Santa Monica Pier

One of California’s largest and most celebrated party spots, Santa Monica Pier is a massive, double-jointed pier at the west end of Colorado Avenue. It has a family-friendly, oceanfront amusement park with 12 thrilling rides like a solar-powered Ferris wheel, West coaster, Pacific wheel and 14 midway games. Illuminated by 174,000 neon lights every night, the park offers elusive views of 130 miles of the Los Angeles skyline.

Plenty of events and mini music festivals also bring together vivacious crowds to the Pacific Park, which has a platform with open-air seating areas. While shopping at the seaside plaza, you can pick items like aquatic animal plushies, traditional jewelry and casual beachwear. The shore of Muscle Beach here is lined with trendy restaurants with sea-themed interiors, food carts and snack bars, the most popular being Pacific Pizza and Beach Burger. The pier has a public center for marine-education supported by Heal the Bay, tucked beneath the world-famous Carousel building. Santa Monica Pier is also a hub for water sports, leading it to being called Dogtown- an international sensation brought to popular culture in the 1970s by teenagers. You can enjoy surfing, body boarding and skateboarding at the beach and table rock formations.