Santa Monica Pier Sunsets

The second time I flew into Los Angeles, I was in a heated race with the sunset to get to the Santa Monica Pier. It seemed like every time I flew to that city, I was in a hurry to get somewhere.

LAX to Flynyon Helicopters

The first time I flew to the 310 in 2017, I had set-up a reservation for a closed-door helicopter ride. We flew in October 3rd – when the sun goes down around 6:30 PM. We received our bags from baggage claim at 5:30, and then had two separate Ubers cancel on us after having us wait 10 minutes, each. By the time a loyal driver had arrived, it was already 6:05. We were 20 minutes away without traffic, and 40 with. We let our Uber know the situation, and he certainly listened. He managed to exit from World Way (LAX’s consistently trafficked road) in under a minute. This was quite the feat considering it usually takes 5 to 10 minutes to leave. Surprisingly, he got us to the terminal for the helicopter ride 5 minutes early. We almost died, but it was surely worth it.

Racing the Sunset to the Pier

On December 17th of that same year, I had planned for a snowboarding trip in Big Bear with a few of my buddies.  I landed at LAX at 4:00 PM, and was aiming to reach my Airbnb in Santa Monica before sunset. During this time of year, the sun usually sets around 4:30. Reaching the Pier seemed relatively feasible considering my place for the night was about a block from there. I didn’t want to be a nuisance to my Uber driver, but I made my goal for the evening very clear to her.

If he wanted the $20 tip, trying to appease my request would be in her best interest! She took hidden paths and forgotten routes to get me to my destination. I arrived at my Airbnb off of Fourth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard at 4:20. This gave me enough time to drop off my bags, set up the drone, and hurry over to the Pier.

I sprinted two blocks towards the beach. Although the Santa Monica Pier has a constant rush hour, sunset is certainly the most-trafficked time of day. Since droning (literally) anywhere in Los Angeles is frowned upon, I found a nice place to hide-and-drone. In between Pier Burger and the restroom was a convenient spot to post-up. I lifted off and watched the sunset come into view on my phone. I was in absolute amazement. Considering I had never been to this part of town, it wasn’t too hard to amaze me. Nonetheless, I was ecstatic to reach the Pier – not only at golden hour, but at sunset.

Pacific Park & Friends

The second time I visited the Pier, a few of my snowboarding buddies and I were leaving Big Bear. We had a solid week of boarding the slopes and were ready for some warmth. This time around, I had sufficient time to have fun on the rides. All of us were adrenaline junkies at heart and were eager to ride the West Coaster (pictured) until we got sick of it. We rode that ride nearly 10 times – milking the attraction of its worth. Although we were sick of the West Coaster, we really just needed a little variety. After several times riding both the Pacific Plunge and the Sea Dragon, we were all ready to go.

Yet again, I found myself back at the Pier over Spring Break with Maria. We had ventured all the way from San Francisco, and the Santa Monica Pier was the first true stop of the trip. Don’t get me wrong, we stopped and camped at several spots going south down the coast. Nonetheless, our first official stop where we could relax for a few days was Los Angeles. After nearly a week of stopping and going, we really wanted to soak in the environment. Maria and I got 3 tickets to the Pacific Wheel – the perfect way to relax and let loose. Considering we had been driving all day and still had a helicopter ride later that night, we really valued this moment to ourselves. We were eager to see what Los Angeles had in store for us after observing the incredible view of the ocean from the Pacific Wheel.