The last surviving beachfront amusement park on the West Coast, open since 1907 and still running the same two landmark rides — the 1924 Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster and the 1911 Looff Carousel — that earned it National Historic Landmark status. The Boardwalk stretches along Main Beach, with rides, games, and food stalls occupying a mile of oceanfront.
The Giant Dipper is genuinely thrilling for a century-old wooden coaster: the drops are steep, the turns sharp, and the views of the bay from the top are exceptional. The Looff Carousel has its original hand-carved horses and a band organ that plays automatically. Both are worth the ticket price for the mechanical artistry alone. The park is open year-round on weekends and daily in summer; parking in the adjacent lots is expensive but there is bus access from downtown.