neighboring net along the rail.
Boats out of 22nd Street keep running through lobster season, but not all of them are set up for lobster. 22nd Street Sportfishing lists a nine-boat fleet. Its schedule for October 8, 2026 shows finfish trips, including an AM half-day, not lobster charters. California fishing licenses are required on all of its trips. For divers, Eco Dive Center's boat schedule lists Pacific Star departures from 141 W. 22nd St. It says responsible lobster grabbers are welcome and shows a trip on October 10.
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, on the same beach as the pier, has a quieter version of the season's draw. Its calendar lists a free, naturalist-led Point Fermin Tidepool Walk on Saturday, October 10, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Sea Scare! Monsters of Myth follows on Saturday, October 17, from 7 to 10 p.m., with trick-or-treating, a costume contest and a family-friendly haunted house. Food trucks arrive at 5 p.m. If a family hoop-net night on the pier comes first, the anglers need their report cards. The aquarium visit afterward doesn't need anything.
CDFW updated its Southern Region fishing summary on October 2, 2026. Rules can change during a season, so check the CDFW recreational lobster page before a night on the water.
Gary Krill Jr. grew up in San Pedro and has been a licensed broker here since 1991. In his work, the coast from Cabrillo Beach to Royal Palms is part of the local map he uses to value homes. If you live near the pier or along Paseo del Mar and want to know what your home is worth this season, Selling San Pedro can put together a valuation based on local sales.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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Gary has a true passion for the real estate business and prides himself on staying up to date on current market conditions, latest real estate trends, and innovation that can help him and his clients to be more successful when working together.