Port Hueneme ( ) is a small beach city in Ventura County, California surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. The name derives from the Spanish spelling of the Chumash wene me, meaning "Resting Place". Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explored this area and the adjacent Channel Islands in October 1542. The town's name was officially changed to Port Hueneme in 1939 and was incorporated March 24, 1948.