Stearns Wharf - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Santa Barbara, California. The museum has ten indoor exhibit halls focusing on regional natural history including astronomy, birds, insects, geology, mammals, marine life, paleontology, plant life, and the Chumash Indians. It holds a research library, the John & Peggy Maximus Art Gallery and is the only museum to house a full-dome planetarium on the Central Coast.

This is a wiode sandy beach located in the west of and adjacent to Stearns Wharf Pier at State Street. This is also where the outriggers hold lessons and where many kayaks, windsurfers, and sailboats set out. Thousands of tourists on Stearns Wharf look out at West beach every day because the wharf is actually built on top of it.

Chase Palm Park along the Pacific Coast, in the heart of Santa Barbara, with its palm trees, is a very pleasent park for walking, running, and biking. This is an extensive park that encompasses much of both sides of East Cabrillo Boulevard and includes a palm tree-lined park adjacent to East Beach. An oceanfront bike path and walkway runs the length of Chase Palm Park from Stearns Wharf along East Beach.

Shipwreck playground is a shipwreck-themed playground that was thoughtfully designed and modeled after an ocean schooner from the turn of the century. At Shipwreck Playground children can play on two awesome climbing structures as well as several interesting sculptures such as surfacing whales, a conch shell lighthouse, and a nautilus shell play area – all situated in a white beach sand and other soft surface material.

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.

Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is one of the best things to do in Santa Barbara, particularly for families. Discover 13,000 years of human interaction with the Santa Barbara Channel inside the doors of this hidden gem, overlooking the scenic Santa Barbara Harbor.Through the museum’s many hands-on activities, you can learn about sustainable fishing in a kelp forest, raising a sail, diving, sport fishing and more. Stop by the onsite gallery to see rotating exhibits of ocean-themed artwork.