A popular meeting place for surfers, the ocean waves here are enhanced by a natural effect caused by the edge-diffraction of open-ocean swells around Catalina Island, creating consistent surf year-round.

The Huntington Beach Company (Standard Oil), built a wooden pier at the terminus of Main Street in 1904,[4] which extended 1,000 feet (300 m) into the Pacific Ocean.

The Huntington Beach Township's board of trustees approved a $70,000 bond in 1911 to construct a new pier made of concrete extending 1,350 feet (410 m) in length.

Repairs were made by the City of Huntington Beach, but the pier was damaged again by the 1939 California tropical storm.

After the attack by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Huntington Beach, along with many other coastal cities, mobilized to help the war effort.

An additional $92,000 was donated by the community of Anjo, Japan, a Huntington Beach Sister City Archived 2022-10-25 at the Wayback Machine.

The City of Huntington Beach established a management and observation program to maintain the pier, an iconic feature for the community.

[9] The pier was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on August 24, 1989, deeming the structure worthy of preservation by the federal government.

The concrete pier incorporates reinforced steel, coated with epoxy, to protect it from the corrosive effect of the damp salt air.

It is also built to withstand 31-foot (9.4 m) waves or a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and uses an increased space between piles to accommodate surfers - as requested by the City.

[11] The location was then briefly occupied by Bud & Gene's, a casual pop-up seafood restaurant that opened in July 2022.

Prohibited on the pier are riding bikes and skateboards, smoking, and possession and/or consumption of drugs or alcohol.

The annual U.S. Open of Surfing is held on the south side of the pier every summer, hosted by Vans and formerly sponsored by companies such as Hurley, Nike, Converse, and others.

Tournaments are also held for other sports such as volleyball, wrestling, BMX, kite flying, paintballing, and fishing.