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Ever thought about a trip to Santa Monica but worried whether the Santa Monica is safe for families? Well, we decided to take the kids to the land of electric scooters, personal sound systems, roller blades and famous piers and had a great time! Here are our top tips for planning an easy, family-friendly beach day to Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

Parking in Santa Monica Beach

You can park on the beachfront of Santa Monica Beach from $12-$14 dollars for the day (circa 2018).

If you park next to the pier it’s much more expensive as you will pay an hourly rate and not a day rate. Drive past the pier and the all-day car parks will start to emerge. However, if you choose to park in Venice Beach the day rate there is even cheaper still.

Sunday Mornings on Santa Monica Beach

We visited on a Sunday morning and managed to be there just at the right time to see this rather impressive installation of the world’s national flags! It was assembled to highlight peace and tolerance around the world.

It was all set out on the beach just to the right of Santa Monica Pier. It also included a display of the different flags for each state in America.

Santa Monica Farmers Market

You can also take a stroll to the Santa Monica Farmers market where you can have a little look at all the goodies on sale and treat yourself to something sweet. There’s a great atmosphere and it’s filled with people enjoying the slower start to their day.

Santa Monica Pier

It’s great to stroll all the way along Santa Monica Pier and peruse all the trinket stalls, food stalls, shops and the various entertainment as you go.

You can also have a nosey in the arcade (although I was a little disappointed with the quality of games and things to do in there) and go on some rides at the fair like the iconic big wheel.

Photo Opportunities on Santa Monica Pier

There are so many good photo opportunities as you wander along. One of the best being the end of Route 66 sign.

Although we didn’t drive Route 66 it has become a bit of a national treasure so definitely worth a photo!

At the end of the pier take a moment to gaze out into the great expansiveness of the Pacific Ocean. Then enjoy having a little look into the buckets of the people fishing for their super! You never know what you’ll find.

Hire a Bike– Family-friendly beach day in Santa Monica

There are a few places to do this, but this is the shop I hired one from when I first travelled here as a solo backpacker in 2009!

We didn’t hire a bike on this trip as the kids were too young. However, you can hire by the hour for around $7 or for the day for $20. I also really enjoyed sharing this memory with them. Perhaps one day they’ll come back and hire their own bike for a little ride to Venice Beach!

Food in Santa Monica

There is no end of food options in Santa Monica. There are choices available to suit all budgets and preferences. We really enjoyed eating all-American beef burgers sitting at a table on the edge of the beach feeling the sand between our toes and looking out at the ocean. It was the perfect option for us with the kids. Not too expensive and it offered us and the children loads of freedom to enjoy the beach while we waitied for our food. There was no road in the way and nothing to separate them off from us. It was just our table, on the beach, with our kids. A pretty good lunch time!

The Beach – Family-friendly beach day in Santa Monica

There are lots of different toileting facilities all the way along the beach which is excellent, especially with kids so there are no worries there. The beaches are big and sandy, but the tide can be strong so just bare this in mind when with little ones.

We also upped our seashell game in Santa Monica Beach and started hunting Sand Dollars instead! What a treat for all of us as they are not something we get to see in the UK at all!

We travelled to LA in October and it is probably worth mentioning that the water was pretty cold. None of us were that keen to get in the water. Lots of kids were getting in with their boogie board, but they also had wetsuits on. If you are going to spend time in the sea, it might be something to think about.

Walk to Venice Beach from Santa Monica

To walk from Santa Monica Pier to the start of Venice Beach with our munchkins on their scooters took about 40 minutes. But we were in no rush.

A helpful hint one of the life guards gave us was once you get to lifeguard tower 28 you will be at the start of Venice Beach. This gave us something to aim for while we were walking, just in case little feet got tired.

Venice Beach

I did wonder if it was worth taking the kids to Venice Beach. I was worried there wouldn’t be anything there for them – boy was I wrong!

Our little one loved it and was totally enthralled with all of the art! It was such a sweet surprise to learn this about her. I felt so proud watching her navigate all these new experiences and seeing all these new things.

Given the opportunity she’s always up for a spot of painting at home. However I had never seen her drawn to art and colour like she was here!

Her favourite, by far, were the collection of paintings at Wikid Canvas. She spent ages looking at the pictures. She even picked out a favourite print, which was a portrait of a woman in a kaleidoscope of colours on a wooden block.

The artist, Chris Ouk, was so good with her. He asked her questions about why she liked the picture and where she was from.

We ended up buying the print and Chris signed it for us with a special note for her on the back! She was so taken with the whole experience she now refers to it as the day she bought her first piece of art!

What a great memory for us all to look back on!

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