Los Angeles - 4 1/2 hour layover at LAX...Santa Monica Pier possible?

Got a 4 and half hour layover from 530pm-10pm on a Thursday coming up...is it feesible to take a taxi to the Santa Monica Pier (Or Venice Beach) and back within this layover? How much would a taxi cost? Connecting on to an international flight....thoughts...thanks! ^

It's feasible -- just. Stay off the 405 though. Two taxis up and down Lincoln Boulevard would be $50 or so each, I think. You must be back at LAX for the international flight by 800pm, so if your incoming flight's on time and a taxi takes 45 minutes each way, you'd have... um... an hour in SM.

Thanks... after some more research maybe Manhattan Beach is a better idea?? :confused:

If you're coming in on a weekday, I would just forget about it. Rush hour clogs not only the 405 freeway, but major thoroughfares like Lincoln and Sepulveda. Dockweiller beach is right next to LAX, but even my LAPD buddies don't go there for fear of being ambushed by the gangsters.

Manhattan beach is only about 5 miles away, and they have a pretty nice pier with lots of restaurants/bars around. Still not that much time, but maybe enough to get a peek at the ocean. Taxi will still run you $30 each way. Hope that helps.

Thanks...kind of the answer I was afraid of. Was hoping to get a peak as I have not been to the LA area beaches since 98!

Possibly the worst time of day for such a sojourn. Between the rush hour traffic and the fact that it'd be dark, so you wouldn't see much, and high taxi fares for any trip starting at an airport, I'd say forget it. Even if your bags are checked through and you have the boarding pass for your international flight, you should still be back at LAX at least an hour, preferably more, before your next flight. Add to this the fact that it could take a while to get off your first fight (with everyone needing to take big carry-on bags from the bins) and into a taxi, carrying your carry-on bag, and the always present possibility of heavy traffic even within LAX, your 4 1/2 hours could turn into less than 3 hrs.

Maybe grab a bite to eat or a drink at the somehwt kitchy (though not cheap) Encounter Restaurant in the spider-shaped building in the middle of LAX (great for plane watching).

I don't take taxis much in L.A., but there are several sites like this for estimating fares: http://www.worldtaximeter.com/los-angeles I just input LAX and Manhattan Beach (no exact location), and it came up with $23. To my surprise, it estimated $28 for Marina del Rey. Ouch.

p.s. the taxi Web site says $39 each way from LAX to the Santa Monica Pier. I enjoy the pier, including the restaurants, arcade, amusement park and aquarium, but not THAT much. It'd be more fun than some beaches on a winter evening (at least you could see something), but for that price, and in rush hour traffic?

Yeah...uggh...well maybe that encounter restauraunt is looking more appealing now... hopefully I won't hit traffic walking to the restaraunt :p

Or if you positively want to get off LAX property but not go too far, there's always the Proud Bird restaurant.

http://www.theproudbird.com/

Haha, or that skeezy Carls Jr. right next to the "Live NUDE NUDE NUDE" on Aviation Blvd three blocks down from the airport. I guess some guys can't wait.

Haha, or that skeezy Carls Jr. right next to the "Live NUDE NUDE NUDE" on Aviation Blvd three blocks down from the airport. I guess some guys can't wait.

I thought all of the nude places (and I do remember them, just from the signs outside, of course) had closed years ago.

We were going to try the Proud Bird recently, but the hotel had a free shuttle to LAx, so we went to the Encounter again. One good meal (my "Peking Duck," a duck breast with semi-spicy sauce) and one not so great (my wife's ravioli with mushrooms-- it was the size of an appetizer, not a main dish).

Haha, or that skeezy Carls Jr. right next to the "Live NUDE NUDE NUDE" on Aviation Blvd three blocks down from the airport. I guess some guys can't wait.

I thought all of the nude places (and I do remember them, just from the signs outside, of course) had closed years ago. And we did eat at the Carl's Jr. (did not see skeeze or sleeze, but if I missed the nude bar, who knows what else I missed?).

We were going to try the Proud Bird recently, but the hotel had a free shuttle to LAx, so we went to the Encounter again. One good meal (my "Peking Duck," a duck breast with semi-spicy sauce) and one not so great (my wife's ravioli with mushrooms-- it was the size of an appetizer, not a main dish). The danger in going to the Encounter is not hitting traffic but getting hit by traffic, since you need to cross 2-3 airport roads.