* Proximity to the LAX airport, 8 miles.
* Santa Monica Pier offers food, games, an amusement park, events, plenty of photo ops, and endless amounts of fun. Santa Monica Pier information.
* It was a filming site for Forest Gump, and even has a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in honor of the movie. Bubba Gump Waitlist Sign Up.
* Take a surfing lesson!
* Bike it. There are 22 miles of bike paths.
* Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.
* Flying trapeze classes and Trampoline and Silks classes from the Trapeze School of New York.
* Downtown Santa Monica offers shopping and eating at the Promenade just a few blocks from the beach.
A great point of reference when driving to Santa Monica’s Beaches is to put in the address for the Santa Monica Pier. There is plenty of public parking available all around the area. It ranges from $10 and up depending on the day.
Address for Santa Monica Pier: 200 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Venice Beach is an artsy, eclectic beach life with boehemian vibes.
*Venice Beach Boardwalk.
*A large skate park.
*Muscle Beach, once the home gym of bodybuilders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, is a great place to watch competitions or get in the action yourself. For more information, click here.
*The Venice Canal Historic District. Man-made canals built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney as part of his Venice of America plan.
*Venice Art Crawls monthly. Click here for schedule.
* Street Art. For a self guided tour, click here.
*Boho-chic Abbot Kinney Boulevard for shopping.