The board of trustees worked with the city leaders to find feasible areas in Morro Bay for a museum.

These ships include Hawaiian Chieftain, Lady Washington, and replicas of Niña, HMS Endeavour, and San Salvador.

[2] The CCMMA also collaborated with NOAA and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to initiate the first crewed dive on the SS Montebello.

[1] The museum's organization also hosts annual marine swap meets, in which members of the community can sell items such as kayaks and surfboards.

[8] The museum also contains displays of Morro Bay's military history and status as the former "Abalone Capital of the World," along with a 27 ft (8.2 m) long whale skeleton found on a beach in the 1970s[7] and mooring buoys.