Venice Beach Boardwalk is always an interesting time. Many people with their own special skills…read morepost up their best talent for people to see and hopefully buy. There's a bunch of new restaurants and a few of the decades old characters still roaming the boardwalk.

WARNING: Aggressive "Free CD" Hustlers - DO NOT TAKE THE CDs!…read moreLocation: Right outside the Muscle Beach parking lot, near the outdoor gym. Be extremely careful if you are walking near the Muscle Beach parking lot. There is a group of three men claiming to be "up-and-coming musicians" running a very aggressive, coordinated hustle. Here is exactly how their scam works so you can avoid it: * The Hook: One guy will approach you and try to hand you a "free" CD. Even when we said no, he played on our sympathy, claiming it was his own music and asking us to just show some support for a starter artist. Out of politeness, we took it. * The Trap: He immediately offered to sign the CD. While we were distracted waiting for him to sign it, his two partners swarmed us and pushed their own CDs into our hands. * The Shake-Down: Once the first CD was signed, the "free" aspect completely disappeared. He demanded a donation and refused to accept small bills. When my husband took out a $20 bill to break it, the guy practically grabbed it out of his hand and walked away. * The Swarm: Then, the other two musicians cornered us, demanding money for their CDs. My husband gave one of them his last $5, and the guy actually complained that it wasn't enough. The third guy started whining about getting nothing. * The Intimidation: I tried to be nice and intended to give the last guy $5, but they started physically circling me, aggressively demanding $20. I felt incredibly uncomfortable and intimidated. I told them to just take the CDs back--we didn't even listen to that type of music and certainly weren't paying $60 for it. They refused to take them back, eventually lowering their demand to $20 to split between them. To get out of this threatening situation quickly, I handed over a $20 bill just so they would leave us alone. This whole experience was extremely upsetting. I would gladly give my money to someone genuinely in need, but being bullied and cornered into "donating" is completely unacceptable. It left such a bad taste for us, we ended up did not spend a dime in any of shops there. Not event a souvenir! Bottom Line: If anyone approaches you with a CD, do not make eye contact, do not engage, and DO NOT take the CD no matter what they say. Just keep walking!

Rob is the greatest teacher I've encountered and my son has done a ton of classes and activities…read more After four lessons my little wobbly six year old was dropping in on ramps and practicing jumps. 100% of this is because of rob. He has the coolest, chillest supportive vibe and I'd give him 100 stars if I could!

Rob is an incredible teacher. He gets into the details so that the kids really think about what…read morethey're doing and learn quickly. My son always looks forward to lessons with him and has gained a ton of confidence and learning ability in under 2 months. Definitely reach out to him if you're looking for the best.

Great vibe with lots of fun people watching. Parking wasn't too bad with the meters…read more There were shops on board walk as well.

What could be better than watching your 8-year old grandson play basketball on a perfect, sunny,…read moreSunday morning at Venice Beach? I really enjoyed the vibe here and it was relaxed, fun and enjoyable. There is aooo much to see here and with the LAPD substation a mere ten yards away from the basketball courts, you would hope that everyone would do the right thing which during my visit, it was all about fun and having a good time. There are many food options in the area and many stores to purchase souvenirs. The basketball courts are in GREAT condition and well-maintained. On this day, several former NBA players came out to coach the younger kids and a fun time was had by all. Definitely a place to visit and relax while working on your tan

Big thanks to the Val Surf Staff for making us feel welcome as a family. We came in looking for…read moresnowboard boots late in the season and they spent time and really gave good knowledge in fitting. Even though selection was limited late season, we'll definitely be back.

The service at this Val Surf was exceptional. I went in to tune up a couple snowboards before the…read moreseason started, and right off the bat I was greeted with a warm welcome front the girl working the register. I then found an employee and asked about tuning my boards. He was very nice and professional and said to go ahead and bring em' to the shop counter. Which I did. To keep this review somewhat short, the 3 employees that helped me were friendly, professional and knowledgeable. The price was fair, I ended up paying less than I thought I was. Thank you Cody, Sylus, and Kevin.

I haven't skated in years and my skates didn't fit anymore and the wonderful staff at this place…read morehelped me work that out so I'm able to reuse my skates. What a wonderful and friendly place. Thank you again

WOW!!!!! 100% CUSTOMER FIRST SERVICE !!!! Larry B. and his team treat you like your family…read more Knowledgeable of the; skates, gear, and sticks. On site skate sharpening while you wait is available as well. Best part is an area in the back to actually shoot real pucks on net from synthetic tiles. How's that for finding the perfect stick? Want to work on your shot ? You can shoot pucks with your own sticks by the 1/2 hour or hour. They have 4-5 nets set up in the back to shoot all day till your arms fall off - AWESOME!!!! These are hockey players, and coaches, you're interacting with who know and understand the game. They even have a figure skating section as well. People who have been around hockey and skating for 50 years. Money cannot buy the experience of great people to interact with when deciding which product to purchase. Local, family owned, friendly staff is why we all love Penguins.

I had a great time I bought a bomb sweater thanks Josh.I love this place came from oxnard thank uread more

Melvin was so incredibly helpful today and generous with his time! I needed help folding my bike…read morein/collapsing it to go in and out of my car --He added WD40 & showed me how to properly use it, made life a lot more simpler helping me fix the bike so I can use it at ease. He was so kind and very helpful. I will definitely be coming back!

It's the @Light_skin_dragon walking to you with a review because my bicycle got a flat tired…read more I looked on yelp to see where was the closes bike repair shop which was 3 miles away. So I walked my bike to van nuys and gor there there was only one person working. He saw me get there and he picked up the phone. And was talking a cool 8 mins and I'm like wtf in my head. I came just to get 2 new inner tubes. After he got off the phone he then quoted me which I was like damn was kinda pricey. 60 for both. He fixed it by the close of shop which was 5. He broke my chain guard. While he try to tell me that it was already broken. I told him no I walked here and I would know if it was broken. I brought an electric bike so I wish he knew if he worked with them first. But he said to come back next week and he will replace the chain guard. I came back and I called him the day before and he said to come. So I came the next day and I had to wait 30 mins and them he didn't have the part and he took the part of another bike that wasn't the same brand. I will never come back to this place. Bad customer service and there is no integrity here. The Light_skin_dragon will find a better bike shop that gives you way better service