Fox · 2003–2007 · set in Newport Beach
Set in Orange County, made up the coast in Los Angeles County: a borrowed pier, a pool on a sound stage, a restaurant that was only a front.
Beverly and La Cienega · the studio zone
The industry draws a circle thirty miles round the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega. Inside it, union crews work as local; outside, they are on location and the studio pays the extra. Newport Beach is outside. That is why the show was made where it was. Put the point on the corner and open the compass.
The thirty-mile zone is centred on the south-east corner of Beverly and La Cienega; inside it work is local, outside it is on location, with per diems and extra costs.
The show is set in Newport Beach, but the penalties for filming outside the studio zone meant much of it was shot in Manhattan Beach.
Distances on this page are measured from OpenStreetMap’s position for that corner to each place’s mapped position.
OpenStreetMap way/557636023 — Beverly Connection, the south-east corner of Beverly and La Cienega
The compass is shut. Open it.
6.0 miles
Outside the compass.
6.3 miles
Outside the compass.
7.9 miles
Outside the compass.
8.1 miles
Outside the compass.
12.2 miles
Outside the compass.
14.7 miles
Outside the compass.
14.8 miles
Outside the compass.
16.3 miles
Outside the compass.
22.9 miles
Outside the compass.
23.2 miles
Outside the compass.
25.2 miles
Outside the compass.
41.1 miles · outside the zone
Outside the compass.
42.7 miles · outside the zone
Outside the compass.
Every filming place here sits inside the line; the farthest, in Malibu, is 25.2 miles out. The Cohen house and the Bait Shop are not on the chart: one is a private home, the other has gone.
Two piers, one show
The helicopter shots that say Newport show the Balboa Pier: one straight deck with one restaurant. The pier the gang actually walks is Redondo’s, four structures joined in a horseshoe. Bend one into the other.
Set · Newport Beach
One straight deck: the Balboa Pier, Newport. Bend it.
Shot · Redondo Beach
Balboa is a single straight pier with one restaurant; Redondo is four connected structures; the diner is at the south-west corner, the Bait Shop at the north-east corner by the breakwater, the hanging out on the middle walkway and Lindsay’s scene beneath the pier. The plan is a sketch, not to scale.
Seeing Stars: The O.C. — the pierSeeing Stars: The O.C. — the Bait ShopSeeing Stars: The O.C. — the Pier Diner
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach
The aerial shots that say Newport, one of them in the opening credits, show the Balboa Pier. The show’s pier is not this one.
Balboa is a single straight pier with one restaurant; Redondo is four connected structures in a horseshoe.
It was built in 1906 with the Balboa Pavilion, and the first of Orange County’s Ruby’s Diners opened on it in the 1980s.
A public pier at Balboa Village, at the foot of Main Street on the peninsula.
100–500 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach
The show’s Newport pier was mostly the Redondo Beach Pier, at the west end of Torrance Boulevard.
The Pier Diner is the Redondo Coffee Shop, at 141 Fisherman’s Wharf on the pier.
Many hanging-out scenes were shot on the middle north–south walkway, and Lindsay’s disappearance in the water was filmed beneath the pier.
The wooden Horseshoe Pier burned to the waterline in 1988. The concrete pier that replaced it was finished in 1995 and is the largest “endless” pier on the California coast.
Redondo Coffee Shop and Bait & Tackle Shop is still in the pier’s directory.
A public pier at the west end of Torrance Boulevard, open to walk. Look south: the Palos Verdes cliffs behind you are how fans tell Redondo from Newport.
North-east corner of the Redondo Beach Pier, by the breakwater
The Bait Shop was an empty building at the far north-east corner of the Redondo pier, next to a rocky breakwater.
It had stood unoccupied since the pier’s last rebuilding, and the producers used the empty building for the club.
Bands that played the Bait Shop as themselves included the Walkmen, the Killers, Modest Mouse, the Thrills, Death Cab for Cutie and the Subways.
In February 2013 it was due to be demolished; a photograph from that year shows only remnants.
The building has gone. Walk to the north-east corner of the pier, by the rocky breakwater, where it stood.
West end of Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach
Long-distance shots of “the pier” often show the Hermosa Beach Pier, a single straight pier.
In season one Marissa and Summer talk on the beach with this pier behind them, and Ryan asks Marissa out in the pier plaza.
Season four’s Newport Pier Plaza was a set; the only real footage of it is the establishing shot of Pier Avenue at the foot of this pier.
The first pier here was built in 1904. The concrete pier of 1913 is 1,000 feet long.
A public pier at the foot of Pier Avenue; the Strand runs along the sand on either side.
South Bay
Live marketplace results for bike and e-bike tours of Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach. None is built round the show; the Strand links the studio town, both piers and the Crab Shack spot.
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Compare toursStage 27 or 28, Manhattan Beach
Ryan lives in the Cohens’ pool house, and the pool is on a sound stage. It is four feet deep, so the cast played their pool scenes on their knees.
Kneeling: on screen it looks like he is out of his depth.
The pool was only four feet deep, so the cast had to act on their knees.
1600 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach
The show was shot at Raleigh’s Manhattan Beach Studios, 1600 Rosecrans Avenue.
The inside of the Cohen house, the pool house and its blue infinity pool were permanent sets on stages 27 and 28.
The pool was only four feet deep, so the cast acted on their knees.
Season four’s Newport Pier Plaza, with Seth’s comic shop and Ryan’s cantina, was built on a sound stage here.
A working studio lot, closed to visitors. You can see the campus from Rosecrans Avenue at Aviation Boulevard.
Ocean Breeze Drive, Malibu
In the story the Cohens live in the Crystal Cove and Pelican Hill area of Newport Beach. The real house is a private home on Ocean Breeze Drive in Malibu.
The cast filmed at the house in the first two episodes; later appearances mostly reuse that footage.
The pilot’s exteriors were shot in Malibu and the inside was rebuilt at the studio in Manhattan Beach.
A private home. It is named here and kept off the map; Zuma Beach is the nearest public shore.
The Strand beside Noble Park, Hermosa Beach
The Crab Shack was never a restaurant: it was a front put up on the Strand near 15th Street, beside Noble Park, to catch the beach behind it, and later taken down.
Seth and Ryan stop there in “The Outsider”, and Ryan later gets a job there.
A public beach path. The front has gone; stand on the Strand near 15th Street, by Noble Park, and look out to sea.
Malibu and Marina del Rey
Seth’s catamaran takes Ryan out on his first day, sits at a marina dock when Seth dreams of Catalina, and the harbour park next door once held a school carnival.
The first sail
Point Dume, Malibu
In the pilot Seth takes Ryan out on his catamaran, the Summer Breeze, in the water east of Point Dume, with the headland behind the boat.
They bring the boat in on a beach on the east side of the peninsula, between Zumirez Drive and Paradise Cove Road.
Point Dume State Beach is public. For the landing beach, park by Paradise Cove and walk about a third of a mile south-west along the sand.
The mooring
West end of Fiji Way, Marina del Rey
Seth’s catamaran, the Summer Breeze, is moored here in the season one finale, when he talks to Ryan about sailing to Catalina.
Fisherman’s Village is a waterfront mall and boat anchorage built in the style of a New England fishing village, with a lighthouse.
The banana stand in Arrested Development was filmed next to the same lighthouse.
A public waterfront at the west end of Fiji Way, beside the marina’s main channel.
The Ferris wheel
13650 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey
The school carnival in “The Heights” was set up in the park’s car park; Ryan and Marissa get stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel.
The park is open from 6am to 10pm every day, with picnic shelters, harbour viewing areas and guest docks.
A county park on the harbour, open 6am to 10pm every day, with picnic shelters and guest docks.
Palos Verdes, Brentwood, University Park
The weddings, the funerals and the schools of the richest town on the show were all found inside the line.
Wedding · Funeral
5755 Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes
Julie and Caleb marry here at the end of season one, and Caleb’s funeral is held here in season two.
Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the 100-seat glass chapel, built from about 1949 to 1951. It became a National Historic Landmark in 2023.
Land movement closed it in February 2024; by September 2024 it had been taken apart and its pieces stored.
In May 2025 the chapel said it was working to rebuild elsewhere, most likely at the Battery Barnes site about a mile west.
The chapel has been taken down and the site is closed. The coast road, Palos Verdes Drive South, runs past it.
Engagement shower
100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes
Julie’s engagement shower was filmed at the Catalina Room, a wedding garden on the old Marineland of the Pacific site at Long Point, named for its view of Catalina on a clear day.
The Catalina Room closed in March 2006 to make way for a resort.
Terranea Resort opened on the site in 2009.
The garden has gone; a resort stands on the site. Its restaurants and coastal paths are open to visitors.
Harbor School
12001 Chalon Road, Brentwood, Los Angeles
Harbor School was shot at a real college: the Chalon campus of Mount Saint Mary’s, high in the hills of west Los Angeles.
The university’s Doheny campus near Downtown looks nothing like Harbor.
The Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet founded the university in 1925; the Brentwood campus sits on a 1,100-foot ridge.
A private university campus high on a Brentwood ridge, not a visitor attraction.
Brown
University Park, Los Angeles
Seth’s visit to Brown in “The College Try” was mostly shot at USC, on the north side of the Bovard Administration Building.
Bovard was completed in 1921 and is one of the university’s oldest buildings.
The campus walks and the quad are open to walk through; the Expo Line stops at its edge.
Rancho Palos Verdes · Sunday By The Sea from $275
The resort on the old Marineland site where Julie’s engagement shower garden stood, at 100 Terranea Way; rooms look out to Catalina. The Autumn Unwind offer starts at $375 a night with a $100 dining credit; Sunday By The Sea starts at $275.
See the resortAnd Newport itself
The Crab Shack was inspired by the Crab Cooker, which was not used for filming.
The show calls it the Crab Shack, but in one episode Julie Cooper uses its real name.
Bob Roubian founded it in 1951, and the food comes on paper plates. The first building was demolished after building work next door damaged it; the new one opened in 2021.
A working seafood restaurant at 22nd Street and Newport Boulevard, a few minutes’ walk from the Newport Pier.
Newport Beach
Live marketplace results for harbour cruises and tours in Newport Beach, the town the show is set in.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursThe people
Josh Schwartz created it. Around the four young leads are Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan as Sandy and Kirsten Cohen, Tate Donovan and Melinda Clarke as Jimmy and Julie Cooper, Chris Carmack as Luke, Alan Dale as Caleb Nichol, Autumn Reeser as Taylor Townsend and Willa Holland as Kaitlin. Alexandra Patsavas chose the music, and Phantom Planet’s “California” is the theme. Fox showed the first episode on 5 August 2003 and the last on 22 February 2007.
Creator, cast, music supervisor, theme, dates, four seasons and 92 episodes, 7.46 million US viewers for the pilot, six soundtrack albums.
10 places you can visit, from Malibu to Newport. The Cohen house is a private home and the Bait Shop building has gone: both are named here, not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public pier at the west end of Torrance Boulevard, open to walk. Look south: the Palos Verdes cliffs behind you are how fans tell Redondo from Newport.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public pier at the foot of Pier Avenue; the Strand runs along the sand on either side.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public beach path. The front has gone; stand on the Strand near 15th Street, by Noble Park, and look out to sea.
100–500 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach
The show’s Newport pier was mostly the Redondo Beach Pier, at the west end of Torrance Boulevard.
A public pier at the west end of Torrance Boulevard, open to walk. Look south: the Palos Verdes cliffs behind you are how fans tell Redondo from Newport.
West end of Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach
Long-distance shots of “the pier” often show the Hermosa Beach Pier, a single straight pier.
A public pier at the foot of Pier Avenue; the Strand runs along the sand on either side.
The Strand beside Noble Park, Hermosa Beach
The Crab Shack was never a restaurant: it was a front put up on the Strand near 15th Street, beside Noble Park, to catch the beach behind it, and later taken down.
A public beach path. The front has gone; stand on the Strand near 15th Street, by Noble Park, and look out to sea.
Stay
The resort on the clifftop where Julie’s engagement garden stood.
Rancho Palos Verdes · Sunday By The Sea from $275
The resort on the old Marineland site where Julie’s engagement shower garden stood, at 100 Terranea Way; rooms look out to Catalina. The Autumn Unwind offer starts at $375 a night with a $100 dining credit; Sunday By The Sea starts at $275.
See the resortGo there
Bike tours of the South Bay, Malibu by road, and Newport Harbor by boat.
South Bay
Live marketplace results for bike and e-bike tours of Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach. None is built round the show; the Strand links the studio town, both piers and the Crab Shack spot.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursMalibu
Live marketplace results for Malibu tours. Check each route for Point Dume and Zuma Beach.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursNewport Beach
Live marketplace results for harbour cruises and tours in Newport Beach, the town the show is set in.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Two nights in the harbour park where the carnival stood.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The first of the six soundtrack albums, on CD.
Various artists · Enhanced CD, 2004
The first of the show’s six soundtrack albums, released in the US on 30 March 2004.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
15 of 15 places · 16 of 16 Moments
100–500 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach
The Pier Diner first appears in season one, episode two: the Redondo Coffee Shop on the pier.
North-east corner of the Redondo Beach Pier, by the breakwater
From season two the gang hang out at the Bait Shop, where real bands play as themselves.
West end of Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach
Marissa and Summer talk on the beach with the pier behind them, and Ryan asks Marissa out in the pier plaza.
The Strand beside Noble Park, Hermosa Beach
Seth and Ryan stop at the Crab Shack, and Ryan takes a job there.
1600 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach
Ryan lives in the pool house; the pool scenes are shot on a stage in Manhattan Beach, in water four feet deep.
Ocean Breeze Drive, Malibu
Sandy brings Ryan home to a house on the hill; the outside is a private house in Malibu.
Point Dume, Malibu
Seth takes Ryan sailing on his catamaran east of Point Dume, then they bring it in on the beach.
West end of Fiji Way, Marina del Rey
In the season one finale Seth, aboard the Summer Breeze, talks to Ryan about sailing to Catalina.
13650 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey
At the school carnival in “The Heights”, Ryan and Marissa get stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel.
12001 Chalon Road, Brentwood, Los Angeles
Harbor School, from season one, episode eight onwards, is a college campus in Brentwood.
University Park, Los Angeles
Seth visits Brown in “The College Try”; the campus is USC.
5755 Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes
Julie marries Caleb at the end of season one; the party dances in the garden in front of the chapel.
In season two, Caleb’s funeral is held in the same chapel.
100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes
Julie’s engagement shower is held in a clifftop wedding garden that looks towards Catalina.
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach
The aerial shots that tell you this is Newport, one of them in the opening credits, show the real Balboa Pier.
2200 Newport Boulevard, Newport Beach
Julie Cooper calls the Crab Shack by its real name, the Crab Cooker.
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