Santa Monica, California is a beach city in Los Angeles County. It is located between the Pacific Ocean and the city of Los Angeles. Home to nearly 100,000 people, Santa Monica has a culture that is shaped by its incorporation as a city and school district that are separate from Los Angeles. The city offers numerous beach activities and has one of the busiest piers on the California coast.

Santa Monica is home to Mahalo's headquarters as well as those of MySpace, Red Bull, Activision, A&M Records, Dick Clark Productions, Fatburger and Douglas Aircraft.http://www.nndb.com/geo/702/000069495/

Santa Monica offers a variety of entertainment options, from outdoor beach and watersports activities to fine restaurants and bars. The city's "3rd Street Promenade," located blocks away from the beach, has many such options on one street. Patrons can shop, catch a movie, dine or enjoy cocktails while visiting the street.http://www.thirdstreetpromenade.com/index.html Next to the promenade is an indoor mall, Santa Monica Place.http://downtownsm.com/shopping/santa-monica-place.html No fishing license is needed to fish from the Santa Monica Pier.fhttp://www.santamonicapier.org/faq.html The pier also offers carnival rides, carnival games, fine dining and nightclubs. The pier has been in many movies including Xanadu starring Olivia Newton John.

Santa Monica has been listed as one of America's greenest cities, boasting a fleet of alternative-fuel blue buses for public transportation and a number of bicycle lanes. The city has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10% in 15 years and continues to invest in environmental causes, such as cleaning up the Santa Monica Bay.http://www.citymayors.com/environment/us_greencities.html This green mentality is partly due to the 1980s activism of actress Jane Fonda and her politician husband Tom Hayden.http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20082212,00.html

• • The Mahalo Guide to a Santa Monica Vacation
  • The Mahalo Guide to Santa Monica Hotels and Restaurants
• Official Tourism Site: SantaMonica.com
• TripAdvisor: Santa Monica Vacations
• Yahoo! Travel: Santa Monica Vacations & Tourism
• Wikitravel: Santa Monica Travel Guide

• Public radio: KCRW 89.9FM

• Community college: Santa Monica College

• Local news, reviews, arts: outside.in - Santa Monica