Southern California has many great Web Cams,
and several of them are pointing directly at
the beach trail that runs for 25 miles along the coast.
This bike path starts just south of the Malibu/Santa Monica
border and runs south along the beach to the
foot of the Palos
Verdes Peninsula.
Every weekend it is filled with thousands
of skaters and cyclists, and you
can see them from anywhere in the
world, by connecting your browser to one of
these Beach Cams.
Santa Monica Pier Cam
Me and
Jay Etheredge of Team
Hyper, on the Hermosa Beach StrandCam.
This photo was taken right
after my first speedskating lesson, and
two weeks before Jay broke his leg at
an NPC Superweek race in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
(select image for a larger view)
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If you go to the north end of the path and skate
south, the first Web Cam you will come to, is the
camera pointing to the entrance
of the Santa Monica Pier. This Cam does not
point directly at the bike path, but the path
runs under the pier, a few yards from this camera.
The picture on this Web Cam is refreshed every 10 minutes.
The Santa Monica Pier Cam points to an intersection
and a park
in Santa Monica, where inline and quad
skaters meet every Friday
for a wild, accompanied-by-music, show-off skate through
the streets of Santa Monica (connect to
FridayNightSkate.org for more information).
Venice Beach Cam
The Venice Beach Cam was recently moved, and
it is now mounted on the
Sidewalk Cafe, and
points directly at the new skate dance plaza,
that opened on August 12, 2000. On weekends
you can see skaters dancing and lots of other
strange and interesting Venice Beach
activities.
The picture on this Web Cam is refreshed every 10 minutes.
Marina del Rey Harbor Cam
Marina del Rey is the largest man-made small
boat harbor in the world, and this Web Cam
points down one of the boat channels.
This is another Cam that is not pointed directly
at the bike path, but in this case,
it is possible to skate a few yards off the path
to this spot. This camera is mounted in the office
building at
4676 Admiralty Way and it only operates
during daylight hours.
Playa del Rey and El Segundo
Me peeking at the Strand Cam
(select image for a larger view)
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There are no Web Cams on the portion
of the path that runs through Playa del Rey and
El Segundo. There is not much else there either,
except sand, sea, a few palm trees, and a
looooooooooooong path that twists and turns for
many miles.
Manhattan Beach
The only Beach Cam I have found in Manhattan
Beach, is the
Surf Cam
that gives you a view of the surf breaking
on the beach. There are many Cams like
this along the path, and on other
California beaches up and down the coast.
Hermosa Beach Strand Cam
It is a local tradition, for skaters visiting
Southern California to have lunch at the
Good Stuff Restaurant in Hermosa Beach,
and have their picture taken by the "Strand Cam"
(the Web Cam that is mounted on one side of that cafe).
The picture on this Cam is refreshed every 4 minutes,
so you will need to sit on
the bench, or stand behind the restaurant sign
for at least that long, to have your photo taken
by the Camera. One nice thing about
this Web Cam - all of their photos are
archived on their Web site and available
for viewing for at least 6 months.
Hermosa Beach Wave Cam
This Web Cam is mounted on
Hennessey's Tavern, a few
doors South of the Good Stuff Restaurant, and it is especially
fun to watch, because it has live streaming video.
The movement is choppy - the image refreshes every
second - but you can definitely watch
the skaters' progress as they move by the camera.
This Web Cam view can be interesting at night, because
the camera operates 24 hours, and this portion of the
path is lighted.
Redondo Beach Bay Cam
Supposedly you can see Catalina Island from this Web Cam,
but I can tell you, there are not many days each year when you
have a view of Catalina from the California coast. It must be a very clear and
dry day with no trace of smog or fog in the air. But even so,
there is a beautiful view through this Web Cam that is mounted
high above the town of Redondo Beach. You can see a lovely
view of the bay, with the town in the foreground, and Palos Verdes
Peninsula on the left.
South End of the Path
The beach path stops here,
and it doesn't pick up again until the City of Long Beach,
which is located south of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and
south of the Los Angeles Port of San Pedro.
Me skating with visiting friends from the
Davis Wednesday Night Skate and
the
San Diego Friday Night Skate
(photos from the
Hermosa Beach Strand Cam).
