King Harbor is the small-boat marina that wraps around the curve of coast just north of the pier. It shelters around 1,400 vessels — mostly recreational sailboats, sport-fishing charters and a handful of commercial fishing boats — behind a long breakwater that gives the harbour its name (King for the substantial public works push that built it in the 1960s).
The promenade around the harbour is lined with seafood restaurants, kayak rental shops, sailing schools and dive operators. The northern end backs onto the Seaside Lagoon. Several small beaches sit between the breakwater and the inner moles, with calm protected water that is popular with families and beginning paddlers.
A nine-day fish die-off in March 2011 killed an estimated million sardines in the harbour after they exhausted the oxygen in the enclosed water — the event made international news and led to ongoing oxygenation projects in the inner basin.