Ratner Beach — Attraction in Santa Monica

Pros *Bright street at night

*Parking off the PCH, often crowded on the weekend

*The Magnolia tree is gorgeous

*A few other plants like bamboo (trimmed often, so sometimes there are broken pieces), succulants and bushes;would make an awesome garden along the way if the city encouraged vegetation growth

*Stairs to the sand or many climb down other paths

*Ocean waves are mild enough for beginner surfers, loud enough for pleasant crashing waves and often come in tight afternoon into the morning

*Sandy enough for barefoot in some small sections, rocky enough for cool rock playtime that shifts as the waves push/pull

*Please consider kindness to the few homeless people and everyone that roam up and down the street (walking by or sometimes camped below or in their car), many strangers are very nice here, people come to relax, walk their dogs, hula hoop, build sand castles, sunbath, watch the sunset, etc. Be respectful to all.

*Porta Potties, though not the cleanest or nicest

Cons *Rarely see a lifegaurd stationed in the tower

*Some people blast music and smoke

*Cops may or may not enforce the No Parking 10PM-5AM signs that are behind lifeguard station or park opposite with more traffic noise and less ocean wave sounds

*Spacious compared to other places on the PCH, but not off the main road like Zuma Beach...traffic whizzes past continuously and shakes the car if you're in it. Less so for the further lanes, but especially so for the immediate lanes.

*Bikers use the little bit of extra space in the parking lane to keep to the right of traffic, so be careful opening or leaving your door open

*Some litter sometimes, but...

Like somebody else mentioned. There’s always a community of car campers, van dwellers, RVs along this stretch between Maestro’s grill and coastline Drive. It’s posted on either side of the road that you can’t park there between 12 AM/2 AM on one side, 2 AM/4 AM on the other side. But they’re not enforcing it since Covid. I camped here back in the day when there were no signs, that’s when it got out of hand and it was loaded with campers, and honestly becoming like tent city LA. Ghetto, dirty, trash being left out. They posted signs, started giving hard-core tickets, kicked everybody out. Then Covid hit and I was camping elsewhere, came back in April 2021 and there’s a small collection of campers here, no law-enforcement harassment. So anyway, if you’re passing through, this is a safe...

Decided to stop by after visiting the Getty Villa and wait for traffic to die down a bit. We parked at a metered lot easily entered slightly across from the Getty Villa exit.

It was quite a rocky beach with beautiful waves. Great place to just sit atop a rock, close your eyes, and listen to the waves hit the rocks as you breath in the fresh ocean air.

Sadly, this beach is littered with trash and empty bottles and the walls are heavily graffitied. It has a very urban look unlike many of the California beaches I...