Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica

The Pier is a nice pleace to enjoy a nice view of the beach, you can walk and buy some pretty souvenirs, go at the acuarium, the small amusement park next to the Pier and have a good lunch in the restaurant with a nice view to the beach.

'UCLA Ocean Discovery Center'
Loads of info. on the creatures in the area and more!

'Main Street Shopping Promenade'
Lots of great shops and people watching.

'Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area'
Great hiking and mountain biking with a view.

Check out the Santa Monica Pier. The Santa Monica Pier's origins date back almost 100 years. The Pier is very large, 413,056 square feet (9 acres), and very popular, attracting some 3 million visitors annually. People come here from all over the world to enjoy the ocean breezes, spectacular coastline views, attractions, restaurants, rides, games and shops. The end of famed Route 66 and a National Historical Landmark.
Films such as 'The Sting,' 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills,' 'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'The Net,' along with television programs such as 'Baywatch' have used the Santa Monica Pier.

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Santa Monica pier is a great place to take a walk and people watch. The Pier has a variety of dining, shopping and entertainment experiences including a fun fare. At the start of the pier, you will find a traditional Carousel from 1922. Dependent on the time of year of your visit, you will find a variety of lively street performers from musicians to artists.

The Santa Monica Pier is open every day of the year and admission is free.

Parking is available on both the Pier Deck and the Beachfront nearby.

In September 2009, the Pier celebrated its 100th birthday.

Remember when you were a child. You begged and bothered to go play at the arcade, ride the roller coaster and eat cotton candy! Wait - you still want to do this, right? Well, here many live out childhood memories at teh Santa Monica Pier, walking down the wooden planks and hollering with glee along with the little ones !

Pictured here is Playland Arcade where I love to play skeeball!

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One of the most outstanding attractions on Santa Monica's ocean front is the pier, which as well as providing touristic entertainment, also lights up beautifully at night. The pier has appeared in many a movie, including the Titanic, Forrest Gump, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, the Sting, and a recent favourite of mine, Thank You for Not Smoking.

It's actually a combination of two piers, one a sewer pipe carrier built in 1909, and later a wider pier built in 1913 that brought the ocean side entertainment. It was almost destroyed in the 1960s, only for its destruction order to be rescinded in 1973, just in time for its appearance in The Sting.

Located beneath the Santa Monica Pier, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Since 2003, it is operated by Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization. It was formerly known as the Ocean Discovery Center and was operated by UCLA.

As Heal the Bay’s marine education facility, it is open to the general public and attracts more than 65,000 visitors from around the world per year (approximately 15,000 are students). This facility offers educational programs, activities and special events dedicated to marine conservation, pollution prevention, and environmental education.

Opening times 2pm - 6pm Tues - Fri
12.30 - 6pm Sat, Sun

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The acitivity at the Santa Monica Pier has a lot to do with the weather, what day it is and if it's summer break for school kids, I've been here when there have only been a few people but on a Sunday in April with temperatures in the 90s the place was hopping.

There's a carousel, Pacific Park, a small amusement park that has a ferris wheel (which I think they recently tried to sell on ebay) and a mini roller coaster, souvenir shops and a psychic adviser. It's right on the beach so you can come here to watch the beautiful sunsets over the ocean.

There are pay parking lots that range between $5 and $7 along Pacific Coast Highway 1, parking garages at the pier and along some of the main streets and metered spots along Ocean Avenue.

There's one place you definitely want to see ~ the famous Santa Monica Pier. It's open year round and the admission is free. They have playland arcade, carousel and many restaurants overlooking the ocean.

This is a centerpiece of any visit to Santa Monica. Grab a bite to eat, check out the (as expected) many souvenir shops & buy yourself something kitchy. There's plenty for the kids to do, including the Aquarium, and you'll get some really nice beach views too.

It's not the biggest pier in the world, but it's someplace you'll definitely want to visit while in Santa Monica.