The Venice Fishing Pier is a 700-foot public pier located on the south end of Venice Beach.  It's utilized by fisherman of all ages and skill levels, and no fishing permit is required.  Of course, when I first spotted the fishing pier, I planned to take advantage of the viewpoints for photography.  What I didn't expect walking out on the pier was getting a front row seat to watch an incredible sport...



I wandered over to the fishing pier after strolling along the Venice Boardwalk on a Friday evening. One thing I noticed is that several people rode their bikes down the pier. Also, the trash cans smelled terrible... perhaps people had been discarding their bait in them.

The Venice Beach Boardwalk is (according to Venice Beach's website) the number one visitor attraction in Southern California, known for its quirky street performers and vendors.  The boardwalk, also known as Ocean Front Walk, is one and a half miles along the beach of shopping, food, houses, and eccentric people.

I took a stroll down the boardwalk after spending the afternoon at Venice Beach so that I could check out the culture of the "World Famous Venice Beach Boardwalk" myself.



I'll be honest... one of my main incentives to visit Venice Beach was to see the iconic sign.

On an incredibly warm Friday, I decided it would be a great time for me to explore one of Los Angeles's famous beaches.  After doing a bit of internet searching, I was eager to check out the colorful Venice Beach.

Venice Beach is considered a global tourist destination and has been labeled "a cultural hub known for its eccentricities."  The beach receives millions of visitors a year.

Before going, I tried my best to locate parking.  However, everything I found online was very vague.  The price listed on the Venice Beach website was Winter $4.00 to $9.00; Summer $5.00 to $15.00.  Umm.... that's a huge range!  I found an address for a parking lot, but that turned out to be a garage a ways from the beach, so I kept driving until I found myself on a one-way street.  I was really confused and didn't know how to turn around, so I parked at the first place available, which of course was priced at the highest end of the parking fee spectrum.  $15.00 valet parking in a secure lot for the day.  Sure... why not?

As soon as I left the valet lot, I walked right by a larger public parking area which was listed at $9.00.  Of course, this would happen to me.  Oh, well... at least the valet lot felt really safe.

The beach was a short walk away, but the width of it was huge.  Walking from the boardwalk up to the water was quite a hike.  But it was so large that even though it was well-populated, everyone could really spread out.