Southern California stretches miles of coastline from Malibu to San Diego plus many cities inland and into parts of the desert. This region is one of the most visited places in America and one I’ve been lucky enough to call home for almost 29 years. As we continue to do more armchair traveling, here are some virtual tours and online experiences of many Southern California attractions to fuel your wanderlust for now and hopefully add some to your bucket list.
Beach Cams
Visitors all over the world flock to our beaches. Who can blame them? We love our local beaches and at certain times of the year, the sunsets are incredible. Most of our beaches are currently closed so these have also helped with my cabin fever until we can walk the sandy shores again.
When we go back to our old normal, these live web cams can also come in handy to check what’s happening at the beach – the weather, surf, and crowd. These are the various live and web cams around the popular beach areas.
San Diego Beaches
Los Angeles Beaches
Orange County Beaches
Amusement Park and Attractions
Legoland California
If your Lego fan-loving kids are getting restless, join the #LetsBuildTogether. Kids can watch several videos to build various Lego objects from a dog, pirate to a cupcake. There are also weekly activities from maze challenges, trivia, word searches and coloring pages.
Disneyland Virtual Visit
It’s usually “The Happiest Place on Earth” but with no foreseeable timeline of when the park will open again, these tours and virtual rides are the next best thing. These are a couple of sites that compiled lists of videos for virtual rides on many of the park’s popular rides.
Disneyland Virtual Rides and Walkthroughs
Officially from the Disney Parks Blog is a rare tour of the Walt Disney Imagineering. The Imagineers pretty much make the magic happen in the parks. So, this video series is quite a treat.
Zoos/Aquariums
San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Check out all these twelve wonderful live webcams at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Visit your favorite animals and see what they are up to. Most of them are operational between 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM PST. Outside those times, it is a rebroadcast of that morning’s stream.
My favorites are the polar bear, koala and the ape cams. Be careful, you may just keep coming back for a daily dose of cuteness.
Sea World San Diego
The Saving a Species Video Series is a must see for animal lovers. There are various short segments or a full episode to learn more about each animal that includes penguins, cheetahs, tigers and polar bears. It’s such a great way to learn about these amazing animals. There are also teacher toolbox with many activities and resources for the virtual classroom.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography – La Jolla
Have you ever watched a Kelp Cam? The Birch Aquarium offers live streaming of its Giant Kelp Forest exhibit. See which of its interesting residents pop up on the screen. Look out for the 300-pound Giant Black Seabass. The Kelp Cam looks like a screensaver and can be quite calming.
Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach
The Long Beach Aquarium provides many 24-hour live webcams of its popular animal exhibits. We love the above the water, underwater and nest box views of the penguins. Don’t miss the webcam for the Tropical Reef Habitat which is their largest exhibit and contains over 1,000 animals. You’ll be amazed at what colorful and unique fishes pop up on your screen.
Check out the Aquarium’s Online Academy for the kids. It’s a great way to learn more about the animals through on-demand videos and entertaining activities for kids of all ages. Activities range from coloring books, drawing to dissections.
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
The LA Zoo is offering a “Bring the Zoo to You” series. There are various videos of their resident animals from the hippos to the macaws. You have to check out this baby gorilla video – guaranteed to make you smile and gush. The zoo also has coloring books to download for youngsters and educational videos.
National Park System/Nature Centers
Cabrillo National Monument
We love Cabrillo National Monument for its panoramic views, tide pools, rock formations, Point Loma lighthouse, whale watching areas, cultural and history lessons. Check out some ways you can experience this special area
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Within an easy drive from the Los Angeles urban center, the Santa Monica Mountains provide a great oasis from the city’s hustle and bustle. There are over 500 miles of trails from Malibu’s beaches to the mountaintops. It’s also a wonderful place to learn about how the Native Americans lived here. Since you’re near Hollywood, you can also visit a film set at the Paramount Ranch.
Joshua Tree National Park
This unique desert park is filled with large yucca plants called Joshua trees where no two are alike and all look like they’re part of Dr. Seuss dream world. But, there is more to this park which includes giant boulders, numerous trails and a large variety of cacti and desert plants.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is California’s largest park. Located about two hours from San Diego, this park is a favorite area during Spring to view wildflowers. The park is a great place for hiking, learn about nature, culture and see some unique metal art. Their Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students (PORTS) program is a great resource for teachers and students with free interactive video programs and opportunities to connect with the park rangers.
Temecula Valley
I am lucky enough to live about 30 minutes from Southern California Wine Country. My husband and I usually enjoy sneaking away to a winery and enjoying the surrounding scenery around this time. For now, I am loving these virtual experiences from unique tours, wine tasting, cooking demos and even going on a hot air balloon ride.
Southern California Museums
Balboa Park is San Diego’s cultural hub with over 20 museums and the best way to immerse in the arts, history, sciences and participate in cultural activities. Check out Balboa Park TV which features 21 channels of many videos, virtual guided tours, virtual concerts, activities from its many museums. It’s a great way for the whole family to learn and explore virtually. I hope they keep this around after the museums open.
These are some of our favorite channels:
- Fleet Science Center has FleetTV offering some hands-on activities and science experiments to try. Learning science can be fun outside of the virtual classrooms.
- The kids at the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory are beyond amazing. This channel is a great way to watch their concerts from home and hopefully inspire you to attend one of their live concerts.
- Balboa Park to You. I love the many fun facts they featured here. We love Balboa Park and have visited for many years so these were great to learn about.
- The Old Globe Theater. From Shakespeare, concerts to musicals, there is no shortage of culture and entertainment at The Old Globe Theater. Catch up on some shows here.
- We have never visited the San Diego Museum of Man. So, this mobile tour was a great way to learn more about it with exhibit information and behind-the-scenes experiences and see the hidden spaces.
San Diego Museum of Art
If you’ve never visited the Museum of Art in Balboa Park, the SDMA mobile app is a great way to do a virtual tour of the museum, hear insider talks and learn more about their collection. It will make you want to visit when they eventually open.
I love the Masterpiece Minute Podcast which is a 6o-second burst o knowledge from the museum’s curators about some select art works. Check out their YouTube channel that offers lectures and15-minute Art Stops informative talks.
If you have some budding artists at home, check out SDMA At Play to do many at-home activities from drawing to doing collages.
San Diego Natural History Museum
We like visiting The Nat for its diverse exhibits. They’re offering plenty of digital experiences and at-home educational activities. Check out Nat TV for some cool videos taking you behind the scenes at the museums and some informative lessons and Nature & Me Storytime.
There are plenty of activities to do at home for the whole family from scavenger hunts, virtual walks and coloring pages. The Science Blog is a wealth of information for nature and animal lovers. For a more in-depth look, I love looking through this database to see various 3D Models of many specimens. Be sure to check the “All Specimens with 3D Models” box before submitting form.
USS Midway Museum – San Diego
The USS Midway is the 20th century’s longest serving US Navy aircraft carrier full of aviation and military history exhibits. It is such a fun ship to visit and see how the sailors lived. But, my kids’ favorite part is getting up close to the various fighter jets and military aircraft.
The Midway Virtual Tour is the next best thing to do that comes with a self-guided audio tour and a 360-degree tour. This tour is actually a more in-depth look at the aircraft gallery and its most popular areas and exhibits. If you have children, check out the Little Skippers area for activity sheets and do the Family Audio Tour.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden – San Marino
This attraction is another one of our favorite places in the Los Angeles region. It’s one of the best places to spend a day with the family. The Botanical gardens are one of Huntington’s best features. The Botanical Collections Tour is a great way to see the plants and flowers blooming from the various gardens that include the Japanese, Chinese, Children’s and Rose gardens. The ‘Here and Now’ podcast series is an audio essay about an insight into the museum’s collection.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
This family favorite museum launched the NHMLAC Connects program.which is full of activities, videos, online adventures and virtual tours. There are many programs to learn and for students of all ages to participate from growing their eggshell herb garden to re-creating dioramas or doing scavenger hunts. Virtual visitors can meet the museum animals or Skype with scientists.
The Getty Center and Villa – Los Angeles
The Getty is one of my favorite museums and garden areas that you should definitely put it on your SoCal list to visit. For now, the museum offers plenty of resources to enjoy art at home. There are plenty of art-related activities for kids of all ages from drawing, coloring to sculpting/creating an ancient Greek inspired cup. I love the Getty Challenge to re-create art with household items.
The museum also has plenty of digital resources to learn about art history from podcasts, YouTube channels to books. There are plenty of ways to see their current exhibitions especially the “Michelangelo: Mind of the Master” audio tour which I highly recommend.
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