Today, Balboa Island is a scenic vacation destination known for its picturesque sunsets, vibrant marina and eclectic lifestyle.

A quick weekend getaway is enough to explore all the nooks and crannies of Balboa Island and its surrounding communities.

Balboa is a typical Southern California beach where you can go for a bike ride, play volleyball, walk along the beach or swim.

A lifeguard is on duty during daylight hours. Bodyboarding, skimboarding and surfing are popular at Balboa Beach,

but surfing is prohibited between 11am and 6pm. During the summer.

As Balboa Isle began to take shape, Collins began a national advertising campaign,

offering 30-foot by 85-foot inland lots for $600 and waterfront lots for $750.

He used a brochure depicting an elegant, but nonexistent, hotel on the island to help sell his lot.

He promised ferry service, electricity, paved roads, sewers, street lights and water.

However, despite the advertisements, Collins originally sold lots on the island for as little as $25.00,

promising that all roads, sewers and street lights would soon be installed

and that a bridge and ferry service would follow. Construction work has begun for the ferry landing.

Roads were staked out and heavily mapped. Even a few narrow footpaths have been constructed.

wooden bulkhead was built on the south side of the island, and an impromptu sewer system