Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Santa Monica, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Santa Monica and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Santa Monica
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Santa Monica:
- 34.019524, -118.491396
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Santa Monica
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
- Since Santa Monica is near Ventura County and also Orange County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ventura County
- eBird sighting report for Orange County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Santa Monica ...
We found three communities that share the name Santa Monica.
Within California, the name Santa Monica is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Bay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Santa Monica [Bay County].
- Duval County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Santa Monica [Duval County].
- Texas
- Willacy County
- This Santa Monica is located in Willacy County and lies 1,351 miles [2,174.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Santa Monica that is located in Los Angeles County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Willacy County community of Santa Monica.
- Florida
Curious and Interesting Names Near Santa Monica ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Century City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Century City
- Century City is located in Los Angeles County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Century City
- From Santa Monica to Century City
- Crescent
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Cypress Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Grove
- Cypress Grove is located in Los Angeles County
- Home Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Home Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Junction
- Home Junction is located in Los Angeles County
- Hyperion
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Little Ethiopia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Ethiopia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Ethiopia
- Little Ethiopia is located in Los Angeles County
- Motordrome ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motordrome have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motordrome
- Motordrome is located in Los Angeles County
- Ocean Park
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Park
- Ocean Park is located in Los Angeles County
- Palms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Surfridge ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surfridge
- Surfridge is located in Los Angeles County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Surfridge
- From Santa Monica to Surfridge
- View Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for View Park
- View Park is located in Los Angeles County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to View Park
- From Santa Monica to View Park
- Wildwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Santa Monica to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Santa Monica to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Santa Monica and extending to:
- Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Santa Monica to Los Angeles, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 356 miles [572.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,306 miles [3,711.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,575 miles [12,190.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,344 miles [13,428.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Santa Monica: www.santa-monica.org/
The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Santa Monica could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Santa Monica) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Santa Monica. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0195, Longitude: -118.4914 |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <5> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Santa Monica to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.44 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.386 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.774 degrees. |