If you have just finished, or just starting, your amazing Pacific Coast Highway road trip, then chances are you are spending time in Santa Monica. A great way to see Santa Monica, and the surrounding area, is to hire bikes, so I thought I would share a few places that offered bike rental in Santa Monica.
I admit, I have not used all of these. In fact, the first one, Sea Mist Rentals, are the only ones we have used, hence they are at the top. The others are close by, so you can make your own decisions on which one you like the look of.
We have hired bikes a couple of times, and if you are looking at what to do when you saddle up, have a read of what we did when we hired bikes.
I would definitely recommend Sea Mist Rentals, as they are right by the pier, they have decent prices, the bikes were good and the staff were nice and helpful.
Places to Hire Bikes in Santa Monica
Sea Mist Rentals
This one is at the top, purely because we have used it (twice). Once in 2013, and once in 2019. Both times, it was plain sailling, I mean cycling. Easy to hire, helpful staff, and right at the start of the pier, so easy to drop off and head to the pier for that deserving cocktail or cold drink
They, as all seem to, provided helmets, baskets and a bike lock in the price. Although a $20 refundable deposit was needed for the bike lock.
Convenient, and suitably priced, hence why we picked it when we hired bikes in Santa Monica.
- Address:
1619 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica, CA, 90401 - Distance from Pier:
100 yards - Types of bikes:
Adult Bikes, Kids Bikes, Tag-a-alongs, trailers, tandems and roller blades - Prices:
Adult – $7ph or $20 a day
Kids/Trailers – $5ph or $12 a day
Tandems – $14ph or $26 a day
Roller Blades – Same as bikes
Joy Ride
The next one, on our list of places to hire bikes in Santa Monica is Joy Ride is a smidgen further south, but not by much. Still close to the pier, about 350 yards away they hire Adult and kids bikes, along with Electric bikes if you want an even easier day of it!
They also offer maps with their rentals, and also offer Electric bikes. Something we will definitely try out next time we are visiting, and perhaps venture further afield than we did last time. Bike Tours (peddle pier and electric) are on offer is you want a local to show you around. If not, you could just try something like we did.
Joy Ride only appear, from their website, to offer Electric bikes by the hour. Normal and children’s bikes are only listed as all day rates.
- Address:
2-20 Arcadia Terrace, Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Distance from Pier:
250 yards - Types of bikes:
Adult Bikes, Kids Bikes, Electric Bikes - Prices:
Adult – $25 a day
Kids – $20 a day
Electric Bikes – $25ph or $75 a day
Spokes ‘N Stuff
These guys appear to have rentals in various places around LA. We are focusing on what the Santa Monica shop offers, although they do have one in Venice if you are based there.
The Santa Monica shop offers what youd expect, Adults Cruisers, Children’s bikes, Hybrids etc. However, looking at their website, they also offer things a bit different, such as Low Riders, Fixed Gear, Quad cycles and Segways. So if you wanted to change things up, you could!
- Address:
1715 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Distance from Pier:
350 yards - Types of bikes:
Adult Bikes, Kids Bikes, Electric Bikes, Fun bikes - Prices:
Contact them on via their website
Santa Monica Bike Centre
Situated close, but not on the sea front is the Santa Monica Bike Centre. We walked past this on the way from our Hotel to the Pier. The only reason we didn’t enquire, was we knew Sea Mist Rentals were right on the sea front, and less trouble getting to the cycle path with a trailer and a 4 year old.
However, it looks a decent place, the bikes looked new and in good condition so we will certainly consider next time. They have a huge range, from your normal Adult and Kids bikes, to Road Race Bikes, Kids Tandems, Family ‘Cargo’ Bikes, Taga Trike & Stroller and Segway. They do appear to be the most expensive from this list though, and the prices for the popular ones are listed below.
- Address:
1555, 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Distance from Pier:
350 yards - Types of bikes:
Adult Bikes, Kids Bikes, Electric Bikes, Fun bikes - Prices:
Adult – $20 two hours, or $30 for the day
Kids – $10 two hours, or $20 for the day
Electric – $45 two hours, or $80 for the day
Santa Monica Bike Rentals
This one is a little further away from the pier, and therefore maybe not as family friendly in terms of a nice beachfront bike ride. However, still worth a mention in case your hotel etc is that way.
The location may be why it is slightly cheaper than the other. They do the usual cruisers, tandems and electric scooters, although I couldn’t see prices for any children’s bikes
- Address:
117 Broadway Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Distance from Pier:
500 metres - Types of bikes:
Adult Bikes, Tandems, Electric Bikes, Rollerblades etc - Prices:
Adult – $6 per hour, or $16 for the day
Electric Scooters – $10 per hour
Summary of Where to Hire Bikes in Santa Monica
So there you go, a handful of places where you can hire bikes in Santa Monica. As mentioned, the first one, Sea Mist Rentals is where we have hired before and I guess is the only one we can recommend with any degree of confidence.
I am sure they are all pretty similar, but for us, with a young one, location was key, so we went for one right on the pier!
I hope you find this useful, and if you can recommend any other places to hire, I can add to the list!
In the meantime, Happy Road Tripping!!
Rich!