Flying at a Los Angeles Beach

Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
1,075
Reaction score
169
Age
38
I'm taking the family to the beach tomorrow. I'm definitely bringing my P4P. Does anyone know of some great beaches to fly safe and legally in and around the Los Angeles area? I'm not into flying illegally as we have enough people breaking the laws lately which I'm sure most of you would agree. I've googled but most are old posts or vague. Thanks for any help
 
Well if you're concerned about strict legality then you won't be flying over people, so all you need is a beach in LA where there are no people ;)
 
Well if you're concerned about strict legality then you won't be flying over people, so all you need is a beach in LA where there are no people ;)
No I don't feel comfortable flying over crowds of people. But mostly I was planning on flying over the ocean (water) which I've never really done, I live in the desert ( no water here) haha. I think I found the perfect place though..... El Matador Beach in Malibu. Hopefully everything works out and I get some great footage. Today was the first time flying with my new P4P. It performed great! Alot more stable than my previous P4P that I ended up selling with 100 flights & over 20 hours of flight time & regretting it instantly. So I ordered a new one. Oh how I missed it. Sorry about the life story. Hahaha Thanks man
 
With the weather as nice as it is this weekend all the beaches will be crowded. I have done my beach flying in the winter, usually early in the morning. Beach goers seem to have a higher concentration of drone haters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingDad1985
I'm taking the family to the beach tomorrow. I'm definitely bringing my P4P. Does anyone know of some great beaches to fly safe and legally in and around the Los Angeles area? I'm not into flying illegally as we have enough people breaking the laws lately which I'm sure most of you would agree. I've googled but most are old posts or vague. Thanks for any help
Aren't most LA Area Beaches within the LAX NFZ?
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingDad1985
I was flying my drone at El Matador and a state ranger came up and said that it's a state park and drones are not allowed. They fined a few other flyers I was lucky I didn't get fined since I was not from California. Don't fly in state parks.
 
Aren't most LA Area Beaches within the LAX NFZ?
Not necessarily, the LAX 'to the surface' Class B space is actually very narrow out towards the west and doesn't cover many beaches. Most beach areas are either OK, or if within 5 miles of an airport can be flown under the usual notification guidelines.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KingDad1985
I found this article on the CA.gov site:

Unmanned Aircraft System (Drones) in State Parks

"Drones are currently allowed in State Parks, State Beaches, State Historic Parks, State Recreational Areas, and State Vehicular Recreation Areas except where prohibited by a District Superintendent’s posted order."

I couldn't seem to find any posted District Superintendent orders though. Has anyone else?
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingDad1985
It seems that if a ranger orders you to stop flying in a California State Park you should ask (nicely of course) if there is a posted order prohibiting it.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers