La Jenelle Park

La Jenelle Park sits at the south end of Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, at the Port of Hueneme north jetty. The park is built around the wreckage of the SS La Jenelle, a 1931 passenger liner originally launched as the SS Borinquen that was brought to Port Hueneme in 1969 for conversion to a floating casino. On April 13, 1970, the ship dragged its anchors in a northwest gale and ran aground at this location. The U.S. Navy dismantled the superstructure and incorporated the hull and surrounding boulders into the south jetty of the Port of Hueneme as a permanent breakwater. Today the park comprises the jetty, the wreckage, the murals along the access road, a commemorative plaque, and a small parking lot. Hueneme Submarine Canyon sits offshore of the jetty. La Jenelle Park is one of the standard Ventura County shore-dive sites for rocky structure access.

The sand entry adjacent to the jetty with breaking waves is a surf zone biome. At the breakwater itself, the artificial reef formed by the jetty boulders, the embedded hull remains, and the natural rocky structure is a rocky reef biome reached on foot at low tide and by short swim at higher tides.

Scuba on the jetty for the artificial reef and the wreckage is the dominant water activity. Fishing from the breakwater produces surfperch, and spearfishing at the jetty is common when conditions allow, with sheephead holding in the boulders. Snorkeling at the boulders at low tide is common, and surfing is uncommon at this spot because the jetty blocks open swell.

The small free lot at the end of Sawtelle Avenue holds roughly a dozen cars. There are no facilities on site, and the park closes at night per posted signage. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations. The Port of Hueneme operates an active commercial deep-water port; posted closures should be observed, and the channel kept clear.