Zuma’s Westward Beach was splendid today, late morning! Temp in the 70s, just a slight breeze, and huge waves. The crowds there at 11 AM showed that it definitely was a holiday weekend. There was no free parking along the frontage road, and vehicles were actually lined up to pay $10 to park in the far part of the beach.
Since large RVs take up parking for at least 3 cars in the free area, and I passed 3 of those, why not have it mandatory that RVs park in the paid area? That way, there would be more of us who could park free, plus more circulation of vehicles, because cars don’t park all day, and set up a base for hanging out, like RVs do. Just a thought…
Top photo shows family enjoying waves today, and bottom photo shows lineup to get into the paid parking lot.
Eco-nerd // Sep 3, 2012 at 8:38 AM
This stretch of beach , including the pay lot used to be called ‘Free Zuma’. Not all so free any more but it was nice that they left a stretch open that isn’t controlled by meters or tickets. Yes, some of those RV’s spend most of their time parked alongside someone’s house but quite a few belong to people that use them for home and transportation. Excluding the less fortunate from parking there during the day just wouldn’t be right. You might also consider that the RV’ers might have come with several people thus saving more room than those that drove alone or just came with one other person. Did you maximize parking traffic and carpool?
If you are going to arrive at 11 am on a beautiful holiday weekend I’d guess that you could consider yourself lucky getting any parking, pay or free, at all. First come, first serve seems fair to me.
It’s good to know that the handicapped do not have to pay at the lots and if you’re 62 over you can get a free annual pass for LA beaches. $10 to park might seem like a lot but those fees help keep the beaches clean. I can’t imagine what our beautiful Zuma would look like if it wasn’t for the hard working crew that scoops all the plastic and trash that is left on a daily basis.