Los Angeles is well known for its diverse beach landscapes across different coastal cities. From the well known tourist attractions to small hidden gems along the coast, there are plenty of different beaches to explore.
As a Los Angeles photographer who loves to travel, I’m always excited to discover new locations and landscapes where I can capture beautiful sunrises andLos Angeles sunsets. While some of these locations may be spread far apart from each other, they might be worth visiting when you come to LA.
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing what I consider to be the best beaches in Los Angeles.
Santa Monica State Beach
Santa Monica State Beach is an incredibly popular beach destination for Los Angeles tourists and locals alike. The main attraction of this beach is the Santa Monica Pier, which features attractions like a roller coaster, small amusement park games, an arcade, and most notably the Pacific Park Ferris Wheel that lights up at night. Depending on the time that you visit, the ferris wheel will display images that align with events and holidays.
Along the Santa Monica Beach is a long bike path where you can ride your own bike or use e-bikes that are parked along the beachfront. You can take a relaxing bike ride or walk across the path as you enjoy the beach scenery.
One tip I’d give is that this beach gets crowded (particularly in the summertime and around the Santa Monica Pier) in the evening. If you’re looking for a beach that offers a quiet sunset with not a lot of people, then you might want to travel further away from the Pier.
I’d rate Santa Monica State Beach as one of the best beaches in Los Angeles because it’s central to a lot of different activities and spots tourists and locals can enjoy like the Santa Monica Pier and Third Street Promenade, which features farmers’ markets on certain days and stores around a pedestrian mall complex.
Venice Beach
Close to Santa Monica State Beach is (in my opinion) the most famous beach destination in Los Angeles (and one of the most famous tourist locations in all of LA). Compared to Santa Monica, Venice Beach has a more diverse landscape on the beach itself.
Some of the popular attractions along the beach include Muscle Beach, the Venice Beach Pier, and the Venice Skatepark. Similar to Santa Monica, you can find a bike path and a separate pedestrian walkway where you can enjoy the views of the beach.
Some of my favorite travel photos that I have ever taken have been during sunset at Venice Beach. These sunsets usually happen at the end of the year during fall/winter.
While Venice Beach is a popular tourist attraction for beachgoers, I have found that they are spread out across the beach in comparison to Santa Monica, where most tourists and locals are gathered near the Santa Monica Pier.
El Matador State Beach
I would rate El Matador State Beach in Malibu as one of the best beaches in Los Angeles because of the photogenic rock bluffs spread across the sand. While this location is fairly far off the map from the Greater Los Angeles area, it is a beautiful spot to capture beach photos.
Unlike the Santa Monica and Venice beaches, there aren’t really any attractions in El Matador Beach. As it’s far off the grid from most cities, you’ll find this beach to be much less populated throughout the year (and there is much less space available in the parking lot).
If your goal when visiting a beach is to relax on the sand, then I’d strongly encourage any visitor to check the time for high-tide before visiting, as the ocean can cover all of the sand.
Final Thoughts
There are many beaches to explore, so my list of the best beaches in Los Angeles is only a small portion of what you can find if you adventure around LA.
Thanks for reading and until next time!
If you like travel photography, then feel free to browse some galleries of cities I have visited below.
LOS ANGELES
LONDON
TOKYO
BERLIN
To see more examples of my photography, you can take a look at my portfolio work below.
