Apartments for Rent in Seal Beach, CA (1,246 Rentals)

Seal Beach owes its existence to wine. In the 1860s, local vintners needed a closer port for shipping their wine to their customers up and down the Pacific Coast. A wharf and a warehouse were built at Anaheim Landing, where Anaheim Creek empties into the ocean. Over the next 10 years a little town sprang up around the port, and the wine industry prospered. In 1875, railroad tracks were laid directly by the vineyards, but the town had become popular as a summer retreat for hundreds of people from Los Angeles. The wine wharf was replaced by Orange County's first amusement park, the Joy Zone. During Prohibition, Seal Beach was famous for its speakeasies. Just across the LA County line and safely outside the jurisdiction of the more conservative city government in Garden Grove, Seal Beach's main street sported six casinos and the port became the favorite harbor for gambling cruise ships. The local entertainment industry became family friendly when the US Navy took over part of the beach for the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. But Seal Beach today is famous for surfing. Seal Beach has hosted surfing competitions since 1913, but the North Side of the Pier welcomes surfers with skill levels ranging from clueless to competitive. Seal Beach is a great place to learn ocean surfing and windsurfing but, as we will discuss below, Seal Beach's recreational opportunities are endless.