When we traveled to California in the fall, we visited the Manhattan Beach (Manhattan Beach) – a classic Southern California beach with surfers, beach volleyball, and sunbathe on the people there. Initially, it emerged as a small resort town located on the Pacific coast (South Bay) in the bay of Santa Monica, south of El Segundo and north of Hermosa Beach. And today, Manhattan Beach is one of the most expensive and safest areas of Los Angeles with a cozy family beach, where residents come to relax with their children, play sports on the ocean or have fun with friends.
Manhattan beach
Manhattan Beach is a small town with an area of about 10 km 2 and one of the calmest beaches in California, which is located in an expensive and prestigious area in the southwest of the city of Los Angeles. It got its name in 1901 by chance: Stuart Merrill, the owner, and developer of the northern part of Manhattan Beach, who, after moving to the West Coast of the USA, wanted to continue to live in Manhattan before lived in Manhattan in New York. But for this, he needed to change the already existing name Shore Acres coined by another owner of this land. Their dispute eventually resolved tossed up a coin.
Interesting fact:
Manhattan Beach was wholly covered with dunes before the start of development, which was leveled in the 1920s and 1930s. At the same time, a large amount of excess sand remained, part of which was transported to Hawaii to create the sandy beach of Waikiki on the rocky coast of Honolulu Island. Sand from Manhattan Beach also used to build the Coliseum Stadium, which became a real landmark in Los Angeles and to ennoble its Pacific coast.
I will not go into all the details of the history of Manhattan Beach and talk about its infrastructure and the quiet life of the population of this small town on the Pacific Ocean. You can read about all this on Wikipedia. I can only say that the number of its inhabitants (according to the data for 2018) is about 36 thousand people, and almost all of them are quite wealthy people, if not rich. So if you decide to buy a house in Manhattan Beach, then prepare at least $ 3 million!
Outline Manhattan Beach
Two interesting facts about Manhattan Beach:
- Manhattan Beach is located just 5 kilometers from Los Angeles International Airport, so you can see them taking off planes from it.
- The most expensive housing in Los Angeles is residential buildings of a small number of stories (mainly two- and three-story townhouses and small cottages) that are densely located along Manhattan beach at an altitude of 20 meters or more above sea level. However, huge mansions, such as those that we saw on the hills in Malibu, are not found here. The first line of housing is along Ocean Drive and the second and third on Highland Avenue and Valley Drive.
Graffiti is also very popular in Manhattan Beach, as is Venice Beach
All houses on the coast are low – two or three floors maximum
From the beach, it’s good to watch the planes taking off from LAX
First-line houses are located on a slope that used to be covered with dunes.
Beautiful ocean view from manhattan beach
Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach is located directly on the coastline along Ocean Drive, in front of luxury residential buildings overlooking the ocean, where quite rich and successful people live. He seemed interesting to us primarily for its cleanliness and sporting spirit. In terms of size, this is not the most extensive urban beach in Los Angeles – its length is about 3.4 km, and its width is from 200 to 500 m. Here you can not often meet young dudes (as on Malibu beach ), but the respectable public she loves to come on vacation to Manhattan Beach on expensive cars. About 4 million people visit the beach annually, which is only slightly less than tourists in southern Rome in the Grand Canyon Park.
Northern Manhattan Beach
South of Manhattan Beach Pier there are more people
There are always a lot of parents with children on this family beach.
Wooden lifeguard tower
The South Bay Bicycle Trail and the Pacific Coast Promenade run along Manhattan Beach and are the best place for walking and jogging. And if you leave Manhattan Beach in the pier area and cross the road, you will find yourself on the street with many restaurants and shops. There we came on foot from our hotel in Los Angeles, where we decided to stay for a few days.
Municipal car parks on Manhattan Beach (cost – from 1-3 dollars per hour to $ 10 per day, you can pay by card, opening hours – from dawn until 22:00) are often crowded, and to find a place to put your car, and you have to spend time. Therefore, it is better to come here on foot, to come by bicycle, skateboard or roller skate. However, you can also take a taxi or take the bus to Highland Avenue, and then go down Manhattan Beach Boulevard to the very pier, as we did.
Parking Near Manhattan Beach
Here are some things to do on Manhattan Beach:
- Sunbathing in the sun
- Swim and swim if the waves are not too strong
- Ride a surfboard
- Play volleyball
- Spend time with children in the playground
- Go fishing or catch someone else’s catch
- Take a walk on the pier and sit there on a bench with a good view of the ocean
- Peek into the free aquarium and see the little sharks and lobsters
- Enjoy the beautiful sunset
- Make memorable photos as a keepsake
- Relaxing in the bar
Free toilets are available for visitors to Manhattan Beach. There are also locker rooms where you can change your swimsuit and take a shower. We also saw wooden rescue towers, on which rescuers were on duty from dawn to dusk, carefully monitoring the safety of people in the ocean. Several of their observation posts are located on both sides of a long pier, protruding far into the sea.
Manhattan Beach is rightfully considered one of the best coastal areas of Los Angeles because there are all the opportunities for recreation, entertainment, and sports. Have you heard anything about boogie boarding? It turns out that this is one of the most popular attractions on Manhattan Beach. Typically, experienced surfers catch a big wave south of the pier, and boogie-boarders hang out in the northern part of the beach. The two best surf spots are called Pier and El Porto. We also saw fishermen here who caught some small coastal fish from the pier for spinning rods.
Manhattan Beach hosts the annual traditional Manhattan Beach Open Volleyball tournament and the International Surf Festival, where everyone present has the opportunity to see world-class athletes.
Manhattan beach pier
The main attraction on Manhattan Beach is a long 283-meter pier, which crosses the eponymous boulevard, located perpendicular to the coastline. The pier was originally built in 1901 from wood, and in 1920 it was rebuilt from concrete and has since been reconstructed several times. Inside it is a laboratory aquarium, built to study the ocean, where you can look at sharks, lobsters and various fish of bright colors. There is also a small cafeteria.
- The Manhattan Beach Pier Aquarium is open on weekends from 10:00 to sunset, and on weekdays from 14:00 to 17:00.
- The entrance to the aquarium is free for everyone.
- Group and educational excursions are held.
Author Bio:
Malik Nabeel Ali is a student of Virtual University, Islamabad. He is working in The Odyssey Blog. He is basically inhabitant of Wah Cantt. He is a young SEO analyst. His area of interest is Search engine optimization.
