Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica, I absolutely aaadore you. Last weekend one of my best friend’s Liz and I ventured out to the infamous Santa Monica pier after enjoying brunch.  I’ve been to the Santa Monica pier once or twice in my life, but I was younger and didn’t necessarily appreciate all of the activities that the pier had to offer… Which is quite a lot, let me tell you! Liz and I first stopped on the pier to grab some cotton candy (adventures need to be fueled by something...preferably sugar and/or coffee in my case) and then headed over to the ferris wheel. This has been something on my LA bucket list since I moved here and we had so much fun checking this activity off! It was $8/each for the ride and the ride lasted about 15 minutes. You can see 360 degree views ranging from the Santa Monica Pier, Pacific Park (the small theme park on the pier which includes a few rides, roller coaster, ferris wheel, and carnival games) , and the beautiful beach on either side of the pier. As we went around and around we of course took a ton of pictures, laughing at our failed attempts to look cute while eating cotton candy as it quickly withered away from the ocean mist (and got all over our outfits and in our hair…opps). 

After the ferris wheel we stopped at Sea Mist bike rentals, directly to the right of the pier, and rented bikes for $7/hour each. We rode along the boardwalk (made for bikes only, which is great because you aren’t running into a bunch of walking tourists) to the Venice beach boardwalk. The ride there only took about 20 minutes, so we stopped for some pics and checked out the happenings (there’s always somethin’ going on at the Venice boardwalk…musicians, graffiti artists, roller skaters, dancers, performers, vendors, and more), before turning around and riding back to the pier. It was 80 degrees out, so we were pretty exhausted, over-heated, and thirsty as we returned the bikes and walked like total zombies to my car. 

I would say it was a great day checking out some of the best activities the Santa Monica pier has to offer, and I would highly recommend you ride the ferris wheel and rent bikes for what is sure to be a fun-filled afternoon. Bring sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, and water. You can park right next to the pier for $12/entire day. Enjoy!