Balboa Fun Zone

The Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, is a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Place. Established on July 1, 1906, the Balboa Pavilion played a prominent role in the development of Newport Beach by attracting real estate buyers to an area formerly designated as "swamp and overflow" land. The Balboa Pavilion is one of California's last surviving waterfront recreational pavilions from the turn of the century. The Pavilion continues to serve the public today as a marine recreational facility and is Newport Beach's most famous landmark, as well as its oldest standing building.

The Balboa Theater is a historic former movie theater on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. Opened as the Ritz Theater in 1928, it screened mainstream film for 47 years. In 1975, Pussycat Theaters acquired the venue and converted it to an adult movie theater to the ire of residents and city officials. The Pussycat operation became the subject of several police raids and an eventual criminal court trial for its exhibition of pornographic films. In 1979, Landmark Theatres became the Balboa's operator, operating it as an arthouse theater. The Balboa Theater screened its final movie in 1991 and remains closed despite attempts to reopen it.

The Balboa Island Car Ferry is a ferry service in Newport Beach, California. The ferry boats travel under 1,000 feet from Balboa Island to the Balboa Peninsula (Fun Zone area) and vice versa, reaching a top speed of four miles per hour. The speed limit in the harbor is 5 miles per hour, and the ferry docks about every 5 minutes. A full-time captain will dock the ferry at least 22,500 times every year, traveling at least 3,200 miles every year.

The Balboa Inn is located on the Balboa Peninsula in the city of Newport Beach, California. It was established in 1929, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The Rendezvous Ballroom was a large dance hall built in 1928, located on the beach of Balboa Peninsula in Orange County, Southern California, between Los Angeles and San Diego. The 1920s were the beginning of the heyday of public dancing to the music of popular bands and orchestras, and large ballrooms were built in most urban areas, and even on Catalina Island, 26 miles off the California coast. No expense was spared in the construction of the ballroom, which was a city block long, and half a block wide. It featured reinforced concrete walls, a "floating" hard wood floor and a tile roof. After a fire in 1935 the ballroom was rebuilt with an arched roof supported by sectional girders of wood in a cross pattern, the same as used in the nearby blimp hangars for the Marine Corps.The Rendezvous Ballroom caught fire again in 1966, and was never rebuilt. The site now has beachfront condominiums.

The Balboa Pier is one of two piers located in the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is located in a part of Newport Beach called the Balboa Peninsula. The Balboa Pier was constructed in 1906 as a sister project of the Balboa Pavilion. The Newport Bay investment Company wanted to attract lot buyers to an undeveloped spit of sandy land now called the Balboa Peninsula. In order to do so, they built both the Balboa Pavilion and the Balboa Pier. These two structures were built to coincide with the opening of the southern terminus of the Pacific Electric Railway Red Car line from Long Beach to the Balboa Peninsula. The plan worked; multitudes of beachgoers flocked to Balboa, and many purchased lots. The pier is a popular fishing spot. The fish caught from the pier consist mostly of mackerel and flounder. Additionally, the pilings are home to a large population of starfish that feed on the large colonies of mussels growing there, and are easily spotted at low tide. Fishermen catching starfish by mistake are a relatively common sight. In the 1980s, the first of Orange County's famous Ruby's Diner restaurants opened on the pier. The 1940s nostalgia-themed restaurant has since become a famous Orange County landmark. The pier was heavily damaged in the severe El Niño storms of 1998, which also destroyed the famous diamond-shaped Aliso Pier in Laguna Beach. One of the pillars was damaged, causing a partial collapse of one corner. The wooden posts have since been reinforced with steel sheathing and braces to prevent further damage.

The place of First water-to-water flight was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.775) on September 25, 1962. On May 10, 1912, 26 year old Glenn L. Martin (January 17, 1886 – December 5, 1955) flew a self-built seaplane from Balboa Bay at Newport Bay, California to Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island, then back across the channel. His amphibian biplane, the Avalon Zipper, broke the earlier English Channel record for over-water flight. Martin's total distance was 68 miles (109 km), with the Newport-Avalon leg taking 37 minutes. Avalon Zipper had a 15-horsepower Model V Ford gasoline engine donated by Henry Ford. He picked up a bag of mail on the island on the way, and was presented with $100 ($2300 in 2011) prize for his achievement. The trip made headline news around the world. Soon regular seaplane passenger and freight services started between Catalina and the ports of Balboa, Long Beach, Wilmington and San Diego, like: Catalina Air Lines. Jim Watson, an aviation historian made a television documentary Wings Across the Channel, the Golden Age of Seaplanes on Catalina., starting with Glenn L. Martin trip.

The Balboa Peninsula (also referred to as "Balboa" or "the Peninsula") is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named after Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific from the Americas. Balboa is primarily residential with some commercial areas.

Collins Island is a part of Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California. In 1902, James McFadden sold his Newport townsite and about half of the peninsula to William S. Collins, who saw Newport Bay's resort and recreation potential. Collins took on Henry E. Huntington as a partner in the Newport Beach Company. Huntington had acquired the Pacific Electric railway system and used it to promote new communities outside Los Angeles. James Cagney bought Collins island or possibly won it in a poker game in 1938 for $32,000. The United States Coast Guard used Collins Island during World War II, and Cagney sold the island in 1948.

Bay Island is a small island located halfway down Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. It is the only island in the Newport Beach harbor islands that does not allow car traffic. The island is accessible via a small bridge that will only accommodate golf carts. The island is not accessible to the public. It has 23 residences, a botanical garden, courtyard garden, tennis court, and several beaches.

Harbor Island is a small artificial island in Newport Beach, California. Newport Harbor is a semi-artificial harbor that was formed by dredging an estuary during the early 1900s. Several artificial islands were built, including Harbor Island, now covered with about thirty private homes. It is a gated community and is home to many very expensive homes. Every home is along one street, Harbor Island Road, and each plot has waterfront access with one or more boat docks. Notable residents include George Argyros, Donald Bren, and Bill Gross.

Newport Bay, in Southern California is the lower bay formed along the coast below the Upper Newport Bay, after the end of the Pleistocene. It was formed by sand, brought by ocean currents from the Santa Ana River and other rivers to the north, which constructed an offshore beach, now called the Balboa Peninsula. An estuary of the Santa Ana River in the late 19th century, it was dredged to form Newport Harbor, the harbor of Newport Beach.