Page 124 - 2019 Travel Guide to California

MARINA DEL REY
LA’s nautical playground shines on land and sea
»CRUISE, FISH,
PADDLE, DINE!
Marina del Rey
Visitor Information
visitmarinadelrey.com
MARINA DEL REY is an oasis on the Los
Angeles coast, above; waterfront dining is
a year-round option, below.
TUCKED BETWEEN hectic LAX to the
south and bustling Venice to the north,
Marina del Rey is an oasis of calm that has
spent much of 2018 enhancing its water-
front pleasures.
This unincorporated patch of Los Angeles
County boasts the nation’s largest small-craft
harbor (eight basins, nearly 5,000 boat slips),
offering a wide variety of fishing trips, harbor
tours, dining cruises, yacht charters, kayaking
and stand-up paddling. Mesmerizing harbor
views from most of its restaurants, which
offer year-round outdoor dining, make it a
prime attraction even for landlubbers.
While popular ocean beaches are found
nearby in Venice and Santa Monica, Marina
del Rey’s small and rarely crowded Marina
Beach (a.k.a. Mother’s Beach) in the harbor
is a big draw. Families especially appreciate
the flat water, water sports and playground.
Beach Eats, a summer congregation of food
trucks, inaugurated a concert series in 2018,
while the returning ARTsea festival in May
brings two days of art and music.
122 2019 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
B Y C H R I S T I N E D E L S O L
Family-Friendly Entertainment
Views of passing watercraft grace the
walking path and picnic tables at Burton
Chace Park, where summer brings free con-
certs and movies as well as the popular
Fourth of July fireworks. Come December,
free entertainment includes the Holiday
Boat Parade and a family-friendly New
Year’s Eve bash with fireworks.
Just over 50 years ago, Marina del Rey
was an estuary frequented only by local
duck hunters and fishermen. First envi-
sioned in 1887, the harbor finally became
reality in 1965, though some wetlands
remain in the adjacent Ballona Wetlands
Ecological Reserve.
Just next door, Venice offers an array of
unique shops and restaurants on popular
Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Visitors can also
glimpse LA’s quirkier side at world-famous
Venice Beach, where weight-lifters, artists
and would-be rock stars hold forth and
eccentric characters bike and rollerblade
the boardwalk every day.
MARINA DEL REY CVB