Los Angeles Journals

L.A. Beaches and Fun

An August 2008 trip to Los Angeles by melissabowman

Venice Boardwalk Photo - Venice City Beach, Los Angeles, California

Quote: On our summer trip to visit my brother we played at several different beaches. Here is a little of what each one had to offer.

8 Photos

Venice City Beach

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Part 2 Venice and Santa Monica Beach"

Sunset Photo - Venice City Beach, Los Angeles, California

Quote:

Well I kinda ran out of room on my last review and I had some more pictures I really wanted to share on Venice Beach.

Venice Beach really was a neat place and you can be there all day and not even realize it. Times flies so fast when you are out here and you don't even realize it.

After walking around for a few hours we deiced to head out to the beach and play in the sand. We found a place that sold sand toys and we used them to build a sand castle. Once we got away from the stand things seems so much quieter and there were less people around. It was just what we needed after several hours of walking.

Santa Monica Beach- The we were only there for 1 hour beach.

Also, I mentioned in the other review that the end of Venice Beach runs into Santa Monica Beach. If you get done or bored with Venice, you walk or ride right on over to Santa Monica Beach and enjoy the activities it has to offer.

We got to spend a little time on Santa Monica Beach before we found out we had to head to the airport several hours earlier. Mostly we just played in the sand and searched for sand crabs one last time but they had a fun play ground and some work out equipment as well. There is a nice bike path that leads you back towards Venice Beach and the Pier with interrupt your ride the other way. The pier is also quite fun and adds a bit of excitement to the Santa Monica Beach area.

The Santa Monica beach is a very family friendly beach and is a great place to spend the day, I know I said we were only there for an hour but we were there several times to eat and play on the pier and there were tons of families and tourist in the area. There is so much to do with the beach, the pier, restaurants and close by shopping it is no wonder so many people pack this place out.

Well I hope that I did not overwhelm you with too much information, its just that Venice Beach has so much to offer and I could not tell you about with out hitting on the things that I did.

Have a great time and enjoy and variety of experience and entertainment.

I think this beach is a true example of what Southern California is all about. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 11, 2009

Venice City Beach
1531 Ocean Front Walk
Los Angeles, California 90291
(310) 399-2775

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Venice City Beach

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Venic Beach- The Anything Goes Beach"

Quote:

Venice Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Southern California, known for its liberality, muscles, and beauty. This beach strand is the most eclectic and unique, with its own style.

The amount of time you can spend here is endless, for hours we walked around looking at all the unique styles and flavors of the beach. Make sure you cover yourself with sun screen though, because time will fly when hanging out at Venice Beach.

Venice Beach is similar to many beaches in that it had a boardwalk and then the beach was on the other side, what makes this beach just a bit different is its style. It is very liberal and you can expect to see many things. There are people walking around with mattresses and clothes and all their belongings, living right there on the beach, several starving artists, whether musical, drawing, or painting. So many of then have stands or just there work laying on the ground that you can buy, of course the musicians just play and have a case opened for you to drop money in.

There are many shops, mostly souvenir and gift shops with stuff that has Venice Beach on it (which I could not help but to buy), but there are also your typical swim and surf shops and other just casual shopping. Pretty much anything you could imagine, they had. There are also many places to eat, from the nice and fancy to just a hot dog and fries on a dirty table. But once again, there is so much to choose from. They have Mexican, seafood, pizza, burgers, and many other things I have never even heard of.

Venice Beach is also well know for its muscles and working out: with two major gyms right on the the beach. It's the home of the first Gold's Gym, and also home of the famous Muscle Beach. You can see many tanned men and women working out right before your eyes.

Venice beach has a huge skate park decorated with graffiti and lots of skaters. Being from a small conservative town in Texas this was very unique and interesting to see. Of course there are other things to do like volleyball, swim, and stroll the beach, the beach almost looks vacant when you see the people walking up and down the strand, but there are people out there, and they do have life guards.

The beach also has places along it where you can rent bikes, roller blades, surf boards, boogie boards, and many other things.

At the end of Venice beach is the beginning of Santa Monica Beach, which is the home of a theme park right on the beach. (You have probably see this on many movies and shows.)

Next time you are in Los Angles come to Venice Beach. You are sure to find something that fits your taste, and be prepared for a long day. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 11, 2009

Venice City Beach
1531 Ocean Front Walk
Los Angeles, California 90291
(310) 399-2775