I visited both Venice Beach and this beach at the Santa Monica Boardwalk. I far far preferred this beach. First of all it was less crowded and there were mostly families and other people swimming - there wasn't the same crowd as at Venice Beach at all. And where Venice beach has people selling this and acrobats doing tricks and stuff, this is just a nice quiet beach where you can walk along and put your feet in the water.

When I say quiet though, I don't by any means mean to suggest that it is boring - it is not. Far from it. There is a great boardwalk there with tons to do. There are rides for kids including a merry go round. There are restaurants - a Mexican restaurant on the edge of the pier overlooking the water, a few places with seafood and seafood soups, and then casual little places to get cotton candy and ice cream and other boardwalk fare. There are souvenir shops and little fun places where you can get trinkets or get your picture taken. Overall the boardwalk is a great place to walk around, especially if you have kids. It's also beautiful at sunset to see the sun over the water. It's relaxing and a great place, way better then Venice beach. You can even see fishermen fishing off the side.

There is also lots of great stuff to do in the blocks surrounding the boardwalk as well. There are tons of shops and little restaurants and stuff. Al Fornio, a fantastic Italian restaurant, is practically across the street from the beach. There is a mall with the typical mall-type stores (Saks, Macy's, etc.) and a bunch of other stores dotting the streets (mostly big name stores that you have heard of - no boutique kind of shopping here).

Overall Santa Monica Pier and the surrounding area is a great place to spend an afternoon. There's something to do there for everyone whether you have kids who want to ride on the merry-go-round, a girl who likes to shop, a guy who likes to fish, or people who like to sit on the beach and look at the beauty that surrounds you.

Adventure prone - You can rent a bike and ride it all the way to Venice Beach or further.

Athletic - You can rent bikes or you can work out right there on the beach - they have excerise equipment right there, including those rings and bars like gymnasts use; it's called "Muscle Beach".

Family - Definitely a family place. There's the amusement park, Pacific Park, an arcade, an aquarium, the famous merry-go-round, etc. And of course, ANY beach is for families!

Luxury - I say this because there are several FANCY hotels right there: Shutters, for example. And I mean luxury - like $300-400 a night!

Major sight - Always crowded, lots of attractions, it's in lots of movies, it's famous--what more can I say>

On a typical visit, I like to enjoy a sampling of ALL of these activities, and so I park in the centrally-located Santa Monica Place mall parking lot (free for the 1st 3 hours) or the Sears lot (free). If you choose to park there, too, you'll find that the ocean is only a short stroll down Colorado Blvd. Upon reaching Ocean Blvd, you'll find both the Palisades Park and the Santa Monica Pier entrances sitting side by side. Either one can be explored for an hour or more. If you choose to walk along the bluffs at Palisades Park, you'll drink-in stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. If you head towards the pier, you'll see fishermen trying to reel in a catch, vendors hawking their wares to the tourists, and people on the beach below--swimming, building sand castles, skating on the bike path, flying kites, etc. If you keep walking along the pier, you'll face another choice--to either take the stairs directly down to the beach, or to head to the amusement park.

Decisions! I say, do both! If you're careful, you can chase the waves at the beach for awhile, and not get TOO sandy and wet! On the pier, you'll find both adult and kiddie rides and carnival games at Pacific Park. There, the views from the Pacific Wheel (ferris wheel) are great, and every visitor I've taken on it has enjoyed it! The "West Coaster" ride is also fun. It's not a big roller coaster, but it's probably the only one you'll ever ride that's out over the ocean!

After leaving the pier, you can stroll back to Santa Monica Place mall and enjoy 3 floors of shopping! There are over 120 stores, including Macy's and Robinsons-May department stores. The food court offers a variety of choices for inexpensive meals and snacks. From the food court area, you can step out onto the 3rd Street Promenade, and outdoor pedestrian mall several blocks long. There's a large variety of shopping and dining options, from inexpensive to upscale in price. Sidewalk performers enhance the atmosphere & make for a fun experience.

Santa Monica Pier
One of the main attractions in Santa Monica is the pier. It’s constructed in 1874 and rebuilt many times since then. On the pier you find the amusement park Pacific Park. Here you find a roller coaster, bumper cars, Ferris wheel, and arcade games. You can walk around in it for free, but you need to pay for the attractions. I think it’s better to save your money for a "real" attraction park, like Universal Studios or Six Flags.

There’s also a beautiful carousel on the pier that’s worth looking at. At the end of the pier you find people fishing. Sit down for a moment and watch them fishing. If you want, you can do some fishing by yourself, because it’s free for everyone.

Palisades Park
Palisades Park is a small park that stretches from Malibu to Palos Verdes. It’s lined with palm and cypress trees. The Santa Monica visitor information center is also located in the park. They can give you a freed handy map of the town. We watched the sunset from the park, and that’s something you may not want to miss.

3rd Street Promenade
Two blocks east of Ocean Avenue, between Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway, you find the 3rd Street promenade. This is one of L.A.’s best shopping streets. It’s free of cars!!! You can stroll around here, shop, watch the people passing by on one of the benches, enjoy the street artist, or have drink or something to eat. We had dinner here in the Sunset Bar and Grill, and it was a real pleasure to have dinner on this street.

Some practical information
Parking your car is very easy in Santa Monica. There are plenty of parking lots, and some of them offer some free hours. For more information, see parking.santa-monica.org.