Is there a sand beach at Lunada Bay?

No. The shore is cobble and rock below bluffs about 150 feet high, reached by steep trails, with no lifeguard and no facilities. It's good for tidepools at low tide and for expert surfing on winter swells. For sand, Lunada Bay families drive to RAT Beach below Malaga Cove or the South Bay beaches beyond it.

Are Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay in a fire hazard zone?

Malaga Cove mostly is, and Lunada Bay mostly isn't. On CAL FIRE's 2025 map about 75% of the PVE homes on our Malaga Cove map are in a Very High zone, including most of Via del Monte, Via Campesina and Via La Selva, and nearly all the rest are High or Moderate. In Lunada Bay about 9% are Very High and roughly 8% more High or Moderate. Check the exact parcel and get an insurance quote early.

Which is closer to LAX, Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay?

Malaga Cove. It's at the north entrance to the Peninsula, with the shortest drive down the hill of any Peninsula neighborhood, and LAX is roughly half an hour away in normal traffic, longer at rush hour. From Lunada Bay, plan on about 40 minutes outside rush hour, because every trip starts with Palos Verdes Drive West or the climb over the hill.

Which has older homes, Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay?

Malaga Cove. Its classic houses are 1920s and 1930s Spanish and Mediterranean homes near Malaga Cove Plaza, many still close to original, with postwar ranch homes on the upper streets. In Lunada Bay about 84% of the houses were built between 1950 and 1979, and about 7% in 2000 or later.

Do homeowners in Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay pay the Palos Verdes Estates police parcel tax?

Yes, in both neighborhoods. Measure E charges $342 per parcel plus 20 cents per square foot of building to help fund the city's own police department, and it expires June 30, 2027. On November 3, 2026, voters decide on Measure PVE, which would raise the base rate to $1,025 a year through 2033 and needs a two-thirds vote to pass.

Which has more restaurants nearby, Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay?

Malaga Cove. Riviera Village, the walkable restaurant and shop district in south Redondo Beach, is a few minutes down the hill. Lunada Bay Plaza has Lunada Kitchen & Deli, Java Wave and Salsa Verdes, and Golden Cove on Hawthorne Boulevard, a few minutes south, has a Trader Joe's and more restaurants.

Malaga Cove vs Lunada Bay, Palos Verdes Estates

Q: Can you walk to the beach from Malaga Cove?

Yes. A switchback path near the Palos Verdes Beach & Athletic Club drops to the beach in the cove, and RAT Beach runs about three-quarters of a mile north from there to Torrance Beach. Paseo Del Mar's bluff path runs along the top.

Q: Which has better schools, Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay?

They're in the same district, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. The difference is distance: Lunada Bay Elementary, Palos Verdes Intermediate and Palos Verdes High are all inside Lunada Bay. Assignments go by address and boundaries shift, so check the exact address in PVPUSD's School Locator before you write an offer.

Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay? The short answer.

Malaga Cove if you want 1920s architecture, a plaza, a sand beach below the bluff and the shortest drive off the Peninsula; Lunada Bay if you want a midcentury house near three public schools and far fewer homes in fire zones. Both are in Palos Verdes Estates, with the same 1923 restrictions and Art Jury. In September 2026, nine Malaga Cove houses were asking about $2.25 million to $14.5 million, and three in Lunada Bay about $2.8 million to $6 million. About 75% of PVE homes on our Malaga Cove map are in a Very High fire zone, versus about 9% in Lunada Bay. Its shore is rock, not sand, under bluffs about 150 feet high, with a big winter wave.

See them for yourself.

Round gray cobblestones at the water's edge, a calm ocean and a steep green bluff under a blue sky with white clouds — Malaga CoveCobblestones and green bluffs along the shore at Malaga Cove on a summer evening

Sunlit sandstone cliffs curve around a calm cove with a cobble beach, with homes and trees along the top under a blue sky — Lunada BayLate afternoon sun on the cliffs around the Lunada Bay cove in December

Purple jacaranda and blue agapanthus fill a hillside garden under tall trees, sun through the branches, a peacock in the shade — Malaga CoveJacaranda and agapanthus in morning sun on Via Pinale in Malaga Cove

A deep blue ocean with a long wave breaking into white foam, one surfer riding it and several others paddling nearby — Lunada BaySurfers waiting as a big winter swell breaks at Lunada Bay

Yellow tables and rattan chairs on a brick patio under yellow umbrellas, surrounded by trees and potted plants — Malaga CoveCafe tables under yellow umbrellas in a courtyard on Malaga Cove Plaza

A pine silhouetted at sunset on the Palos Verdes Estates bluffs — Lunada BayDecember sunset from the bluffs north of Lunada Bay

Live from the MLS

Malaga Cove vs Lunada Bay by the numbers.

Malaga Cove$4.35M

Lunada Bay$3.08M

Malaga Cove$1,311

Lunada Bay$1,017

Homes for sale in Malaga Cove are 21% bigger than in Lunada Bay.

Malaga Cove3,443 sq ft

Lunada Bay2,839 sq ft

Malaga Cove60 days

Lunada Bay23 days

The price scale and the gauge run from one end of the Palos Verdes Estates neighborhoods we cover to the other. Each bar on the price per square foot card is one of them, lowest asking price first. Right now Malaga Cove has 6 homes for sale and Lunada Bay has 6. Asking prices for homes on the market right now inside each mapped area, not sale prices.

Updated October 4, 2026, 2:00 AM PT

Which one fits you?

Malaga Cove 4Lunada Bay 4

Malaga Cove

1920s architecture and history

Malaga Cove was the first part of the Olmsted-planned Palos Verdes Project to be developed, and its streets still have 1920s and 1930s Spanish houses around an arcaded 1920s plaza and a 1930 library listed on the National Register. Lunada Bay filled in after World War II, so most of its houses are midcentury ranches.

Malaga Cove

Sand beach you can walk to

A switchback path near the Palos Verdes Beach & Athletic Club drops to the beach, and RAT Beach runs about three-quarters of a mile north to Torrance Beach. Lunada Bay's shore is cobble and rock, so families there drive to RAT Beach for sand.

Malaga Cove

Restaurants nearby

Riviera Village, the walkable restaurant and shop district in south Redondo Beach, is a few minutes down the hill. Lunada Bay Plaza has a deli, a coffee shop and a Mexican restaurant, and for anything more you're driving to Golden Cove or down the hill.

Malaga Cove

Shorter drive to LAX and the freeways

Malaga Cove is at the north entrance to the Peninsula, with the shortest drive down the hill of any Peninsula neighborhood, and LAX is roughly half an hour away in normal traffic. From Lunada Bay, plan on about 40 minutes outside rush hour.

Lunada Bay

Schools inside the neighborhood

Lunada Bay Elementary, Palos Verdes Intermediate and Palos Verdes High are all inside Lunada Bay. Malaga Cove is in the same district, PVPUSD, and the district can tell you which schools a specific house is assigned to.

Lunada Bay

Fewer homes in fire zones

On CAL FIRE's 2025 map about 9% of Lunada Bay homes are in a Very High zone and roughly 8% more are High or Moderate; the rest are outside the zones. In Malaga Cove about 75% of the PVE homes on our map are Very High, and nearly all the rest are High or Moderate.

Lunada Bay

Big-wave winter surf

The bay has one of Southern California's best-known big-wave breaks, ridden since the 1960s, and under a 2024 settlement the city agreed to put up signs saying the beach is open to everyone. Malaga Cove's surf spot is Bluff Cove to the south, at the bottom of a steep dirt trail, and it works on the right swell.

Lunada Bay

An ocean view one row back

Lunada Bay's terrace tilts enough that second- and third-row homes often still see water over the roofs in front of them, and they cost less than homes on the bluff edge. In Malaga Cove two similar houses a block apart can be priced very differently because one looks at the water and the other at a hillside.

Compare the details.

Looking through white brick arches with carved capitals into a sunny courtyard with jacaranda and people under yellow canopies

Malaga Cove

The first streets the Olmsteds drew, still centered on a 1920s arcaded plaza

Median asking $4.35M

See homes Read the Malaga Cove guide

Rows of white waves roll into a curved rocky cove beneath a pale cliff topped with homes, under a clear blue sky

Lunada Bay

Midcentury view streets on 150-foot bluffs above the Peninsula's best-known winter wave

Median asking $3.08M

See homes Read the Lunada Bay guide

Homes and lots
	Malaga Cove	Lunada Bay
Era of homes	1920s and 1930s Spanish and Mediterranean near the plaza; 1940s and 1950s ranch homes on the upper streets	About 84% built 1950 to 1979, mostly ranch style; about 7% built 2000 or later
Housing mix	Single-family houses: original Spanish homes, bluff and view homes, postwar ranch homes	About 1,500 single-family homes; typical lot about 10,000 sq ft, half between about 8,300 and 12,700
House asking prices (Sept 2026)	Nine listed, about $2.25M to $14.5M; most $3M to $8M	Three listed, about $2.8M to $6M

Daily life
	Malaga Cove	Lunada Bay
Where it is	Northern corner of Palos Verdes Estates, next to Torrance and Redondo Beach	Western edge of Palos Verdes Estates, facing the open Pacific
The shore below	Path down to the beach; RAT Beach's sand to the north, Bluff Cove's cobble surf break to the south	Cobble and rock under bluffs of about 150 ft; steep trails, no sand, no lifeguard
Shops and dinner	Malaga Cove Plaza for errands; Riviera Village a few minutes down the hill	Lunada Bay Plaza (deli, coffee, Mexican); Golden Cove and Trader Joe's a few minutes south
Public schools	PVPUSD; ask the district which schools serve the address	PVPUSD; Lunada Bay Elementary, PV Intermediate and PV High are inside the neighborhood
LAX by car	Roughly half an hour in normal traffic, longer at rush hour	About 40 minutes outside rush hour, more at peak times

Rules and risks
	Malaga Cove	Lunada Bay
Fire zone (CAL FIRE 2025)	About 75% of PVE homes on our map Very High; nearly all the rest High or Moderate	About 9% of homes Very High, roughly 8% High or Moderate; the rest outside the zones
Design review	1923 restrictions, Art Jury and city permits; Neighborhood Compatibility hearing for big projects	1923 restrictions, Art Jury and city permits; Neighborhood Compatibility hearing for big projects

Daily life in each neighborhood

Malaga Cove has a 1920s plaza, a library and a bluff path. Lunada Bay is quieter, with a public school at each end.

A dirt path along a grassy bluff with a few small walkers, rocks and white surf below, and a distant headland over a blue ocean — Photo: carlfbagge, CC BY 2.0

Malaga Cove is the northern corner of Palos Verdes Estates, where the Peninsula meets Torrance and Redondo Beach, and it's where the whole Palos Verdes Project began in 1923. Life here centers on Malaga Cove Plaza, a two-story 1920s arcade with a copy of Bologna's Neptune fountain in the middle, and on the bluff path along Paseo Del Mar, where a lot of the neighborhood goes for a walk at sunset. Riviera Village's restaurants are a few minutes down the hill.

Lunada Bay is the western edge of the city, a broad terrace of about 1,500 single-family homes above a half-moon bay. It has a small plaza on Palos Verdes Drive West and a public school at each end. There's no boardwalk or hotel to draw through traffic, and on clear days you can see Catalina from the terraced streets.

So it mostly comes down to what you want close by. If you'd like to walk to a plaza, a library and a beach path, and you want the shortest drive off the hill, go with Malaga Cove. If school runs and a quiet street matter more to you than eating out, Lunada Bay is the better fit.

Houses and asking prices

What you pay for in Malaga Cove is 1920s architecture and location. In Lunada Bay the price depends mostly on how far the house is from the bluff edge.

A lone pine shaped by the wind on top of a golden sandstone cliff, with a pale blue sky and a calm ocean below — Photo: Sergei Gussev, CC BY 2.0

The classic Malaga Cove house is a 1920s or 1930s Spanish or Mediterranean home on a garden street near the plaza, and many are still close to original. Along Paseo Del Mar and the streets above it, prices depend on how much of Santa Monica Bay a house can see, including the night view locals call the Queen's Necklace. The upper streets toward Via Campesina have postwar ranch homes from the 1940s and 1950s, and they're the closest thing Malaga Cove has to entry-level.

Lunada Bay is mostly ranch-style houses: about 84% were built between 1950 and 1979, and only about 7% in 2000 or later. Lots are about 10,000 square feet, with half of them between about 8,300 and 12,700. Homes on the bluff edge along Paseo Del Mar get the front-row ocean and Catalina views and the highest prices, and the tilt of the terrace often keeps a water view two or three streets back.

In September 2026, nine houses were listed on our Malaga Cove map, asking about $2.25 million to $14.5 million, most between $3 million and $8 million. Lunada Bay had three homes for sale out of about 1,500, asking about $2.8 million to $6 million. With that little inventory, neither range says much on its own. I'd price any house in either neighborhood against recent comps on the same street with a similar view, and the live numbers on this page have probably moved since then.

Malaga Cove: nine houses, about $2.25M to $14.5M (Sept 2026)
Lunada Bay: three homes, about $2.8M to $6M (Sept 2026)
In both, the view and how close the house is to the bluff move the price more than square footage does

Beaches and surf

There's a path from Malaga Cove down to a sand beach. Lunada Bay's shore is rocky and best known for its big winter wave.

Stone terraced fountain and garden walls at the Malaga Cove library — Photo: PKM, CC BY-SA 3.0

From Malaga Cove a switchback path near the Palos Verdes Beach & Athletic Club drops to the beach in the cove, and RAT Beach runs about three-quarters of a mile north to Torrance Beach. South around Flat Rock Point is Bluff Cove, a cobble beach where the Palos Verdes Surfing Club, founded in 1935, did its surfing. It still works on the right swell, and the steep dirt trail keeps the crowds down.

Lunada Bay's shore is cobble and rock under bluffs about 150 feet high, reached by steep trails, with no lifeguard and no facilities. There are tidepools at low tide and, on winter swells, one of Southern California's best-known big-wave breaks. The SS Dominator ran aground at Rocky Point in 1961, and rusted pieces of it still sit on the rocks below the point.

The bay also had a localism problem. For decades local surfers known as the Bay Boys ran off outsiders. The city tore out their rock patio in 2016, and in September 2024 it settled a Coastal Act case by agreeing to add benches, improve the bluff path, put up signs saying the beach is open to everyone, and sweep for illegal structures under a five-year consent decree. The beach is public, but the wave is still only for experienced surfers.

Building rules, the police tax and fire zones

Both have the same Art Jury review and police parcel tax, but far more Malaga Cove homes are in fire zones.

A sunlit brushy cliff drops to a cobble beach and rocky reef, with gentle surf and the coastline fading to the north — Photo: Sergei Gussev, CC BY 2.0

Both neighborhoods fall under the 1923 protective restrictions, and every exterior change goes through the Palos Verdes Homes Association's Art Jury on top of city permits. Bigger additions and new houses also get a Planning Commission hearing under the city's Neighborhood Compatibility rules. That review is part of why Malaga Cove's 1920s streets still look consistent, and in Lunada Bay every rebuild of a 1960s ranch has to go through it. Unapproved work often comes up at resale, so ask for the approval history in either neighborhood.

Homeowners in both also pay Measure E, a parcel tax that helps fund the city's own police department, the only one on the Peninsula. It's $342 per parcel plus 20 cents per square foot of building and expires June 30, 2027. A citizens' initiative to replace it failed in June 2026, and on November 3, 2026, voters decide on Measure PVE, which would raise the base rate to $1,025 a year through 2033 and needs a two-thirds vote to pass.

The big difference is fire zones. On CAL FIRE's 2025 map about 75% of the PVE homes on our Malaga Cove map are in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, including most of Via del Monte, Via Campesina and Via La Selva. In Lunada Bay about 9% are Very High and roughly 8% more High or Moderate. In a High or Very High zone the seller has to give you defensible-space documentation, and in either neighborhood I'd get a written insurance quote on the exact address during the contingency period.

Near a bluff edge in either neighborhood, ask about the geology of that stretch of bluff, any slope or drainage work, the setbacks and the city's record of repairs nearby. Around Malaga Cove, get a survey too: the open space is public parkland, and landscaping or structures that creep onto it tend to come up in escrow.

Both: Art Jury approval for exterior changes, plus Neighborhood Compatibility for big projects
Both: the Measure E police parcel tax, with Measure PVE on the November 3, 2026 ballot
Malaga Cove: most homes in a Very High fire zone; Lunada Bay: most outside the zones
On the bluff edge in either: check geology, setbacks and repair history before you remove contingencies

Homes for sale in Malaga Cove

6 active listings in the mapped area

12 days on market

$3,695,000

Single-Family3 bd4 ba1,668 sqft

1400 Via Montemar

12 days on market

$12,900,000

Single-Family5 bd7 ba8,942 sqft

710 Via La Cuesta

26 days on market

$3,149,000

Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,668 sqft

709 Via Del Monte

Pool

$4,200,000

Single-Family5 bd4 ba4,191 sqft

988 Via Rincon

Water view

$7,998,000

Single-Family6 bd7 ba9,932 sqft

702 via La Cuesta

Water view

$4,500,000

Single-Family4 bd4 ba2,695 sqft

2109 Rosita Place

See Malaga Cove homes on the live map

Still deciding? Ask me.

I’m a Realtor based in Long Beach, and Palos Verdes Estates is one of the cities I work most. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll help you get there.

Call (424) 400-9003

Slava Ploshkin · DRE #02323623English and Russian · How I work in Palos Verdes Estates

Homes for sale in Lunada Bay

6 active listings in the mapped area

Coming Soon

$3,375,000

Single-Family4 bd4 ba4,030 sqft

2637 Via Olivera

Just listed

$1,850,000

Single-Family4 bd3 ba2,436 sqft

2888 Via de La Guerra

Just listed

$3,500,000

Single-Family4 bd3 ba3,097 sqft

1016 Via Romero

44 days on market

$5,995,000

Single-Family6 bd6 ba6,271 sqft

1384 Via Romero

Water view

$2,790,000

Single-Family4 bd4 ba2,535 sqft

2820 Via De La Guerra

Water view

$2,780,000

Single-Family4 bd4 ba2,580 sqft

2112 Via Pacheco

See Lunada Bay homes on the live map

Questions & answers

Lunada Bay, if walking to school matters most. Lunada Bay Elementary, Palos Verdes Intermediate and Palos Verdes High are all inside the neighborhood, and most of its homes are outside CAL FIRE's hazard zones. Malaga Cove is in the same district, PVPUSD, and gives you a sand beach below the bluff and a shorter drive to the South Bay. Check any address with the district, because boundaries change.

Neither is clearly cheaper, because the ranges overlap. In September 2026 the nine houses listed on our Malaga Cove map were asking about $2.25 million to $14.5 million, most between $3 million and $8 million, and the three Lunada Bay homes were asking about $2.8 million to $6 million. The less expensive ways in are Malaga Cove's postwar ranch homes on the upper streets and Lunada Bay's second- and third-row houses.

Yes, if you're experienced. Lunada Bay has one of Southern California's best-known big-wave breaks on winter swells, and as part of a 2024 settlement the city agreed to put up signs saying the beach is open to everyone. Bluff Cove, south of Malaga Cove, is where the Palos Verdes Surfing Club, founded in 1935, did its surfing. It's at the bottom of a steep dirt trail and still works on the right swell.

Yes. Both are in Palos Verdes Estates, so both fall under the 1923 protective restrictions, and every exterior change needs Palos Verdes Homes Association Art Jury approval on top of city permits. Bigger additions and new houses also go to a Planning Commission hearing under the city's Neighborhood Compatibility rules. Ask the seller for the approval history, because unapproved work tends to come up at resale.