The collision, which involved a single driver in one car and two people in another, happened around 10:30 p.m. Thursday near Carbon Canyon.
Details on what led up to the crash were not available, but one person who was inside the vehicle with two occupants died at the scene.
The other two people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Both sides of PCH were opened by 8:30 a.m. Friday. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
The crash happened along the same stretch of PCH where four Pepperdine University students were struck and killed last year.