With Kids! 
Santa Monica wasn’t on our original wheelchair accessible California road trip itinerary, but by the time we landed in Los Angeles, we were too excited to see the west coast to wait until later in our trip. It turns out Santa Monica is a brilliant beach for families traveling with a wheelchair. It ended up making a nice addition to our accessible adventure.
Here’s what we learned!
Parking
While all public parking in California is free with your disability placard, you shouldn’t count on finding street parking available anywhere near the beach. What I wish we’d known before walking the six blocks from our space to the beach is that your free parking is also valid in the North Lot – right by the ocean and pier. This lot has easy access to the pier, the aquarium, and the accessible beach entry boardwalk at 2000 Ocean Front Walk.
There’s also handicap parking on the pier in the amusement park. We joked because the handicap spaces are right at the top of the stairs to the walking trail, but the lot does also give nice, same level, access to the pier.
Santa Monica Pier
Any beach with a pier or boardwalk is automatically more accessible. The pier is a nice way to walk out over the water and take in the scenery without having to worry about getting stuck. The pier has plenty of accessible food options, tourist shops, and local artisans. They also have a small amusement park, it was still closed when we visited, so I can’t speak first hand of it’s accessibility, but I know the carousel has an ADA ramp and chariot for riding!
Santa Monica Beach Accessibility
Just under the pier, there’s a boarded access ramp to the beach. Unfortunately, it only goes 1/4 of the way to the water, so you’re pretty limited if you’re using you’re own chair. There are additional ramps at Montana Avenue, Arizona Avenue, Bay Street, Ocean Park Blvd., and Ashland Avenue.
The good news is, they have beach wheelchairs! I haven’t heard great things about the accessibility of California beaches, so I was relieved to find that they have free beach wheelchairs available on a first come, first serve basis. You can pick them up at the Heal the Bay Aquarium, right under the pier, by the free handicap parking. I will warn you that the hours of operation are limited (more so when we visited), so I suggest you call or check the website before visiting.
A manual beach chair is also available at the Annenberg Community Beach House at 415 Pacific Coastal Highway.
This is new since our visit, but they also have electric beach wheelchairs available for free public use! These are available at Perry’s Cafe at 1200 Pacific Coastal Highway and 2400 Pacific Coastal Highway. There is one chair available at each location.
If you’re heading to other area beaches, you can find beach wheelchair and accessibility info here.
Wheelchair Accessible Dining in Santa Monica
Santa Monica offers an overall wheelchair-friendly experience. There are plenty of boardwalk style foods available, with easy access, right on the pier. The streets are packed with a variety of dining options for every preference. Most of these are level with the street and have outdoor dining with no accessibility restrictions.
While accessibility won’t keep you out of any of these fine dining establishments, your budget might. Many of the restaurants are charging for that beautiful ocean view. We enjoyed Joe’s Pizza, just around the corner. We still had views of the ocean, everyone was happy with the NY style pizza, and it was easy on the wallet.
Wheelchair Friendly Play
Santa Monica now has three all abilities playgrounds! South of the pier, at Santa Monica State Beach, there’s an all abilities playground. This is at Ashland Avenue by the beach access. There’s also a brand new one at North Beach. The third is off the beach, in town, in Ishihara Park.
The Annenberg Community Beach House is an incredible community destination that’s free to the public. With a splash pad, playground, gallery, Marion Davies Guest House, beach courts & fields, community & cultural events, historic pool, free wi-fi, and more, it’s its own destination.
The Ocean Front Walk is a beautiful, wide, paved path, lined with shops and restaurants, that connects many points of interest along the way to the south of the pier.
The public restrooms just above the pier entrance had accessible stalls (but no changing tables). All three restrooms on the pier are also accessible.
Everything Else
Really, I wish Santa Monica had made our itinerary. There were a lot of accessible options that we just didn’t have time to explore because we were rushing to get to Yosemite. Maybe next time!
Consider adding this one to your California trip. It ended up being the most accessible beach we found during our limited time in California!
