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Los Angeles Beach Cities
It’s taken many years to convince Travis to do a L.A. Beach Cities trip but we finally made it happen! Between our two nights lodging in Marina del Rey and a final night in Redondo Beach, I was able to hit up all the beaches I was aiming for on this trip (Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo).
Day 4 (evening) and Day 6 (sunrise): Santa Monica Pier
We stopped through Burbank on our drive from Huntington Beach to Santa Monica so by the time we reached our destination it was nearly sunset hour. However, it was also mostly overcast and the kids had fallen asleep on the drive so our first visit to Santa Monica was one of those evenings where Travis listens to a podcast in the car while I wander around at the pier with my tripod taking blue hour photos, hoping not too many people walk into the photo frame (which is a big ask near the pier in Santa Monica).
I also returned to the pier for sunrise on our last morning staying in Marina del Rey which was far more favorable for people-free photo ops. Here’s some images mostly from that sunrise visit.
Day 5: Sunrise at Manhattan Beach Pier
Manhattan Beach has always been high on my list of piers I wanted to visit in California. I think it’s a combination of the scenic sea foam green railings combined with the fact it is also a concrete pier with an octagonal red-roofed building at the end like my hometown Huntington Beach.
I finally made it out there for a moody sunrise on our first morning in the L.A. area and it was everything I hoped it would be. Here’s a photo dump from Manhattan Beach, and also an image of Manhattan Beach taken from Hermosa Beach.
Day 5: Sunset at Marina del Rey
A quickie sunset at Marina del Rey. I actually drove to Kenneth Hahn State Park for L.A. skyline photos but when I got there I realized the mountains weren’t visible and I decided to drive back towards the coast. Luckily it was President’s Day and there was surprisingly little traffic on my route which was the only way I was able to be so indecisive about photo locations in Los Angeles.
Day 6 I visited Santa Monica for sunrise (photos posted above) then we drove to Pismo Beach for three days, which I’ll put in a different post.
Day 9: Redondo Beach Sunset
After our Central Coast jaunt we returned to L.A. for one final night. We had a peaceful evening at the Redondo Beach pier for sunset.
Day 10: Hermosa Beach Sunrise
Not too much to say! I made it over to Hermosa Beach for sunrise photos at the plaza and pier.
Day 10: LAX Departures
Finally, a quick stop for lunch and planespotting at the In-N-Out in Redondo Beach. We saw a couple Travis planes (a 747 and an A380) so overall a good spot before heading back home!
