Waterfront Park Near Me: Marina Views at Burton W. Chace Park

Burton W. Chace Park, at 13650 Mindanao Way in Marina del Rey, is a free 10-acre county park that juts out into the main channel of the marina, so you get water on three sides and a parade of sailboats heading out to sea. LA County Beaches and Harbors calls it a crown jewel of the Marina. If you typed waterfront park near me somewhere between Venice and Playa Vista, this is the lawn where you can watch the harbor traffic with a sandwich in hand and no admission fee.

Marina del Rey itself was dedicated on April 10, 1965, according to the county's own history page, and Burton W. Chace Park was created in 1972 as the public face of the harbor. It carries the name of Burton W. Chace, a former mayor of Long Beach who went on to serve as a Los Angeles County supervisor. That history explains its character. This is a county harbor park run by the same department that manages the docks and launch ramps, so it is built around boats rather than beach towels.

The official facility list reads like a toolbox for a day on the water: a multi-purpose room, picnic tables, barbecues, pergolas, picnic shelters, outdoor programs, harbor viewing areas and guest docks. Most visitors never use half of it. They come for the grass at the tip of the peninsula, where the channel is widest and the masts line up like a picket fence.

A fishing pier sits on the north side of the park. The county is clear on the rule: anyone over the age of 16 needs a valid California fishing license to cast here. The pier faces the busiest stretch of the channel, so expect wakes from passing boats. If you are only watching, keep to the rail side and give the anglers room to swing their rods.

Chace Park is also where boaters tie up when they visit Marina del Rey. The county's guest docks are first come, first served, and no reservations are taken. Overnight berthing costs $1.25 per foot per night, with a maximum stay of seven days within a 30-day period, and there is a 4-hour zone that is free of charge. The dock amenities list includes showers, Wi-Fi and a dog run, which makes the park a useful landing point if you are arriving by kayak or small boat from elsewhere in the harbor.

Picnic Shelter A is the only area you can reserve. Shelters B and C, along with the scattered picnic tables, are first come, first served, and the county explicitly forbids saving tables. Reservations for Shelter A open no earlier than 90 days ahead and close 21 days before your date, and they require a $1 million general liability insurance certificate plus a security deposit, so it suits organized groups more than casual birthday picnics.

For everyone else, the trick is timing. Arrive before late morning on a sunny weekend and you can pick a table with a view of the channel. By early afternoon the barbecues are claimed and the lawn fills with blankets.

The park runs a steady calendar. The county lists free yoga with David Lilly on Monday evenings and a Neighborhood Game Night on Tuesdays. In late October the park hosts the Marina del Rey Spooktacular, a free Halloween event on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2026. On Saturday, December 12, 2026 the 64th annual Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade lights up the main channel, and the lawn at the tip of the peninsula looks straight onto the parade route.

The summer concert series has finished for 2026. The lineup included Los Lobos on July 18 and D Smoke with Carl Thomas on August 15, and the county ran those shows as smoke-free and alcohol-free, with no glass containers. The WaterBus, which links Chace Park with other marina stops for $1 per person each way, also wrapped its season on Labor Day, so plan on it again next summer.

Parking is the one real headache. Lot 4 closed on December 1, 2025 while the county builds a 368-space parking structure, and the county expects the work to finish in late fall 2026. Inside the park, a small metered lot has 54 regular spaces and 4 disabled spaces, with a 90-minute limit. The county charges $0.25 per 10 minutes there on weekday evenings and all day on weekends, and it takes Visa, Mastercard, or $1 and $5 bills with no change given.

My honest advice is to skip driving in on big event nights. The county's own guidance for crowded holidays has been to avoid driving on Mindanao Way altogether. For the Spooktacular, it lists Lot 5 at 4545 Admiralty Way at $5 and Lot 77 at $8, which are smarter bets than circling the park.

The easiest add-on is Mother's Beach, officially Marina Beach, at 4101 Admiralty Way. It is a calm, protected stretch of sand inside the harbor, and it doubles as plan B when every table at Chace is taken. Metro lines 108 and 358 and Commuter Express 437 stop at Via Marina and Admiralty, close to the beach.

If you want to get on the water yourself, the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center at 14001 Fiji Way rents kayaks and stand-up paddleboards to the public. Cyclists can also join the Marvin Braude bike path, a 22-mile paved route that runs between Will Rogers State Beach and Torrance Beach and passes through the marina, which makes a breezy loop out toward Venice before you circle back for the sunset over the channel.

Admission is free. The county posts park hours of 6 am to 10 pm, seven days a week, and the park office is staffed from 8 am to 8 pm daily. The park phone is (424) 526-7910. Fishing over age 16 requires a California license. Only Picnic Shelter A can be reserved. Bring layers, since the wind off the channel picks up most afternoons, and pack out your trash because the gulls are bold.