Port Hueneme Pier 

Although Port Hueneme itself and its Hueneme Beach Resort (later called Horsewood’s) would regain some favor as a tourist destination in the “teens” and ’20s, the wharf never regained its commercial success (even though a sardine cannery took over one of the pier warehouses from 1929-1931).

The original wharf became instead a recreational resource, a favorite place to fish for both young and old alike. The variety of fish was good and the piers proximity to a deepwater canyon brought in some of the larger species including black sea bass (famous Hollywood director Arthur Kovalovsky caught two of the giant bass from the pier).

 Season’s 1^st Jewfish Caught At Hueneme

The first jewfish of the year, weighing nearly 300 pounds, was caught yesterday off the Hueneme pier by Ramon Solis, of this city. Solis was fishing for halibut using a half mackerel for bait and just ordinary fishing tackle. After a stiff 45 minute fight Solis landed the large fish. —Oxnard Daily Courier, June 11, 1934

HUENEME. Me ‘n Paul grew up there. It isn’t “there” any more. There s a town by that name. Well, almost. Like a palimpsest “Hueneme” disappeared—“written over,” dredged, buried, redesigned, obliterated. It’s been going on for over fifty years as it became “Port” Hueneme… It was HUENEME, the “resting place.” A long and wide beach and dunes facing gigantic waves, wayward boats, rip tides, man-eating sharks and big seals to grab and hold you under-a resting place? Yes, and a dilapidated old wharf to dive from, dodge overhead casters, and try to keep from stepping on ugly barbed fish hooks-a resting place… If it were a day when the fish were biting, we’d have to pause over the buckets for a look. Perch, wall-eyes, sand dabs, pumpkin seeds and smelt didn’t mean anything, but halibut, bass, cod or barracuda did. The expiring shovel-nose sharks—ugly creatures—were cause for moments of interest as were the sting-rays still flipping their tails to remind us what they once were. Occasionally we were spectators to the exciting moments a fisherman was engaged in a long match with a thresher shark. This was a colorful and dramatic event, a bit sad, too. Threshers could be almost thirty feet long and they had beautiful colors, a mix of purple, blue and green. What a fight they put up. Often we saw them rise briefly above the surface of the water their long colorful tails flashing in the sunlight. The fisherman always seemed to win but to us it just seemed wrong to take one of those beautiful creatures out of their watery home to lie in sunlight on the top of an old weather beaten wharf. Not many people ate sharks in those days. —Ted Moranda, Me ‘n Paul and Old Hueneme

In 1939 the wharf was hit by a double whammy. First the wharf was damaged by the horrific winter storm that damaged so many piers along the coast. Then, it was cut in half by a barge that had broken loose from its moorings. The life of the original wharf was at an end. Luckily for the city, it had started construction of a harbor and port area. The port was officially completed July 4, 1940.

In 1956 a new outfall sewer was built together with a fishing pier that provided support and protection for the sewer pipes. That pier quickly became the home for local fishermen. Unfortunately, when the Army Corp. of Engineers began to pump sand for the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard one result was a widening of the beach at Hueneme. Soon the pier sat over sand, not over water, which made it just a little hard to fish (or at least to catch fish). Pier fishermen tried to move down to the commercial wharf in the nearby harbor but soon that area was declared off limits to fishermen.

Needing a place to fish, residents petitioned for a renovation and extension of the existing pier. In 1967 voters approved an $85,000 bond to finance the city’s one-fourth cost of the pier (one fourth also came from the county and one half from the State Wildlife Conservation Board). Construction soon began on a 1,000-foot extension and renovation of the old pier. The present, odd-shaped pier is the result of that work. The pier heads straight out from the beach, turns left for 50 feet, then heads straight out again to the end which used to terminate in a wide T-shaped platform. Why the mazy shape at the shore-end of the pier? Because the pier follows a seawall which was constructed to prevent the periodic erosion of the beach

Now that the clamor and excitement of the long Labor Day holiday has died away to only a whisper, a review of fishing action brings forth one thing very vividly—three types of fishing were on the deep sea menu—Albacore—bass, barracuda, bonito and—pier fishing at the nearly completed Port Hueneme Pier. While official completion of the pier is not expected another several weeks, anglers in the Port Hueneme area have been enjoying fishing over the weekends when workmen were off the job. A good throng was on hand for the holiday fishing—and wound up making angling history. They scored a catch Sunday, which brought back memories of the old days at Point Mugu. All the pier fishermen did was to land (on dead bait) 25 king and silver salmon, good numbers of small calico bass, some halibut and fair amounts of bonito. Size of the salmon scaled up to 18 pounds. —Jack Adams, Rod and Reel, The News (Van Nuys), September 3, 1968

But Mother Nature likes to present a challenge now and then. In 1995 the left corner of the T was lost (so the pier then resembled an L), and then, in the El Niño winter of 1998, the right corner was lost to the waves. After sitting in a shortened I-shaped form for over a year, the pier was repaired, given a new, somewhat octagonal shaped end, and reopened in April in ’99. However, additional damage to the pier necessitated one more closure of part of the pier in 2002. $385,000 was spent in replacing pilings and the pier reopened in February of 2003.

However, officials now decided they needed plans that would, hopefully, provide longer-lasting solutions to the chronic damage. Soon after, nearly a million dollars was allocated in a Phase II restoration project “intended to improve storm survivability, extend the life of the structure and maintain safe public access to the pier.” The money came from three different agencies: the Coastal Conservancy—$200,000, the City of Port Hueneme—$385,000, and the Wildlife Conservation Board—$400,000. Included in the work was the replacement of 35 pilings that had been weakened by winter storms and organisms over the years. Today the pier appears to be in perhaps its best shape since its original opening.

Nevertheless, the city seems to have ongoing budget problems and often this affects the pier. An example was the call in 2017 to possibly close the pier at night. The rest rooms at the foot of the pier had been kept open 24 hours a day but it was costly both to maintain the restrooms at all hours and costly in terms of damage to the restrooms. Should the pier be closed if restrooms were not available? The city council decided to see if there was additional money available — somewhere — and for the immediate time kept the pier open 24 hours a day.

The city of Port Hueneme itself may be best known today as the headquarters for the USNCBC, home of the Navy’s “Pacific Seabees.”

Port Hueneme Pier Facts

Hours: Open 24 hours a day.
Facilities: There are lights, benches, and fish-cleaning stations on the pier. Restrooms and a snack shop, “Andy’s Surfside Seafood” (that also carries a little bait), is found near the entrance to the pier. The parking lot is located near the front of the pier; the cost is $2.00 per hour or $8.00 for the all-day permit.
Handicapped Facilities: Handicapped parking and restrooms. The pier surface is wood and the rail height is 42 inches. Posted for handicapped.
How To Get There: From Highway 1 take Hueneme Rd. west until it turns into Port. At Ventura Rd turn left and follow it to Surfside Dr. Turn left again and follow it to the park.
Management: City of Port Hueneme — Public Works Department.