Santa Monica Beach & Pier - CA, USA

This live camera from Explore.org looks south-east along Santa Monica State Beach, taking in the full length of Santa Monica Pier and the Pacific Ocean beyond. The pier stretches 480 metres into the Pacific and sits at the western terminus of historic Route 66, which runs 3,940 kilometres from Chicago to this exact point on the California coast. The yellow roller coaster visible in frame is the West Coaster, a steel coaster operated by Pacific Park, the only amusement park in the United States sitting on a pier over the ocean.

The large Ferris wheel to the right is Pacific Park's Pacific Wheel, an 11-storey solar-powered structure and the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel, running on 160 photovoltaic panels. Santa Monica State Beach itself spans 5.5 kilometres of coastline and is one of the most visited beaches in the United States, drawing around 16 million visitors per year. The beach sits within the City of Santa Monica, which covers just 22 square kilometres but generates over $2 billion annually in tourism revenue for the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The hills visible to the north-west in the far background are the Santa Monica Mountains, which form the southern boundary of the Malibu coastline. Santa Monica Pier was built in 1909 and withstood a catastrophic storm in 1983 that destroyed its western section, which was subsequently rebuilt and reopened in 1990. The Explore.org camera headquarters, from which this feed originates, is located in the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel directly adjacent to the pier.

Did You Know? The Pacific Wheel on Santa Monica Pier is the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel, generating enough electricity from its 160 solar panels to run all of Pacific Park's lighting.

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