20 Attractions to Explore Near Stearns Wharf

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Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

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.

West Beach

West Beach

0.42km from Stearns Wharf

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

Chase Palm Park

0.65km from Stearns Wharf

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

Shipwreck Playground

0.66km from Stearns Wharf

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.

Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Moreton Bay Fig Tree

0.88km from Stearns Wharf

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

Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

0.99km from Stearns Wharf

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.

East Beach

East Beach

1.03km from Stearns Wharf

East Beach located in Santa Barbara, California, United States, is often the first beach seen upon entering the city limits. It is separated from West Beach by Stearn's Wharf, and is proximal to downtown Santa Barbara. East Beach is the primary beach for tourists, as some of the major Santa Barbara hotels face this beach. The stretch of beach is not frequented as a surfing destination. East Beach is also home to the Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguards, who operate for seven weeks during the summer.

Leadbetter Beach

Leadbetter Beach

1.5km from Stearns Wharf

Leadbetter Beach is a City beach and park between the Santa Barbara Harbor and Shoreline Park and across from Santa Barbara City College. The Shoreline Beach Cafe offers diners tables on a covered patio or even in the sand. Outdoor showers, restrooms, a grassy picnic area combine to make this a mecca for the young and active. It is also a popular location for kitesurfers and windsurfers during the summer, when the wind is consistent.

Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

The Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, a contemporary art museum, is at Santa Barbara, United States.The categories covered by MCASB involve various fields of design. It includes the topic of male and female, media, race, and geological study. It aims at displaying, expressing, discovering, and exploring the potential of the art and design in this era.

Santa Barbara Historical Museum

Santa Barbara Historical Museum

1.67km from Stearns Wharf

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located in Santa Barbara, California, U.S. It features relics from Chumash, Spanish, Mexican, Yankee, and Chinese cultures, including artifacts, photographs, furnishings and textiles, dating as far back as the 15th century.

Casa de la Guerra

Casa de la Guerra

1.72km from Stearns Wharf

This was the residence of the fifth commandant of the Presidio de Santa Barbara, José de la Guerra y Noriega, founder of the Guerra family of California. It is now a popular site for community and private events.The site is currently owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation as a historic house museum. The address is 15 East De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California.

Presidio of Santa Barbara

Presidio of Santa Barbara

1.86km from Stearns Wharf

Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, is a former military installation in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Second Military District in California. The park contains an original adobe structure called El Cuartel, which is the second oldest surviving building in California; only the chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, known as "Father Junípero Serra's Church", is older.

Santa Barbara Zoo

Santa Barbara Zoo

1.89km from Stearns Wharf

The Santa Barbara Zoo is located on 30 acres  near the ocean in Santa Barbara, California. It was built on the site of what was known as the Child Estate. The zoo has been ranked numerous times as one of the nation's best small zoos. It has more than 500 animals in numerous exhibits, including capybara and California condors, and is famous for having had a giraffe with a crooked neck.

Santa Barbara Museum Of Art

Santa Barbara Museum Of Art

2.25km from Stearns Wharf

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Santa Barbara, California. It is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which includes Asian, American, and European art that spans 4,000 years from ancient to modern. Its permanent collection includes more than 27,000 works of art, including paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, ceramics, glass, jades, bronzes, lacquer and textiles

Shoreline Park

Shoreline Park

2.46km from Stearns Wharf

Shoreline Park is a popular 14.6-acre coastal bluff park located west of Leadbetter Beach. Park amenities include a playground, two restrooms, individual picnic tables and barbeques, a group picnic area, sidewalks, park benches, and beach access stairs. This park is perfect for a family picnicThe beach below the bluffs is relatively narrow and rocky and is often covered in water due to tides.

Alameda Park

Alameda Park

2.76km from Stearns Wharf

Alameda Park is a two-block park in downtown Santa Barbara. As one of the city's oldest parks, it is home to a variety of rare trees and plants. These horticultural treasures include the soapbark tree, the white ironwood, and the bunya-bunya tree, just to name a few.

Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden

Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden

2.86km from Stearns Wharf

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens is a stunning park spanning a square block in downtown Santa Barbara. There are 75 different tree and plant species and you can enjoy walking paths, picnic areas, and a picturesque Gazebo. The park also has a koi pond where you’ll find visitors feeding resident ducks.

Andree Clark Bird Refuge

Andree Clark Bird Refuge

2.87km from Stearns Wharf

This is a 42-acre saltwater marsh, is one of the largest wildlife refuges in Santa Barbara County and is managed by the City of Santa Barbara Parks Division. The refuge has a 29-acre freshwater/brackish lake, an artificially modified estuary that is usually about four feet deep, which drains through East Beach into the Pacific Ocean. Three islands are located in the lake. A great overlook of the Bird Refuge is available at the neighboring Santa Barbara Zoo, below the Condor Exhibit.

1000 Steps Beach

1000 Steps Beach

3.01km from Stearns Wharf

This is a narrow beach below homes high on East Mesa bluffs. The dilapidated concrete stairs, originally constructed in the 1920s, show their age. It is not particularly popular for sunbathing but can enjoy fun tide pool exploration and beachwalking.

Butterfly Beach

Butterfly Beach

3.45km from Stearns Wharf

Butterfly Beach is located along Channel Drive in the upscale community of Montecito. This is a popular beach with locals, many with dogs. Students are known to pack the beach at times. There are stairs to the widest and most popular part of the beach at Butterfly Lane, and another set of stairs in front of the Biltmore.

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Know more about Stearns Wharf

Stearns Wharf

Stearns Wharf

217 Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA

Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara. The famous Dolphin Fountain, sculpted by local artist Bud Bottoms, marks the start of the wharf and welcomes visitors from around the globe. Steadfast wooden timbers support the wharf above the blue Pacific Ocean.