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:
- 26.361947, -97.599424
- 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 Willacy County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Willacy County
- Since Santa Monica is near Cameron County and also Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cameron County
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo 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 Texas, the name Santa Monica is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Los Angeles County
- This Santa Monica is located in Los Angeles County and lies 1,351 miles [2,174.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Santa Monica that is located in Willacy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Santa Monica.
- Florida
- Bay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> 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].
- California
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.
- Bishop
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest) - Eggers
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Graham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south) - Green Valley Farms
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Farms
- Green Valley Farms is located in Cameron County
- Green Valley Farms has also been known as:
- Green Valley Farms Colonia
- Indian Lake
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
- Indian Lake is located in Cameron County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
- Lisa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Palm Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Palm Valley
- From Santa Monica to Palm Valley
- Rangerville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rangerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangerville
- Rangerville is located in Cameron County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 289 people
- Rangerville has also been known as:
- Rangerville Colonia
- Raymondville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymondville
- Raymondville is located in Willacy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,767 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymondville <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Raymondville
- From Santa Monica to Raymondville
- Sandy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest) - Windsong Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsong Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
- Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
- Windsong Village has also been known as:
- Windsong Village Colonia
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 community 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:
- Raymondville, which is the Seat of Willacy County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Santa Monica to Raymondville, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,470 miles [2,365.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 84 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,353 miles [11,833.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,070 miles [12,987.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,945 miles [9,567.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Santa Monica. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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: 26.3619, Longitude: -97.5994 In this case, the coordinates for Santa Monica have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.446 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.084 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.51 degrees. |