Santa Monica Pier, CA fishing times, tides & weather

Spot type

An ocean pier on Santa Monica Bay. CDFW lists it as a public fishing pier for Los Angeles County (CDFW: California Beach Fishing). The pier operator's FAQ says fishing is allowed on the pier (Santa Monica Pier: FAQs).

Public access

• Hours: the pier operator's FAQ lists the pier as open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Santa Monica Pier: FAQs).
• Parking: the FAQ lists the Pier parking deck as open Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–8 p.m. It also lists the beach lot at 1550 Appian Way (Lot 1 North), Beach Lot 4 South and the downtown public parking structures, and says posted parking rates apply to all lots (Santa Monica Pier: FAQs). The City publishes the beach-lot and Pier Deck parking rates (City of Santa Monica: parking pricing table).
• Where to fish: a pier page from the EPA-funded Fish Contamination Education Collaborative (FCEC) says businesses in the mid-pier area somewhat restrict fishing over the surf area, with space available mainly on the south side of the parking area (FCEC: Santa Monica Pier).
• Construction and status: the City's Pier Bridge Replacement Project began in December 2025 and was expected to last about 24 months (City of Santa Monica, 2025-12-09). During earlier road and ramp closures for the project, the City said the pier would remain open (City of Santa Monica, 2026-07-20; City of Santa Monica, 2026-09-23). Check the pier operator's FAQ and the City's Pier Bridge project page for current status and detours before you go ([2]; City of Santa Monica: Pier Bridge Improvements). As of 2026-10-16, the pier operator's FAQ says the pier is fully open and accessible during construction ([2]).

Commonly caught species

Per a long-running California pier-fishing guide (secondary), catches more common than halibut include white croaker, queenfish, walleye surfperch, scorpionfish (sculpin), kelp and sand bass, Pacific and jack mackerel, and bonito. Inshore, the guide lists corbina, yellowfin and spotfin croaker and barred surfperch, along with small rays and sharks; sargo and several perch species are taken around the pilings (Pier Fishing in California: Santa Monica Pier, secondary; page last modified October 2018).

Local rules and authority

• Licence: CDFW does not require a fishing licence when fishing recreationally from a public pier in ocean or bay waters. A public pier is defined in Title 14 CCR §1.88: a publicly owned structure connected to the shoreline, with free, unrestricted public access, built or used mainly for fishing. All other regulations still apply, including minimum size, bag limits, report cards and seasons. Public piers also have their own gear limits (number of lines and crab gear per person); check CDFW's current rules before fishing (CDFW: California Beach Fishing; CDFW: Sport Fishing Licenses and Report Cards).
• Regulations: check CDFW's current ocean sport fishing regulations for size limits, bag limits and seasons (CDFW: Ocean Sport Fishing).
• Fish consumption: FCEC, the outreach arm of the U.S. EPA's Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund programme, places Santa Monica Pier in the "red zone" of its fish-contamination map (DDT and PCBs). Check FCEC's "Which Fish are Safe to Eat?" page and OEHHA's fish advisories before eating your catch (FCEC: Which Fish are Safe to Eat?; OEHHA: Statewide advisory for California coastal locations).
• MPAs: Point Dume SMR and Point Dume SMCA lie off Malibu, at the northern end of Santa Monica Bay. Take of all marine resources is prohibited in the SMR, and the SMCA has its own limited rules (CDFW: Point Dume).

Tide station

• NOAA 9410840, "Santa Monica" (prediction list name: "Santa Monica, Municipal Pier"), at 34.0083 N, 118.5 W (NOAA station metadata; NOAA station home).
• Type: reference station. NOAA's tide-prediction station list gives it type "R", and NOAA publishes a harmonic-constituent table for it (NOAA prediction stations list; NOAA harmonic constituents).
• Same water body: yes. NOAA names the station for the Municipal Pier, and its coordinates are about 0.15 mi from the pier's OpenStreetMap position ([17]; [19]).

Other spots nearby

Distances are straight-line from the pier, computed from OpenStreetMap coordinates ([19]).

• San Pedro / Los Angeles (Cabrillo Beach pier): about 24 mi southeast.
• Santa Barbara (Stearns Wharf): about 73 mi west-northwest.
• Big Bear Lake: about 91 mi east.

Note updates

• 2026-10-16: Checked against the sources listed below and approved, replacing the earlier draft shown on this page. Statements we couldn't confirm from those sources were taken out, and status lines now carry the date we checked them. Changes from the draft:
  • The tide gauge is NOAA's "Santa Monica, Municipal Pier" station, about 0.15 mi from our pier point; we had said it was on the pier.
  • Removed a bait-shop claim we couldn't confirm.
  • Corrected the Big Bear Lake distance to about 91 mi.

Sources

1. California Beach Fishing — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Beach-Fishing — accessed 2026-10-16
2. FAQs — Santa Monica Pier — https://www.santamonicapier.org/faqs — accessed 2026-10-16
3. Beach, Pier, and Annenberg Beach House Parking Pricing — City of Santa Monica — https://www.santamonica.gov/media/Parking/Parking%20Prices/Approved%20Pricing%20Table%20-%20FINAL%20RATES.pdf — accessed 2026-10-16
4. Santa Monica Pier — Fish Contamination Education Collaborative — https://pvsfish.org/fishing/pier-fishing/santa-monica — accessed 2026-10-16
5. Pier Bridge Replacement Project construction begins (2025-12-09) — City of Santa Monica — https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2025/12/09/pier-bridge-replacement-project-construction-begins — accessed 2026-10-16
6. Santa Monica Pier remains open as Appian Way closes for bridge demolition (2026-07-20) — City of Santa Monica — https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2026/07/20/santa-monica-pier-remains-open-as-appian-way-closes-for-bridge-demolition — accessed 2026-10-16
7. Two-Month Closure of Moomat Ahiko Way On- and Off-Ramps Planned for Bridge Demolition (2026-09-23) — City of Santa Monica — https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2026/09/24/two-month-closure-of-moomat-ahiko-way-on-and-off-ramps-planned-for-bridge-demolition — accessed 2026-10-16
8. Pier Bridge Improvements — City of Santa Monica — https://www.santamonica.gov/programs/pier-bridge-improvements — accessed 2026-10-16
9. Santa Monica Pier — Pier Fishing in California — https://www.pierfishing.com/santa-monica-pier/2/ — accessed 2026-10-16 (secondary)
10. Sport Fishing Licenses and Report Cards — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Fishing — accessed 2026-10-16
11. Ocean Sport Fishing — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean — accessed 2026-10-16
12. Which Fish are Safe to Eat? — Fish Contamination Education Collaborative (U.S. EPA) — https://pvsfish.org/fishing/what-fish-are-safe-eat — accessed 2026-10-16
13. Statewide Advisory for Eating Fish from California Coastal Locations without Site-Specific Advice — OEHHA — https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/statewide-advisory-eating-fish-california-coastal-locations-without-site-specific-advice — accessed 2026-10-16
14. Point Dume SMR/SMCA — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/MPAs/Point-Dume — accessed 2026-10-16
15. Station 9410840 metadata — NOAA CO-OPS — https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi/stations/9410840.json — accessed 2026-10-16
16. Santa Monica, CA station home — NOAA Tides & Currents — https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome.html?id=9410840 — accessed 2026-10-16
17. Tide prediction stations list — NOAA CO-OPS — https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi/stations.json?type=tidepredictions — accessed 2026-10-16
18. Station 9410840 harmonic constituents — NOAA CO-OPS — https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi/stations/9410840/harcon.json — accessed 2026-10-16
19. Santa Monica Pier location — OpenStreetMap Nominatim — https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Santa+Monica+Pier&format=json — accessed 2026-10-16