Hiking Photos

Dockweiler State Beach

12000 Vista del Mar, Playa del Rey

Dockweiler State Beach is a California beach protected under the state park system.

Part of the park is located directly under the flight path of the immediately adjacent Los Angeles International Airport. Additionally, it is one of the few beaches in Los Angeles County where bonfires are permitted.

Dockweiler Beach sits adjacent to El Segundo and can be accessed easily from Playa del Rey to the north. In summer, it attracts large numbers of visitors wishing to combine a day at the beach with the chance to enjoy a barbecue on any one of the concrete pits provided for this purpose. Between the beach and the airport lies the ghost town of Palisades del Rey.

The unique combination of beach barbecues against a backdrop of heavily laden 747 and A340 aircraft at takeoff thrust, powering their way over the Pacific Ocean, is said to make for an interesting experience not to be had in many other environments along the California coast. If anything, it makes for a fairylight display as seen from the windows of aircraft departing over the ocean.

Coupled with the sight, sound and scent of aircraft, Dockweiler sits close to the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant and LADWP's Scattergood Generating Station, whose red and white striped towers shadow over the beach.

The state of California and the County of Los Angeles formed the Dockweiler Beach Hang Glider Flight Training Park that has a flight-altitude limit of 60 feet above ground level. The Los Angeles International Airport and the Federal Aviation Association approved of the hang glider flying so close to the airport. 

DEL RAY LAGOON

6660 Esplanade Place

Playa Del Rey, CA 90293

Phone: (310) 396-1615

Fax: (310) 839-9629