Overview
Hermosa means “beautiful” in Spanish, a descriptor not lost on the nearly 20,000 residents who call Hermosa Beach home. Hollywood certainly seems to take the place at name-value, regularly filming on the beach and usually getting the pier in the frame. But glitz and glamour is the exception here—it’s flip-flops, swim trunks, and tans that are the norm. The beach is teeming with surfers, volleyball players, and sunbathers, while joggers, bikers, skaters, and strollers line the Strand. Visit the City of Hermosa Beach website at www.hermosabch.org, or the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce website at www.hbchamber.net, for listings of local events and activities. A summer favorite: movies on the beach at sunset.
As the official birthplace of surfing in California, Hermosa is home to the Surfers Walk of Fame, which honors big names like Bing Copeland, Hap Jacobs, and Greg Noll with bronze plaques embedded in the Pier. With its laid-back surfer mentality and compact town density, Hermosa Beach is a breezy alternative to the more ostentatious beach towns to the north.
Practicalities
Hermosa Beach is open daily from sunrise to sunset. During the summer, parking can be a pain, so come early and bring quarters. There is metered street parking for 25¢ per 15 minutes, or you can try the convenient new “cash key” (available for purchase at City Hall)—it works as a debit card, is accepted at all Hermosa meters, and is less likely to get lost in your seat cushions. A three-story lot on Hermosa Avenue is also available—rates vary depending on the time of year. Hint: if you don’t mind walking, there’s free 12-hour parking on Valley Drive (between 8th and 10th Streets). Restrooms are located on the new Pier Plaza and at 2nd Street, 11th Street, 14th Street, and 22nd Street.
Sports
It comes as little surprise that TV crews and volleyball players agree to use this beautiful location as a site for nationally televised AVP Volleyball Tournaments. Hermosa’s other favorite pastime is honored every year when the International Surf Festival comes to neighboring Manhattan Beach (www.surffestival.org). The three-day event, held annually in August, features an amateur volleyball tournament complete with costumes and lots of libations as well as land activities like a two-mile beach run and a sand castle design contest, along with traditional surf and lifeguard competitions.
Surfing and volleyball lessons are always available right on the beach, as are rental boogie boards, surfboards, or skates. Pier Surf (21 Pier Ave, 310-372-2012), located just up from the Hermosa Beach Pier, rents surfboards for $12 an hour ($35 a day) and boogie boards for $6 an hour ($20 a day) with varying security deposits.
Hermosa Cyclery (20 13th St, 310-374-7816) provides a good selection of rental bikes, boogie boards, skates, umbrellas, and chairs at affordable prices; rates start at $7 an hour ($21 a day) for bikes and $6 an hour ($18 a day) for rollerblades. Check the Hermosa Cyclery website at www.hermosacyclery.com for a complete list of rental offers.
Hermosa Pier
The century-old Hermosa Pier recently got a much-needed renovation. Among the improvements: fresh pylons, resurfacing, more lights, and a new three-story lifeguard station. The pier continues to serve as the epicenter and backdrop for most of the city’s main events, including Fiesta Hermosa, a biannual arts and crafts festival.
Shopping
While Roxy and Quiksilver reign supreme in this surf-driven community, there are plenty of diverse shopping opportunities within walking distance of the beach along Pier Avenue, Hermosa Avenue, Artesia Boulevard, and the Pacific Coast Highway. The streets are lined with clothing and jewelry boutiques, Sunglass Huts, antiques showrooms, and quaint general stores featuring beach themed merchandise. If you’re after fresh produce or flowers, the Farmers Market, located on Valley Drive (between 8th and 10th Streets), is open every Friday from noon until 4 pm, rain or shine.