Top 15 Things To Do in Malibu, California

Malibu’s city tours are coastal odysseys—short, scenic stretches of Pacific Highway threaded with tidepools, surf culture, mid-century architecture, and wind-sculpted headlands. This guide focuses on touring Malibu itself: walking and e-bike routes around the pier and lagoon, curated PCH drives, small-group food and architecture walks, and boat or kayak outings that extend the city tour into the kelp forest. For travelers who want a day that feels half-urban discovery and half-outdoor escape, Malibu’s neighborhood-to-beach itineraries deliver an accessible slice of Southern California life.

Malibu's coastline reads like a traveler's itinerary for light and movement: low cliffs pocked with tide pools, long ribbons of sand, and outlooks that catch the Pacific's restless mood. Sightseeing tours here are an exercise in contrasts — slow coastal walks and photography-focused excursions, high-speed boat trips past sea caves, and guided drives that stitch together the region's natural and cultural highlights. Whether you're watching migrating gray whales from a cliffside viewpoint, exploring tidepools at low tide, or tracing the Pacific Coast Highway through eucalyptus shadow, Malibu's sightseeing offerings are as much about atmosphere as they are about landmarks.

Malibu’s bike tours are a study in contrasts: glassy ocean vistas and wind-swept promontories, quiet canyon climbs through coastal chaparral, and the steady hum of the Pacific Coast Highway under your tires. Whether you’re seeking a relaxed e-bike cruise along the shoreline, a spirited road ride over coastal rollers, or technical singletrack in the Santa Monica backcountry, Malibu delivers short, photogenic routes with big-sky rewards. This guide curates the best rides, practical route choices, safety considerations, and seasonal tips to help riders of every level plan a memorable pedal along Southern California’s most cinematic coast.

Long rights, a storied pier, and a surf culture that helped shape modern California surfing: Malibu is less a single beach than a coastline of distinct breaks. From the gentle, longboard-friendly rollers at Surfrider to the punchier beach breaks at Zuma and the seasonal reef workhorses at County Line/Point Dume, Malibu offers experiences for beginners, longboard purists, and experienced wave riders hunting a classic West Coast ride.

Malibu's shoreline—an endless interplay of cliffs, surf, and open sky—unfolds most accessibly from the windows of a well‑planned bus tour. From scenic PCH stretches and celebrity-lined coastal roads to inland valleys of oak and chaparral, Malibu bus tours condense a region of layered landscapes and lifestyles into a comfortable, curated day. Choose between short coastal shuttles, full-day culinary and wine loops, eco-focused wildlife runs, or private shuttles that pair seaside stops with short hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains. Across 27 active outings, the bus tour scene here is as varied as the coastline itself.

Malibu condenses quintessential California into every turn: white-sand beaches, wind-sculpted bluffs, and a ribbon of road that begs to be ridden. Bike rentals here are less about a single trail and more about choice—beach cruisers for easy seaside spins, e-bikes for tackling the coastal up-and-downs, road bikes for clipped-in miles on PCH, and mountain bikes for the dirt tracks threading the Santa Monica Mountains. Whether you want a sunset roll by the pier or a full-day loop into canyon country, local rental outfits make it easy to match machine to mood.

Malibu’s walking tours stitch sun-scorched cliff rims, tidepools, and oak-studded canyons into short routes that feel cinematic at every turn. These guided and self-guided walks lean into coastal ecology, ranch history, and easy seaside promenades—perfect for travelers who want pace, panorama, and a strong dose of salt air.

Malibu’s stitch of ocean-scraped cliffs, chaparral ridgelines, and quiet canyon roads is a perfect canvas for the electric bicycle. E-bikes flatten coastal headwinds and make scenic climbs accessible, letting riders thread effortless seaside cruises with bursts of backroad exploration. This guide focuses on where to ride, when to go, what to expect from terrain and regulations, and how to pair your e-bike day with surfing, hiking, and wine-country pauses.

Malibu’s marinas are the practical gateway to Southern California’s wild blue edge: a small cluster of slips, launch ramps, and seaside eateries from which kayaks, sportfishing boats, charter yachts, and paddleboarders stage their days. This guide focuses on the marina experience—boarding, launching, and provisioning for coastal boating—while weaving in nearby adventures like coastal hikes, surf breaks, and whale-watching runs that maximize a day spent on or beside the water.

Malibu compresses coastal wilderness into a twenty-mile ribbon of bluffs, beaches, estuaries, and chaparral foothills. For wildlife watchers the variety is the draw: offshore cetaceans and playful dolphins, tidepool communities exposed at low tide, raptors and songbirds moving along the coastal corridor, and a surprising cast of terrestrial mammals—mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, and even mountain lions—moving through the Santa Monica Mountains. This guide focuses on where to look, when to go, and how to plan wildlife-first trips that are safe, low-impact, and richly rewarding.

Malibu’s shoreline is a narrow, sunlit ribbon of sea and cliff where surf culture meets coastal cruising. Sailing here is intimate—short passages, dramatic headlands, kelp forests and the occasional dolphin escort—making it ideal for half-day charters, sunset sails, and coastal exploration. This guide focuses on sailing-specific experiences from gentle instruction and shared afternoon sails to private charters and more technical coastal passages for experienced crews.

Malibu threads the Pacific like a string of sunlit coves and rocky promontories where the surf meets kelp and the city traffic dissolves into wind and salt. For anglers, that edge is everything: shore-casting from Point Dume, dropper-looping for halibut in the shallows, jigging near kelp for kelp bass, or boarding a charter to chase yellowtail and tuna on the bluewater beyond the reef. This guide focuses on the patterns, places, and practicalities of fishing in Malibu—shore, pier, and offshore—so you can plan trips that fit a single morning or a multi-day haul. Expect a coastal mosaic of accessible public access points, family-friendly pier days, technical rock-fishing spots, and commercial charters that peel away the curtain to open ocean structure.