Exploring Santa Monica, California

It is one of the most popular destination for Americans and, thanks to its proximity to Hollywood, one of the frequent locations directors choose to shoot their movies.

Santa Monica Pier

Sitting beside the Pacific coast in Los Angeles with its wide sandy beaches and near all-year sun, Santa Monica is always busy. The location permits it to offer holiday makers a variety of leisure activities from water sports to cycle hire. The cycleway, which runs behind the beach south to Venice Beach and Playa Del Rey, carries not only cycles but runners and skaters too.

On the pier, there is a fun fare complete with its famous Ferris wheel. The pier has a number of popular tourist restaurants and at the Albright, I had an excellent clam chowder. From here you can occasionally catch some exciting wildlife. I was able to see dolphins and a rare whale during my stay, the first time I had seen marine creatures of this type in the wild.

Dolphin Pod from Santa Monica

Across the main highway, which you walk over by way of several footbridges is the downtown area with the usual mixture of shopping and restaurants. It even boasts an English pub called the King’s Head. The King in question is Edward III (1327-1377) who had one of the longest reigns of England’s medieval monarchs and would never have heard of the Americas, let alone Santa Monica.

To the south of Santa Monica is the famous Venice Beach although these days it is not too much to write about. It still has modern gym equipment where the tanned and musclebound can practise their moves. However, Venice has lost its mojo and this is evidenced by the tatty shops selling tourist trinkets alongside the beach and cycleway. Venice has a saving grace though. Coming away from the beach and into the town you will discover the reason Venice got its name. A number of canals are fringed by beautiful whitewashed houses. I spent more than an hour ambling around the area dreaming of being able to afford one of these waterfront properties. I rounded off this part of the trip with coffee and ice cream in a nearby chic cafe.

At the end of this strip is Playa Del Rey, the King’s beach which is rich in sand and water sport activities. Pleasure cruisers of all sizes can be seen here and the area hosts a number of different restaurants for tourists who want to get away from Santa Monica.

Playa Del Rey

I have compiled my thoughts on Santa Monica into a short podcast and would be pleased if you could give it a listen. Click here to enjoy it. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/exploring-santa-monica-california/id1546996372?i=1000638468160

Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

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