Ice at Santa Monica

Overall it was a good experience. No wait times, plenty of seating to wait. The only thing is we went on the second to last day and the ice wasn’t in the best conditions.

It's not perfect since it's a yearly pop up, but it is so fun... bring the family, go with friends, get out of the house. Each session is only an hour, you'll have fun and create memories. Totally worth the $25. The white hot chocolate is yummy as well.

I mean look, it is an ice skating rink in the city where winter is still 72 degrees. It is just plain fun to be able to do something like this. It is a good size and we were glad for the kid area which was separate from the main rink. The little penguin/bear stabilizers help the kiddos gain confidence.

If you can skate and enjoy this isn’t the place for you. Ice gets choppy right away, skates feel like they’re gonna crack your feet. They tell you to size down but sized up and it helped a little. If you wanna go because it’s cute for IG pics and stories and don’t care to actually skate and enjoy it this place is cute and fun. They need to get new skates tho.

The kids did enjoy skating on ice it was a nice experience I would give it more starts but I paid for 2 hours training for my two kids and he only did 30 minutes and left. I was like where did Goku Endo the trainer go I paid for two hours in advance? My kids said oh he left he said we learned quick and there's nothing left to teach us. That part was disappointing and he did not say anything to me personally he just trained them for 30 min and was gone with the wind. He later text me if I wanted to schedule for training and of course I was so upset I ignored that text. I was not upset about his training but how I paid for 2 hours and he did 30 minutes and left.

What a steal!! Love it!! For $20, it includes rentals and 12pm-10pm ice skating. All you need to do is keeping the wristband they gave at the entrance (where you bought the ticket basically). The wristband gives a re-entry to the event on that day. The ice rink is serviced every 1:30hr or so (10mins). Instructors are friendly and helpful! There is a little kids rink too. Lockers are $5 each. You need to provide an ID to rent it. They look small but are actually quite deep and can fit a lot of stuff. There are cubicle restrooms but I can’t seem to get water to flow. Food and drinks in the event were like $5-20. Paid parking in the lot or nearby garages. I walked a few streets from the Metro station. The event is pretty easy to locate. Love the outdoor vibes! Wish they were here until Valentines!

Consider other options before coming here. We drove for 2 hours to get here and they have you buy an hour at a time. So we paid for 6pm for 4 tickets and by the time we got in thru the line it was 6:10p. We had to wait to get the skates and paid for a locker. 3 of the lockers did not work. After fighting with the lockers and having to ask the staff for help it was 6:35. We got 25 minutes on the ice and asked a manager if we can skate a bit longer due to the issues, and he says no. Is it really that big of a deal to use the ice and rented skates for another 30 minutes? Definitely consider some of the other options for ice skating

It was great, decent skates, we have fun my family and me, for about 1 hour, not crowded at night, the staff was friendly, good music, nice environment, will be back next year if I’m at LAX. Recommended as this is a nice place in the area.

My partner and I came here for a simple date night. We weren't expecting anything super romantic since it's a public rink, but we did hope for a smooth, enjoyable skating session. Instead, when we arrived, there was a fundraiser happening (which is great!), but it made us wonder why public tickets were still being sold at the same time. Because of that, we had to wait to get on the ice while an ice skating team practiced through the first half of the session we already booked. Once we finally got on the ice, there was no music playing for most of the time, which made the atmosphere feel flat. Music didn't start until it was almost time for us to leave. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, and the skaters practicing were beautiful to watch, but the overall experience felt disorganized. The ice was also extremely bumpy and pretty hard to skate on. Not a terrible place by any means, but our visit just didn't match what we expected for a casual night out.

Skating in downtown Santa Monica, Priceless!! Just a great experience for those wanting to skate!

Fun ice rink! I go every year in the winter and it's nice to go with friends, family, or a date night!

This ice skating rink is a great time! Even though I grew up in a frozen tundra, I'm not a very experienced skater, so I was a little nervous about trying ice skating again. Turns out I love the community feel of this rink in Santa Monica. The large majority of the skaters are novices, no one taking themselves super seriously, everyone just having a great time with friends or family. People were pretty social and supportive! Everyone was just looking out for each other. Great activity for the holiday season and my favorite night out in awhile.

I've been going here for years and I think it's pretty nice! I think this price is pretty fair and the staff is really nice. I just wish the locker room area was a little bit better! It's also a great location! I just passed by and saw they made it bigger as well! Can't wait to go again!

Very fun time! Brought my brother on a Friday night and total for 2 people was $48 with skate rental. There is no place to leave your shoes without paying for lockers. Ice rink size was good enough and the volume of people wasn't too overcrowded. Ice quality wasn't horrible either! Would come again next year

Every year this place changes. This year the kiddy rink is expanded and the former food tent is gone. There is now picnic table seating outside the ticketed area. And it looks like you can buy a ticket for two sessions in a row, but not sure how that works since they used to kick everyone out. Giving 3 stars though because after I bought my tickets online with my phone, somehow an hour and a half later a separate charge was made to my Apple Pay credit card for a plastic skate helper. It appears they either accidentally or intentionally charged me for someone else's purchase. I was able to leave them a voice mail at their customer service 833-210-3880. Apple told me to change my Apple account password and also changed my Apple virtual credit card number, which took me over an hour to update with all of the vendors I use it with. Ice at Santa Monica called me back and they refunded me for the inappropriate charge but offered no explanation as to how it happened. So just be aware that this could happen.

Came for the last day of free ice skating that Netflix hosted throughout December. If it wasn't free, I'd immediately regret spending the $22 for admission & skate rentals. It's a super small rink & they don't limit the amount of people that are able to come in at a time (goes per hour). So, you're spending the whole time trying to avoid bumping into people & not even being able to skate in a full circle. On top of that, the rink is just filled with puddles of water which makes it extra slippery and dangerous for everyone. The plus sides though: For downtown Santa Monica, there's a parking lot right next to it along with street parking around that wasn't too difficult to find. Porto potties were decently clean. Food vendors were convenient & fairly priced.

The ice rink is much spacious than I originally thought or was previously informed. I observed some signage that featured a s'mores/fire pit and a small cafe. I usually am a staple at the Pershing Square ice rink. I was a bit curious about visiting this rink. It is nice. The rink was not packed. I enjoyed myself. There's a smaller ice rink area adjacent from the large rink for the little ones to practice with their penguins. I only busted my A$$ on the ice once during the session lol. There's a first time for everything. I'll put a frozen bag of veggies on the areas that kissed the ice. I was scraped off the ice with the help from two ladies :) Both dazzled everyone with their impressive turns and twirls throughout the ice skating session. Glad I visited the Santa Monica location before the outdoor season wrapped.

My kids really enjoy ice-skating and that's one of the reasons that we keep visiting this place even though I believe that their skates need a complete upgrade. They are completely torn and uncomfortable and hurt. It is only our kids love for ice-skating that keeps bringing us back. They changed it this year where there are one hour sessions instead of all day like last year. I believe that's very expensive. I think that one is plenty. My kids on the other hand don't think so. They have two facilities inside. There's a pizza spot and a coffee spot but they are way overpriced. Even the water is about five dollars plus for a small bottle so bring your own. The ice is super melted and isn't comfortable to be on. In fact, everyone falls everywhere. I'm not sure what the issue is because they keep resurfacing it every hour I don't recommend this place they need to add extra maintenance to keep it alive please upgrade your skates.

It was a fun experience to do with the family. Being from Alaska and growing up on skates, I was disappointed at the ones offered for rent. Figure skate style but hockey skate support. What made it worse was how dull the blades were. They have 1 hr sessions and we were only there for about 40 minutes and that was plenty of time since it was a small rink. Definitely saw smiles on everyone around including my family. For that reason, I have 4 starts instead of the 3 stars I felt like giving. Kuddo's to the group that puts up the rink. I'm sure that it's not an easy task or cheap to put up a rink in SoCal.. even in winter. So to keep the price under $30 for the skate rental and skate time is a pretty good deal for the memories.

So much fun!!!! My daughter loved skating here for a bit. Recommend if your around the neighborhood

Had a great time during the holidays with my family. We were pleasantly surprised at the service and ice quality. It was a little crowded on the ice but what can you do in LA. My sister couldn't get off the side rails and thought they should have adult size penguin guides. But I disagree. It would cause the ice to be more crowded.

Last night, having completely zero idea what my crazy and hilarious dear friend Ella had planned for our yearly holiday outing, I espied this skating rink as we walked down 5th St in downtown Santa Monica. It has doubled in size it definitely appeared to me since it opened in 2006 ( way, way bigger)...All day admission and skate rental are reasonably priced for hours of fun. Great food and plenty of room to skate around. Fun music to skate along to, plenty of people watching and the sounds of laughter can be heard and whatever your level of skating, it doesn't matter. People of all ages hugging the side rails as they cautiously get around the rink with big smiles on their faces are a common sight. It opened in early November and closes JANUARY 16th. So, hurry down there before they shut it down until next year. Street parking is available, but please remember to feed that meter and set a timer. One parking ticket costs over $60. So hurry on down to the westside and skate and afterwards stroll along the Santa Monica bluffs and even walk down the Santa Monica Pier ( which we did)... Definitely a "much fun experience" and I DID NOT FALL ONCE! ;)))

Avoid. The ease of skating on the west side is negated by the employees' sour attitudes and absolute disinterest in their customers. My extended family went in early November. My kids (6 and 9) were first time ice skaters and I rented the guiding penguins to help them learn how to balance on the skates. The ice attendants shamed my son, loudly telling him he was too old for the penguins which were only "for the little kids," in front of other skaters. As a result, he got proud and embarrassed ... he refused to use the penguin and spent the entire time falling down and bruising his legs. He now never wants to skate again. When I tried to call them to give them feedback directly rather than leaving a nasty review, they told me there was no customer service line or way to contact management. So, a one star review it is. If you want to spend over $20 per person to have people shame your kids, have fun.

What a steal!! Love it!! For $20, it includes rentals and 12pm-10pm ice skating. All you need to do is keeping the wristband they gave at the entrance (where you bought the ticket basically). The wristband gives a re-entry to the event on that day. The ice rink is serviced every 1:30hr or so (10mins). Instructors are friendly and helpful! There is a little kids rink too. Lockers are $5 each. You need to provide an ID to rent it. They look small but are actually quite deep and can fit a lot of stuff. There are cubicle restrooms but I can't seem to get water to flow. Food and drinks in the event were like $5-20. Paid parking in the lot or nearby garages. I walked a few streets from the Metro station. The event is pretty easy to locate. Love the outdoor vibes! Wish they were here until Valentines!

Staff with snotty energy, truly impacting the entire experience. First time coming in around 5 years and it's an entirely different place. No longer holiday spirited and fun. Just a small stand with hot chocolate, a silly little circle of ice (used to be much more festive and staff that wanted to help you instead of standing guard with a nasty look on their face), and a hard stop after an hour, most of which is used up by waiting to get skates, and familiarizing yourself with skating (for most of us) so you can't even enjoy skating by the time they kick you out. They used to want to deliver an experience and now they just charge you $22 to make you feel disappointed

Completely lacking in joy. The staff seem really unhappy to be working there. Everything about the experience screams unpleasantness. The only cheer came from a prerecorded voice over the loudspeaker telling us to enjoy our visit to Santa Monica, adding a creepy, Orwellian element to the evening. They don't even have concessions this year aside from a hot chocolate table run by Shake Shack. They advertised burgers at the table, so we ordered some, only to discover they had a runner picking up the meals from a couple blocks away. By the time our runner got back, our hour was practically up. While we were eating, the staff told us to leave - in the middle of eating our burgers! The guy literally told us to pick up our food and finish it in the parking lot. Whoever was responsible for handing the city contract to Willie Bietak Productions - congratulations. You succeeded in ruining one of the coolest things about Santa Monica.

No hockey skates, despite their website claiming they have them. When I asked about hockey skates, the person manning the skates claimed they don't have them at all (probably the truth) and then another person piped up and said they just don't have a lot and that they're all rented out. Yeah, having zero pairs or a single pair will probably cause that to happen because I looked hard and didn't see a single person with a pair of rental hockey skates on. In addition to the borderline fraudulent hockey skates claim (good luck getting a refund), the quality of the figure skates were terrible and they also allowed too many people on the ice, but this was on a Saturday night so it might not be so bad at other times

Unfortunately the worst ice skating experience out of all we've been to. There were a lot of people and a lot of water was pooled on the ice. Especially for a small rink, it was not an enjoyable time.

Came here during the holidays after New Year's. The rink was a nice size and the line went fast. There's a training "kitty" area as well for beginners. The people behind the counter giving out skates were quick and efficient. No complaints. I don't think you need a locker unless you bring some valuable shoes because most people just leave them under the benches. The skates are old, and my feet did hurt after an hour, but that's expected. My only gripe is that they advertised the hour as Beyoncé's Renaissance Ball but didn't play any songs from the Renaissance album. They only played Beyoncé's old hit songs.

Terrible experience . Shame on you netflix. Rude staff that keeps shouting at you. Where did they hire them from ?

It's a shame how different this local gem has changed under new management. This rink use to be a reasonably priced activity for locals to enjoy during the winter, but now it's over priced for what they provide and less locals are seen attending. $22 an hour gets you old, dirty, rusty skates with laces that are about to rip. The rink has pools of water that make it unsafe to skate through. As a local who has skated for years at this location, a dirty melting rink has never been something previous management provided their guests. And to top it off, so many unsupervised small children (aged 4-8) are allowed to skate outside of the kid's rink with the penguin helpers making it so crowded and unsafe for everyone. Children were permitted to skate across the rink instead of following the safe direction we're all suppose to be going for safety. I witnessed so many accidents that could have been prevented had management enforced safety protocols. Sadly my kiddos left angry and disappointed that they couldn't even enjoy the one hour they reserved.

A nice spot to just go ice skating. Price is average since not much ice skating rinks in the area. Rental skates were not that great and not sure if it's cleaned or at least sprayed for sanitation because it smelled a little. I made sure to sanitize my feet when I went home. Ice gets worn out rather quickly but I think they clean it every 30 minutes or something. Pretty crowded spot so not much seating to try on spots. There's a parking lot next to the rink. I think it was $3 for an hour or something.

Really cool good stuff helped us tire laces very helpful on teaching us how to skate. Great experience would recommend.

Great experience at $20 ($21 card) for all day skating/rental any time between 12-10pm. Price is the same for kids and adults regardless of if you bring your own skates. They allow in and outs which is great for taking breaks to grab a bite or do some shopping. There is a cafe with food and drinks but you are permitted to bring your own. Can't go wrong with a hot cocoa. Skates go up to a size 15. Keep an eye out for the infamous Zamboni

Cute little ice skating rink located in Santa Monica. However, its crowded, timed and the rink itself is pretty awfully maintained. Parking is either street parking or garages. But it's a good activity if you're in the area and want to fill your time with an activity.

We used to come to this ice ring every year and had such a great time with my daughter and her friends and family. This year the new management decided to make ice skating unaffordable for many families by charging by the HOUR. For this reason, and as a matter of principle, we will NOT go skating there this year but instead will go to the LAKings ring in El Segundo. I hope the new management and the City of Santa Monica learn quickly that price gouging on a beloved family activity is no okay. What happened with this ring is a sad reflection of what is happening all around these days with inflation/artificially induced inflation squeezing families to the maximum for personal gain and greed. The city of Santa Monica should be ashamed for allowing this.

What the hell! $90bucks+ for a family of four to skate for an hour? They should be ashamed of themselves. This once fantastic rink is now a pompous, over-priced disaster. Santa Monica has really been excelling at taking top-notch venues and ruining them. A wonderful community experience drawing people from all over the city, is now just miserably ruined. Each winter we looked forward to skating and going to dinner on the promenade. It was a family tradition. Who ever decided to jack up the prices, add obnoxious service fees (!!) and restrict access to the rink, ruined what was one of the best things about Santa Monica. Pathetic and shameful.

Tickets are now $22 per HOUR and there is a CONVENIENCE FEE of $6 so it is $28 for one hour!!!! It used to be ALL DAY. ANd 10 minutes before your hour is done they make all kinds of announcements like "Your skating is over in 10 minutes, get ready to depart the ice etc.". A real buzzkill. For my 2 kids I paid $56 for one hour of skating. A total ripoff!

The skating rink is under new management, which I feel was a mistake. What was once a tradition for many people where they could spend the entire day enjoying themselves has seemed to become overly priced and not worth the money. I truly miss Ann Potenza and her crew. :(

Definitely worth at least one visit Pros: -$15 for admission and all day skating rental vs. $15 skating admission next to Staples Center, for 90 minutes or 2 hours, depending on the time of day. -In and out privileges -For a $5 locker rental you can stuff 4 pairs of shoes and a backpack all in one -Pretty outdoor rink, mild night temperatures -No cameras on ice rule not enforced -Nice choice of food including STRFSH and Every Table -Good skaters (when I went) stayed out of my way Cons: -They don't clean the ice enough, only every 75 mins. They also didn't clean the ice well so safety becomes a factor. -Resting may be interrupted by newbies clinging to the walls, pulling themselves the whole way around -Parking structure charge can add up, but que sera, sera, that's how Santa Monica parking is. We went on an early Saturday night with kids already on Christmas break. I thought this was a bad idea but it wasn't that crowded in the beginning and the later crowd got smaller. It also was kinda annoying when kids skate in the wrong direction. They change it after every ice cleaning. Bottom line is I had a lot of fun and somehow never fell, not having skated in about 20 years. It's beautiful at night and they play good music. Next time I think I'll opt for a bigger indoor rink to have more room to challenge myself.

We might not be in Rockefeller. However this was a great idea to take the fam and enjoy some laughs as we create endless memories. On the weekend it does get pretty busy but go at your own risk. It's located on the third street promenade and honestly it's a decent size of a rink. They have special events and theme nights like ice yoga (lol, sounds interesting and fun!). Definitely something to try out and a great ideas for family/date nights. Price: $20 cash and $21 for card which includes skate rental AND all day admission, it's definitely a great workout ‍. They do have a concession stand with simple items like pizza, gelato, hot chocolate which is a must! And more!

4th year coming here... or is it the 5th? Worst year by far, be it from management and the whole format, as well as condition of the ice, and staff (other than those on ice helping). Won't be back. Not worth the $, bad experience. You get an hr to skate instead of the day pass they used to give. They didn't even wet the ice before we went on. They like scraped the top layer, so it was still rough. After us they wetted it. They rushed everyone out afterwards, wouldn't even let you take photos next to the lights. Wouldn't return and wouldn't recommend anyone else come. Not worth it anymore especially with the rude attitudes and rushed hour of skating. Take your businesses elsewhere there are other outdoor rinks.

$26 to skate for an hour? Absolutely ridiculous. Going to ice for years since they first opened but not after hearing what they charge now. I get inflation but this is just stupid

I booked the tickets online. it costs $20 per person for an hour. The line goes very fast as they check and scan your tickets. Loved the warm holiday spirit. Playing great music as you skate around. They clean the ice in between each one hour skate, so you won't be falling in any puddles! A good, fun time to be had with friends/family over the holidays. Would highly recommended! They also have a couple of food vendors, but somewhat overpriced for the tourists.

Such a scam!! It's supposed to be $20/person but somehow I spent almost $75 on 3 people. Then an additional fee for the kids penguin/polar bears, and then I was told by someone working there that we couldn't sit down in the fire pit area unless we paid for it. Are you kidding me? For what they charge, seating should be free! Do not go there. Oh and P.S. 2 small hot chocolates cost $12!!!!!!

This is by far the worst to go skating with pools of water makes it extremely slippery. So if a beginner is trying to learn do not attempt to do it here

In comparison to previous years. Terrible. 1 hour limit. Higher price. Water covering 30% of the rink. Over an inch deep puddle in the kids training area. They have 30 min between each session and they do not run the Zamboni to clean the ice surface. At the absolute minimum they should be sweeping huge amounts of water off after each session. They also have food/drinks. But who is going to take 15-20 min of their 60 min skating time to grab some hot chocolate and sip it by the ice?

False advertising. Beware their special events. It's super crowded and they use bait words like "free admission" on their advertisements to get you to come. Only for you to find out that it's not free to skate if you bring your own skates. It's 20 bucks whether you rent ice skates or not. I wasted so much gas coming after calling to confirm that the ice skating was free and the manager was belligerent in talking with us. Poor service and poor ice.

Beware.....!!!!!!!!!!!! Very deceiving. It is $20 per hour!!!!!!! Are you joking? They do not advertise this until you show up. Do not be fooled! They are definitely money hungry. I have been coming here for years and this is the first I have heard of this. Save your money. $20 an hour is outrageous....!!!!!

I'm torn between one and two stars. I guess I would say 1.5 stars. I'm being generous. There was a lot that was wrong with the rink this year compared to years past (All of the other reviews are correct in their plaintive comments.), but the biggest problem by far was the condition of the ice. There was a good inch or two of water (not exaggerating) on a majority of the rink, and there was so much water in the kiddie section that they had it closed. When we arrived at 2:30pm I was shocked at how much water there was and I asked when the Zamboni was coming out. The employee told me not until 5pm. Sure enough, one fall (due to the poor condition of the ice) and I was drenched through. Completely soaked. It's such a bummer that this community tradition has taken this turn. $100 for an hour of family fun...

If your looking to come here because u seen the website advertising snow fall. Don't count on it. There was ZERO snow fall. I'm not quite sure if it's because of new owners but when u read the other negative reviews it pretty much checks out. Staff was pretty cool except for this one bald guy that was rude to my husband when he asked a question. The worker looked him dead in his face, ignored his question and started talking to the people behind us. Besides that the rink had puddles and it was overly crowded. We were originally going to go to LA kings ice skate rink but decided fo check this one out and all in all we won't be coming back.

The ice is not frozen. Tons of water standing on the surface. That makes it unsafe and also unpleasant. Stay away this year. The company that is in charge clearly did not do their job in preparing the rink.

I'm leaving this review to give people a heads-up on the situation at ICE at Santa Monica for 2023-2024 season before they go. First, I want to say that we have been going here every year for the last decade with the exception of during the pandemic, of course. This place is very special to us and I'm sad to leave this review. I took my daughter and two friends to skate on Friday night. (it was their soft opening for the season) My plan was to drop them off at 7:15 PM or so and let them skate for a few hours and pick them up maybe around 10pm. When my kids go ice-skating, they like to stay for a few hours and see all of their friends on and off the ice. I sat in the car and watched them go up to the lady so they could pay to go in. My daughter then came back to the car saying that I needed to scan the QR code on the sign to reserve and pay for their ONE HOUR session from my phone. 3 kids+1 hr. skating =$85 with taxes and fees. They were asked to get off the ice at just before the hour was up. Complete greed.

Was told by EMPLOYEES that during week days people could stay from 11-5 for the price of $20. We paid $20 on the premise that we could stay until 5pm, at the end of the "session" at 1pm. We were ordered to remove our skates and exit the arena and were told that THIS friday was different from other fridays as the arena became more busy. There was no indication on the website, nor was there are indication in person. They also did not offer a refund or any money back. My money could have better spent. Not only that, but the staff was rude except for ONE lady who was confused about their policy. Overall, I will not be returning as I could probably get a better money's worth at the LA King's Ice rink in downtown.

New company owns it, and it's much worse. They've upped their prices to $20, and only for an hour! That is, if you're skating after 5. Before 5 from 11 A.M., I was told it was $20 for however long you stayed. However, unannounced, after one session I and my friend were kicked out, despite being told otherwise. They are milking it for money, and it's lost its fun, great quality! Not surprised that all of the good reviews are from last year, when it was owned by a different company.

Last year Ice at Santa Monica created a truly unforgettable and core memory for me and my fiancé, it felt like we were in a hallmark movie, truly magical. However, this place has been bought out, seemingly by Netflix. I am disappointed to say that it's lost its magic, it is now overwhelmingly commercialized. I mean, don't get me wrong, it still did the job, we still ice skated. But we left at the 40 minute mark because there were just WAY too many people, on a Thursday night no less. Last year it was $20 for a full day, now it's $22 for an hour, and they just really overpacked the rink with people in that hour.

what a fun little weekend outing! located just east of the Promenade, this outdoor ice rink is a big hit. took the fam bam to give it a shot on a nice Sunday afternoon. got there as soon as they opened. $15 for rentals and unlimited falling. i mean, skating. :) there are 2 rinks, a smaller, approximately 50 sq ft one and a much larger one. the little kiddies got their feet (and everything else) wet on the little one first. then off to the big one. we lucked out and it wasn't so busy. definitely wasn't empty, but, good space to be able to fall without getting run over. there is a concession area, but, no booze. the weather was not as cold as it could've been, so the ice was super wet in a lot of places, but, it is Santa Monica outdoors. overall, a cool activity that we may try again.