The road out to Point Fermin ends at a Victorian lighthouse built in the 1870s, a wooden tower with gingerbread trim that once guided ships into San Pedro Bay. It stands in a cliff-top park at the very southern tip of Los Angeles, and beside it the land has been slowly sliding into the sea for a century, leaving a jumble of broken streets and foundations known as Sunken City.
San Pedro is the port of Los Angeles, a working harbour town of cranes, container ships and fishing boats, with a strong identity shaped by generations of Croatian, Italian and Mexican fishermen and dockworkers. The Vincent Thomas Bridge, a green suspension bridge, arches over the harbour, and the battleship Iowa, a museum ship, is moored on the waterfront.
Up on the hill, in Angels Gate Park, the Korean Bell of Friendship, a huge bronze bell in an ornate pavilion, was given to the United States by South Korea in 1976. It is rung on a few special days each year, and the view over the ocean and Catalina Island is superb.
For riders, Palos Verdes Drive, the coastal road that winds around the peninsula, is one of the best rides in the LA area, with cliffs, coves and ocean views. The road is well kept for the most part, but it shifts in places due to landslides. Watch for cyclists, who are numerous, and for police.
Down on the waterfront, the big fish market restaurant serves trays of fried and grilled seafood at long communal tables, loud, messy and very San Pedro. Fuel stations line Gaffey Street on the way out.