Category Archives for "Parking"

Beach Parking and Marina Parking

By Drew | Parking

Beach parking and marina parking in Long Beach can be relatively tricky. Most of the marina parking at the Alamitos Bay Marina, Shoreline Marina, and Rainbow Harbor/Marina is restricted to current boatowners and their guests only, and Long Beach beach parking can fill up during the summer with tourists and residents. Here is some information, tips, and rules you should know when parking in Long Beach.

Marina Parking

Marina parking in the Long Beach Marinas is very limited and tightly controlled. At all three marinas, there are special parking spots that are for current boatowners and their guests only, and require a marina parking pass to park. The parking passes are either a blue or green pass that hangs from the rear-view mirror of a vehicle, a parking sticker, or a yellow, paper temporary pass. All of these need to be visible on the vehicle in order to park, and vehicles who do not have these will be cited. Boatowner parking is clearly marked by signs and red curbs. There are also times where the marina parking lots are impacted by special events, such as the Grand Prix and t.v. or movie shoots, so it is always best to call ahead to make sure a lack or parking (or a citation, or worse) doesn’t ruin your day.

In the Rainbow Harbor/Marina and Shoreline Marina, boatowner parking is on the street around “P” dock, down the Mole Road, or in the controlled access lot between “Q” dock and “GG” dock. This lot is controlled by a gate arm at the end of Linden Ave, and requires a key fob to get in. The Mole Road also has a gate arm, but is only down between the hours of 10pm and 5am. A key fob is also required to use the gate arm between these times. Key fobs are only available to boatowners and guests, and can be picked up at either the Rainbow Harbor/Marina office or the Shoreline Marina office, depending on where your slip is located.

There is also a small parking lot behind the Rainbow Harbor office at 200 B Aquarium Way that is used for Rainbow Harbor guests and commercial boats, Pierpoint Landing guests and employees, and other visitors. This is a paid parking lot, and as of March 2016 the fee is $3.00/hour with a 90 minute maximum. The lot is open from 8am-midnight for visitors. Guests slips and transients vessels can get a special blue parking pass from the Rainbow Harbor office that allows them to park for free and without time restrictions, and anglers using Pierpoint Landing’s boats can purchase a parking pass from the Pierpoint Landing office. Please note that this parking lot is not recommended for Aquarium of the Pacific guests; the Aquarium has their own parking structure located in front of the Aquarium, near the dolphin fountain.

Parking at the Alamitos Bay Marina is much the same as at the other two marinas, in that it is restricted to vehicles with parking passes. However, since the Alamitos Bay Marina also has a much larger parking lot that is shares with several restaurants, the restricted areas as different. Only the first row, or the row closest to the docks, is designated as boatowner parking. The rest of the lot is open to the public between 5am and 10pm. Parking between these hours is restricted to vehicles with passes only. However, during the slow season (fall and winter), parking passes may be available for purchase in the marina office for non-boatowner’s and guests. The Alamitos Bay Marina office is located at 205 Marina Dr, Long Beach Ca 90803, and their phone number is (562) 570-3215. The are open 7 days a week 7:30-5:30. Parking is also available for CSULB students there, with a shuttle that goes to the college and back. For more information on that, you can call (562) 985-4146.

Beach Parking in Long Beach

Long Beach has 12 separate parking lots for its beaches. All the beach parking lots are pay to park, and are open from 5am-10pm, 7 days per week, unless it has been impacted by a special event. Special events and filming are common in Long Beach, and along the beaches especially, so it is not unheard of for a parking lot, or parts of a parking lot, to be closed to visitors for a day or two. To make sure the lots will be open, it is always best to call the Special Events office at (562) 570-5333 or Public Works at (562) 570-2726.

The 12 beach parking lots are, starting from the west:

Pierpoint Lot– 200 Aquarium Way. As mentioned above, it is located behind the Aquarium of the Pacific in Rainbow Harbor. It is $3.00/hour with a 90 minute maximum. There are three parking machines; one located directly behind the Pierpoint Landing building, one directly behind the Aquarium, and one near the entrance. All three take Visa, Mastercard, or cash. If you have any problems with the machines, you can call Central Parking at (562) 570-8055.

Mole Road-The Mole Road located in the Shoreline Marina just past Shoreline Village. It is the peninsula that leads to Gangways A-P, and the main office for the Shoreline Marina. While most of the parking is restricted to boatowners and their guests, there are a few metered spots for visitors, along with special piers for fishermen. The lot is open 5am-10pm, with a gate arm restricting access between 10pm and 5am. This lot is closed to visitors during special events.

Marina Green-386 Shoreline Dr. The Marina Green lot is one of the most popular lots in Long Beach. It is located in between Alamitos Beach and Shoreline Village, and gets people visiting both of those. This lot is also very heavily impacted by Special Events, and is closed down for the Long Beach Grand Prix and the Long Beach Marathon. Parking also fills up very quick during Gay Pride weekend, the 4th of July, and Labor Day. There are six parking machines that are run by Central Parking, and the cost is $3.00/hour, with a two hour maximum.

Alamitos Lot-Located behind the Villa Riviera at 800 E. Ocean Blvd, it is a small lot that is mostly used by residents of the Villa Riviera. It has parking meters, and the charge is $ .25/15 minutes, or $1.00/hour.

Junipero Lot-The Junipero Lot is located down Junipero Ave, on the corner of Junipero Ave and Ocean Blvd. It is very popular, and will fill up most weekends in the spring and summer. When this happens, Public Works will block the entrance until a number of parking spots open up, in order to prevent people from cruising the lot. This lot is also controlled by a gate arm from 10pm-5am. Payment is through meters at each spot.

Belmont Pier-15 39th Pl. The Belmont Veteran’s Memorial Pier is another very popular spot for visitors. This parking lot not only services people visiting the pier, but also customers using the Aqualink stop, boaters using the moorings, patrons eating at the nearby restaurants, and local residents. There are three machines in the lot for payment, and a gate arm that goes down between 10pm and 5am.

Granada Lot-1 S. Granada Ave. The Granda lot serves both boaters launching their vessels and visitors looking for beach parking. There are two distinct sections of the lot. The spots on the east side of the lot, or those without meters, are strictly for people launching boats, while all the spots with meters are for people going to the beach or Belmont Pool. This lot is busy and can fill up during summer weekends, and is occasionally impacted by filming or other special events.

 

Many people park in the launch ramp spots (the ones on the east side of the lot, without any parking meters) thinking the parking is free; this is absolutely not the case though. The Long Beach Marine Patrol regularly patrols the lot and willingly hands out citations to these vehicles, and as of 2016 the fine is $47-much more expensive than just feeding the meter.

 

Bayshore Lot-The Bayshore metered parking lot is located on corner of Bayshore Ave and Ocean Blvd. This is also the perfect lot for people launching kayaks, SUPs, or inflatables. All of the launch ramps parking lots require a vehicle to have a trailer attached to park in the lot, but since kayaks and other man-powered vessels don’t require a trailer, those vehicles would be cited in the ramps. The Bayshore lot is located inside the Alamitos Bay Marina, less than 50′ from the water, so it is the ideal place to park and launch your kayak without worrying about getting a ticket.

Claremont Lot-A dual launch ramp/beach parking lot just like Granada, except instead of parking meters there are two parking machines.

Laverne Lot-A popular beach parking lot located on the corner of Lavern and Ocean. There are three parking machines located in the lot, no parking meters.

54th Place-A small lot located at Ocean Blvd and 54th Place.

72nd Place-Located at the end of Ocean Blvd, it is a quiet, lightly used lot in a great location. It is on the jetty at the entrance

of the Alamitos Bay Marina, and is a great place to watch the boats going in and out of the bay.

Mother’s Beach-Mother’s Beach is a quiet, out of the way beach located in a residential neighborhood on Appian Way, just off of the Davies Bridge. It is located across from Davies Launch Ramp, far inside the Alamitos Bay Marina, and is almost devoid of waves and wakes, which makes it perfect for children. There is also a playground and a small cafe on site.

Annual Beach Parking Pass

The city sells two Annual Beach Parking passes, which can be used for a full calendar year at certain beaches. The daytime pass covers parking between 8am and 6pm. This pass covers the Pierpoint, Marina Green, Shoreline Marina Mole Road (Metered spaces only), Alamitos Beach, Junipero Beach, Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, Granada Beach, La Verne, 54th Place, Bayshore, and 72nd Place lots. The overnight pass is good between 6pm and 8am, and covers the Alamitos Beach, Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, 54th Place, Junipero Beach and LaVerne Avenue parking lots. Since the Belmont Pier and Junipero Beach lots have gate arms at the entrance, and key fob will also need to be purchased. These fobs are available to be picked up at the Shoreline Marina office between 8am and 5pm Monday-Friday.

To purchase these passes, you can go to http://longbeachparking.spplus.com/ or call (805) 624-6672.