Point Loma Peninsula hooks out into the Pacific, separated from Coronado and San Diego by the entrance to the San Diego Bay. Cabrillo National Monument takes in 160 acres near the tip of the peninsula, and it looks worlds apart from the urban metropolis across the bay. The monument's unique habitat, strongly influenced by Pacific Ocean waters, only slightly resembles the area when the first Europeans arrived in 1542. The monument honors the first discoverer by name and a seven ton work of art. The Alvaro de Bree sandstone statue depicts the land's first explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. The park has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and is separated from urban growth to the north, by a U.S. Naval operations area.
Along with its resident creatures, the park sees over 200 species of birds, fascinating tidal pool marine life, and the migration of Pacific whales. At the highest point near the peninsula tip stands the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, built in 1854.