Beach Bums

Unless you are staying in one of the communities adjacent to the beach or have ample time to ride the bus (the Big Blue Bus leaves downtown for Santa Monica as well as the Rapid), driving is the best and quickest option. Even with traffic a trip from LA to Santa Monica can take an hour, which can easily turn into 3 hours via bus (trust me it’s taken longer on more then one occasion).
Parking is expensive so I suggest parking on the street. Pull off the main drag, into any residential area in Santa Monica, Venice, or Marina Del Ray, and park all day for free. However make sure to check the signs posted. Some areas are parking with permit only. Finding a place to park in Topanga Canyon is much harder. Head out very early or very late. Parking is along the PCH (The Pacific Coast Highway) and can be tricky to find and even worse to parallel park during rush hour. Be careful most places along the PCH parking isn’t allowed
If beach hopping is on the agenda the South Bay Bicycle Trail runs from Will Rodgers State Beach to Torrance cutting through Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Ray. The path is 22 miles long with many bike, rollerblade, and roller-skate rental places along the way.

Quick Tips:

First and for most AVOID THE BEACH DURING HOLIDAY AND WEEKENDS AT ALL COSTS!!! In the afternoon is when LA-LA Landers come out to play. Arrive early for best parking or just start walking. Move away from the “tourist” areas, such as around the pier in Santa Monica or the hippie circles that appear in Venice; once past these areas the beach usually clears out.
When driving to Topanga Canyon Beach make sure to drive through Topanga Canyon. During the summer the canyon is covered in lush, green vegetation that makes one of the most beautiful spots in LA. Also keep on the watch for some of the most expensive homes in LA (at the top of the canyon), and large hippie communes (usually there will be a line of cars near a shack).
Pack a picnic. Near the pier in Santa Monica and along the beach in Marina Del Ray and Venice there are many places to eat, but on the beaches of Topanga Canyon you’ll be less likely to find food.
Check the local news for what’s happening in LA. Malibu might be a top choice to visit, but if it isn’t on fire then it’s busy being washed away then rebuilt. Or in a much more rare case (2007 to be exact) it will snow. Nothing will ruin a trip more then your hotel catching on fire and then washing away in a flood.
Many beaches impose curfews. Most of the time it’s from midnight-6am. These hours will be posted on the beach.
Everywhere I’ve been I’ve always seen lifeguard stands; however they aren’t always manned. Lifeguards are usually around during the weekends, the summer, and other busier times. Even though the lifeguard stands are sometimes empty that doesn’t mean anyone is around. Lifeguards patrol the coast on motorboats incase of emergency.
Surfers have special areas where they can surf. Again there will be signs. Swimmers make sure to stay out of these areas. If a lifeguard is around they will not hesitate to yell at you to move.

Best Way To Get Around:

Explore the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica. Everything trendy that can be found in LA will be here. So sip on an .00 coffee, buy a ,500 designer bag, and watch the street performers that come out at night. This is also a great place to celebrity watch. They are everywhere here.
Palisades Park is a 14 block long that overlooks some of the bluffs and the beach of Santa Monica. The world famous park is the backdrop for hundreds of TV shows, movies, and commercials and even mentioned in songs.
Walk the pier in Santa Monica. Watch the fishermen lined up along the railings, ride some rides, or even buy a map of “celebrity homes and famous crime scenes”.
Venice is the very liberal version of the conservative Santa Monica. Watch the street performers who, in my option, are much more impressive then those in Santa Monica. Not only that but they are out all day long.
Veer off the beaten path to the canals that were inspired by those in Venice in which the town was named after. Sidewalks line the canals allowing tourists to walk around the cannels.

When a world traveler gets a food craving it isn’t as easy to stop as the average non-travelers. Often the drive for a particular food will drive a seasoned traveler into off the beaten track areas, where signs give way to foreign symbols in pursuit to find that food that was consumed in a alley in a country that most people don’t even know exist. Times like these I give thanks for living in a melting pot.
Venice Beach is more then the liberal Mecca; it is a diverse city full of unusual oddities and fabulous exotic foods. So the need to have something ‘different’ calls my first stop is Venice. Walking down Washington Blvd. (between Venice and Marina Del Ray). I stopped at a sleepy little restaurant that looked like it belonged in South America rather then Southern California. A few tables lined the street, but I choose a seat inside instead. The inside was inviting, painted in warm reds and yellows and a bar that separated two rooms, gave the restaurant a homier feel.
The menu was full of full of various Cuban dishes. My friend went for the traditional Cuban garlic chicken salad for $9.95 and I ordered the marinated chicken in Cuban garlic-citrus sauce topped with grilled onions and a side of rice and Caribbean black beans ($9.95 as well). As we waited for the food to arrive I sat back and enjoyed the Picasso inspired paintings along the wall all created by local artists. The wait for the food was a little long, but well worth it. I’m usually not a fan of onions, but I found myself licking the plate clean. The chicken was cooked just right and the sauce was delicious. Even my friend’s salad looked good.
Mercede Ahroblou, the owner, even stopped by our table to see how we were doing and to talk. She informed us that the place usually picks up at night when the music starts. The day is usually reserved for people who have wondered off the beach looking for a mojito.

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my time thn going to Venice Beach. Named after the canals of Venice, Italy, Venice Beach boasts their own canals. A few blocks from the beach is a small neighborhood that has canals instead of roads going past their houses. Sidewalks are built alongside of the canals so that anyone can stroll down this beautiful area.

Venice Beach is set up to encourage activity. Bike paths are built running down the shore for bikers, joggers, or anyone on wheels. Other side walks are built closer to the houses so that anyone walking can enjoy the unusual architecture of the houses built here. It seems that homeowners try to out-do each other by not only building their dream house, but the more unusual the better. Several are all glass but my two favorites were done in a Buddhist/Asian style and the other was a tree house.

If you continue to walk south on the path, you’ll end up in Marina Del Ray (our beaches are on top of one another), but if you head north, towards Santa Monica, you’ll hit the shops. Past the houses is a series of shops that sell the usual souvenirs including sarongs, sunglasses, and incense. Bring cash because most of these shops don’t take credit cards. Street acts are also abundant here. Around this area, the famous Muscle Beach can be found. Stop for a few moments to watch oversized men bench press your body weight several times over.

On a section of the beach is a skate park that is covered in graffiti. Usually the graffiti in LA detracts from the area, but some how it adds to the natural beauty of the area. Walls, trash cans, rock, and even palm trees are covered in color.

Near the skate park there is a breaker. During low tide you can walk out to it and take beautiful picture of the ocean and the water breaking on the rocks without getting wet.

The ocean itself is wonderful. Lifeguard stands are everywhere. The coast guard is also patrolling the water and security driving up and down the beach.

Located along the Pacific Coast Highway next door to Malibu is Topanga State Park. The best way to enter is through Topanga Canyon. It isn’t the fastest way to the park, but it is the most beautiful winding its way through the cannon and offering amazing views of the Valley. Keep on the watch for interesting shops, restaurants, and hippie communes.

The beach itself huge the PCH and most of the parking is on the side of the highway itself. Unlike Santa Monica or Venice, which has huge stretches of beach, Topanga offers small, skinny stretches of a beach spotting the coach.
The stretch of beach is broken up by large rocks that make a great spot to watch waves break. On good days you can see Malibu to the north and Santa Monica to the south. The waves at the beach are usually pretty big even on windless days making it one of the most popular beaches for surfing. The waves get better the closer to Topanga creek you get.

Besides beaches the park offers over 30 miles of trails making it the largest wild land within the boundary of major city since it is located completely in Los Angeles city limits. Within the park hikers can see earthquake fault lines, fossils, and volcano remnants. All of the trails can be accessed from Trippet Ranch.

Avoid this beach during the weekends and holidays. The beaches are over crowed and parking is impossible to find. The beaches also feel much more claustrophobic.

There might be prettier beaches in more exotic locations in the world; but none will capture the feel, the atmosphere, or the attitude of Santa Monica. It might be the streets lined with palm trees; celebrity sighting; the Boardwalk; Palisades Park; the carefree, beach blond, surfer attitude or all of those things that makes quintessential beach for LA. Unlike its liberal sister to the south, Venice, Santa Monica is a much more laid back, conservative, quiet (in it’s own right) beach. On weekends and holidays the beach is packed. There is no parking and no room to find a place to breath, but the further away from the boardwalk you walk the more room there is to be found.
The attraction to Santa Monica isn’t so much the beach as it is the endless amount of things there are to do there. The Pier is hard to miss. Created in 1870 as the most massive pier in California measuring 4,720 feet long and 130 feet wide. Originally it was created to make Santa Monica the official port of LA. Santa Monica may have lost out the title of primer commerce center to San Pedro, but that didn’t detour the city. Today the pier is home to a mini-amusement park that includes a carousel, a rollercoaster, and other amusements. On the opposite end of the pier is the La Monica Ballroom. Fishers also line the side of the pier and tourist can watch as they haul in their days catch or watch an act by one of the many performers trying to make a buck.
Just down the street from the pier is the hottest destination in LA, Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. On Third Street between Wilshire and Broadway lies a pedestrian only walk way. Some of the most trendy boutiques and chain stores make the promenade their home. The streets are lined with manicured plants (my favorite are the ones shaped like dinosaurs) and street vendors. This is also the premier place on the coast to celebrity watch. Grab a drink at Starbucks and camp out near any restaurant and chances are that someone famous will happen by. At night the promenade takes on a different feel. When the sunsets and the lights on the Third Street come on the best street performers make their way out. Some of the best singers, artists, and other unusual acts can be found along the streets.
Once of the most famous (yet must unheard of places) also can be found along the beach in Santa Monica, Palisades Park. This 14-block line, narrow strip of land is covered in palm trees and overlooks the bluffs to the ocean, and is often used a the backdrop in many commercials, movies, and TV shows. This is a gathering place for everyone who wants to unwind after a long day at the beach.