Took the 5.5 hour tour and was disappointed. Spent way too much time on celebrity house tours which was uninteresting and not disclosed. Our tour guide only spoke about himself and did not once introduce himself or engage with most of the group. He made racist comments towards a group of Chinese passengers who had a slight language barrier and left the vehicle for a different tour company. We were told we'd have 15 minutes to view the Hollywood sign which I had waited years to do, from a number of angles however we had three minutes and it was an obstructed view over a mile away that was impossible to show up in pictures. We were supposed to have an hour in Hollywood Blvd but he told us to arrive back at 5.15 instead of 5.30 and this gave us only 30 minutes as we were late. We then decided the trip was not worth the suggested $20 tip PER PERSON in a group and we did not return to the truck. read more

Surf City Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

Like others, we had a racist, inappropriate, absolutely horrible guide. If you are a woman or bringing children, STAY AWAY! On several occasions, even though there were young children, he told sexually inappropriate stories, such as George Michael and the bathroom he used with men for sex in the park. He was insulting to different races, and his stories were off-putting. I was expecting to learn about the architecture and places we were going, but instead got random facts about "celebrities" no one really knew, and inaccurate information. As a single woman, he was very creepy and inappropriate (I'll just leave it at that). I debated writing this but realized that they never replied to or addressed other reviews - so my guess is they have no intention of getting rid of any bad guides. Note - I did 2 other tours in So Cal that week and they were amazing... and have done an LA tour in the past was sooooo much better. read more

Amazing trip up to Malibu!!!! This is a unique, one of a kind tour that other tour companies do not offer. Our guide was great, knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating. Got to see some really cool stuff!!! read more

The 5.5 hour "tour" my family took with this company was awful. Absolutely terrible. Dilapidated vehicle, roof taped on, wet fabric seats that stunk really bad. It was miserable riding with wet clothes for so long. The tour operator made completely inappropriate comments about school age girls which made our daughter very uncomfortable. Saying he thought about working at the school because their skirts barely cover their butts and if they're gonna show it, he can look at it. We spent HOURS driving around neighborhoods for the guide to say that "maybe" or "he's heard or read that" so and so lives here, had a photo taken here, etc....30 minutes at walk of fame, 30 minutes at Rodeo Dr. The driver went in the wrong lane into oncoming traffic to avoid stopping at the red light, running thru it in the wrong lane. Cars were honking at us as he drove thru the turning lane of oncoming cars to then jerk back on the right side of the rode. Not safe for families, or anyone really. If we could have gotten back to our vehicle- we would have. Completely understand why the vehicle is completely ragged out. Waste of time and money. We only had the one day in LA before going to our destination. Based off of the reviews I read, I was really excited to experience LA with my kids. We have taken tours all over the United States and this was the worst experience ever. Contacted the CEO and never heard back. read more

Rene and I took the Malibu tour with David today. This tour is a one of kind experience that is full of history, fabulous beaches and some celebrity homes also. If you are traveling in the area take the Malibu tour. It is worth it. read more

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David did a terrific job on driving and with the information that he gave us all of his touring was exceptional and I am very happy that we had David I would want him for my next tour of Malibu the music was really outstanding this was perfect for my Girlfriend 70th Birthday Thank you David for one of my best tours ever read more

My wife and I had the absolute pleasure of touring Malibu with David Oakes from Surf City Tours, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience! David was incredibly knowledgeable about the area, offering fascinating insights and fun facts throughout the entire trip. His enthusiasm was contagious, and his friendly, laid-back demeanor made us feel right at home. Not only was the tour informative, but David made sure it was a ton of fun as well. The tour also has a nice comfortable open-top truck, so the whole experience is also very comfortable. Definitely recommend this tour with David Oakes. read more

Want to see LA/Hollywood? This is a way... We were booked for the shorter 3.5hr tour and were called a few hours before to see if we would be able to change to the 5.5hr tour which was scheduled to leave at 12pm, we accepted the upgrade and rushed to get there on time only for our tour guide to be nearly an hour late (not his fault, he too was apparently moved to the earlier tour last minute). So 1pm, we finally took off to do the tour, first stop was Rodeo Drive which no one wanted to stop at so we just cruised down the road. Second stop was the Original Farmers Market, we had a one hour stop and were able to grab lunch (pizza, YUM!) and of course a Starbucks. Next we headed to he Hollywood Walk of Fame, my review of this attraction is separate and did not influence the rating for the tour itself. It would, however, be nice if the guide warned you that there are scammers on the walk that will try to take you for every dollar they can. Last stop was to head to the Hollywood sign, this one was probably the most disappointing as we only got to a distant lookout point, the sign was still very far away, we couldn't get out to take pictures and honestly the angle wouldn't have been worth the picture. The rest of the tour consisted of driving through lots of winding roads showing us some celebrity houses, or at least what used to be owned by a celebrity. We returned back to the Santa Monica pier around 6pm, so we did get 5 hours in. The good: Allan Smith, our tour guide was friendly, helpful, and informative. The bad: Do not book this on a cooler day unless you bundle up or don't mind the cold, the van is windowless and it got VERY cold, luckily Allan had some blankets for everyone. That was appriciated! They also need to fix up the vans, they were dirty inside and out, the upholstery around the windows was pulling away from the frame, just needs some general TLC. read more

My friends and sister went on a 3.5 hour tour yesterday. David was our driver. He was so knowledgeable on history where he was showing is the locations whether its beaches and homes of the celebrities. He was fun, friendly , funny and he very safe driver! Id totally recommend this tour to everyone a d hoping you get David. He is the best !! Awesome dude! The company is blessed and fortunate to have him!! Good vibes!!!!! read more

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This is a pretty dam good tour company. The black lady, I forget her name, is very knowledgeable about the L.A area. She is a former actress and very informative about the area. The company would of got 5 stars from me if they were a little bit more organized and cleaner. It's not a big deal, but then again, it is a big deal. The van was very dirty, especially on the outside. That is unacceptable. Other than that, the tour company is good. They need to stress safety more too. Especially, seatbelt rules. Get more seatbelts!! read more

Surf City Tours - Van is dirty, that's unsat. Other than that, it's a good tour company. - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

I was very very happy with my decision to spend the afternoon with Surf City Tours seeing the sites in LA. I took the Hollywood tour (they also have a Malibu tour which I will be going on next time ). The bus was pretty full and everyone quickly wound up becoming friendly. Even though we all came separately, it was a really cool group vibe thanks mostly to the guide who did a great job of making everyone feel comfortable and excited. So as the tour starts, I'm there trying to take pics and videos and post them to my IG story. The first thing I noticed was that there was so much stuff that we got to see right off the bat, we were seeing so many cool landmarks and celebrity homes that I couldn't keep up on IG . Generally, that was one of the best most pleasant surprises was the sheer quantity of cool things we got to see - it blew my expectations out of the water. LA is such a cool city, but being from San Diego we definitely take it for granted and just think about the traffic and how it takes forever to drive there But this tour reminded me about how there is no other city in the world like LA - I mean its mf HOLLYWOOD! Around every corner is a location from a movie, or a celebrity's home, or a landmark where something happened that is part of our pop culture history. The other thing that exceed my expectations was the fact that no only was I seeing cool shit but the driver knew so much about the city and its history. I was learning stuff I never knew about this place and never would have learned if I didn't take the tour. I came away afterwards with a new appreciation for LA and all that it has meant for everyone who has ever watched a movie. For the logistics - its a long tour - ours was about 5 hours so be prepared to spend the whole day. They stop for lunch at a farmers market where people have seen celebrities shopping, etc. They also stop downtown by the walk of fame, so you will get chances to get out and stretch your legs and grab something to eat or a beer. Also, the bus is open air so you don't have to worry about being stuck inside all day long. When I went it was a little cold out but they had blankets in the van for everyone who needed a little extra warmth. Trust me you will see everything that you would expect and more - even the Hollywood sign. It's the perfect activity for maybe your last full day in town when you don't want to think or plan your day - you just show up and get on the bus It would also prob be good for the day after you plan on going out the night before - easy day for a hangover You also don't have to stay in LA proper - you can stay in Santa Monica by the beach and completely avoid having to drive in all that traffic that everyone talks about. If you're from San Diego like me - I would totally recommend Surf City for an easy weekend trip with your significant other. It's super easy to drive into Santa Monica and you will feel more at home out by the beach like I did You get a hotel, some dinner reservations, one day to explore Santa Monica/go to the beach, and one day to let someone else do the driving and see some really cool stuff that you wouldn't be able to see anywhere else. They will even pick up and drop off at your hotel. Also, I'm pretty sure all the other tour companies pick up and drop off from downtown LA which is obvi a pain in the ass to get to and back from. I'm telling you - Valentines Day, anniversary, etc. It's perfect and you'll def score some points. Next time I go up that way I'm going to check out the Malibu tour which is shorter - I'll be sure to post about that one too. read more

Surf City Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

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Had a blast on the Malibu tour! David was our guide, and it is clear that he truly enjoys what he does. We went on this tour while on our honeymoon, and David made us feel very special and celebrated! We learned so much, and we felt so entertained and taken care of! Glad we chose to go on this tour! read more

Surf City Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

Took the bus tour with Key, who is the best driver in the country! As an LA native, she's able to give insights and bonus content to the tour--maybe even extra spots. Had a great day! Do it! read more

Easy to book. Took the Hollywood tour. More driving by homes than Hollywood sites. If you want Hollywood, do the on off double decker. Our tour guide was annoying. Kept bashing rich people and had almost no interesting information. I would not recommend this tour. read more

Destin did an excellent job as a tour guide on our first ever Malibu Celebrity homes tour. His knowledge and humor kept our cameras on record. I probably got his name wrong...Dustin...sorry...it was fun, perfect driving! read more

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The Malibu tour with Adam was sooo fun! He was articulate, witty, friendly and had lots of cool facts and info to share. We saw Adam Sandler's house, Cher's and many others. Stopped at Trancas/Village Grocers for snack/bathroom break and hiked a bit on Point Dume. Such a gorgeous view there! Then went to my fave Malibu Country Mart where all passengers could choose where they wanted to eat lunch. I've lived in LA area all my life and this was my first "touristy" tour and it was just such a great experience! read more

Tour was great. It was laid back and Chad was very informative. He pointed out things I missed on other tours. Highly recommended

Beware that everything advertised isn't what you'll experience. The bus pictured isn't the one used. All the sites advertised and celebrity homes listed on the webpage aren't visited, including Rihanna's house & the Kardashians. Misinformation on the site and in email correspondence about parking. Bring a jacket, BC it's chilly on the bus as you ride down the coast. Ladies bring a scrunchy or hair clip, too. It would have been great to go on the beach and walk past celebrity homes to get pictures from the beachside. David, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable. Great info share about the history of Malibu. We saw Simon Cowell and many celebrity homes. Pls, note the mtg place/office is a surf shop down the street from the Santa Monica Pier. It was a great tour, but I was a little disappointed BC my full expectations weren't met related to the experience. Expectations: Do what's advertised. read more

Surf City Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

Thank you David for the amazing tour of Malibu. We enjoyed ourselves and learned a ton about many places.

We went on the tour from Santa Monica that was a tour of everything! Can't recommend it enough! Richard was amazing! We went through starline the day before and had such a bad experience we decided to look elsewhere for our next tour! So glad we did - this was worth every penny! And it's a lot cheaper and you get the entire package of all of LA - Hollywood - the celebrity homes - etc etc! Just book it! It's incredible! read more

I loved this tour! I did the 5+ hour starting at 10am. They hit all the best spots. The farmers market was the highlight for me, followed closely by Hollywood Blvd. British Allan was our guide and he was fabulous! Informative, interactive, and witty! Highly recommend! read more

Did the 5 1/2 hour tour. It was long, but great. Key was our tour guide and she was the best. Definitely meant to do this. She had us entertained the whole time. Worth it. read more

So let's start from the top: Price: $87.00 per person (bit high) I paid 324 for 4 people. One child at 65 dollars. Bus: Van was old, embarrassing and dirty. Left with my white shorts looking grey. Also if you're handicapped the van has no accessibility. Plus its step was really high trying to get in and out. It's worse getting in and out if your sitting in the back seat. The seatbelts were worn and dirty and the door handle was hard to open and close. Driver: Was a very knowledgeable and polite tour guide. Not sure all info he was talking about was accurate but all in all he was ok. He tried his best to make small talk but we were a quite bunch. Tour: We got to see pretty much everything on the tour website except the most important item on our list which was the Hollywood sign. Guide stated he was told not to take us there as this was no longer part of the tour. It's not what the website said. The guide took us to some other point by Chinese Theater to get a glimpse of the Hollywood sign. It was ridiculous. Anyways....We opted for the 5 1/2 hour tour at 1200 but the tour got started late due to the van breaking down. We started at 115pm. Wish they had a newer and cleaner van. Honestly we could of done the tour ourselves or took the double decker bus for wayyyy less money. Not worth the money for the services and the embarrassing look of the bus. Save your money and plan out your day to do the tour yourself. Plus no military discount on tours either. Also they had a sign in the van that stated tour guides work for tips only - really? The sign said something like 10 good tour 15 great and 20 per person excellent! Per person what? Not sure if the info is true about the tour guide working for tips only but I still tipped him because I felt guilty not tipping him. I gave him 30 dollars for the 4 of us. The sign needs to go or rephrased so customers don't feel guilty about mandatory tipping an outrageous amount. Will not recommend to other tourists. Sorry guys. read more

Really convenient if your staying in Santa Monica , you can get on at the pier. The tour has a few stops where you can get out and explore on your own but also you feel like are part of a getting on and off at specific times which keeps you on schedule if your crunched for time. My tour guide Geo was nice and full of fun facts! The only complaint is the vehicle needed repairs or replacement pretty badly. read more

Pick another tour service. They promise you small open jeep, and then load you on a ratchet old bus with almost no visibility. Gave one star because driver was nice, but don't waste your time or money. read more

Surf City Tours - View on the tour bus - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

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My 12 year old daughter and I were in Hollywood just for the day to see Hamilton. We had some time to kill, so we decided to take the two hour tour of the Hollywood hills. We had a really great time. Our driver was very knowledgeable. He was also very courteous of the other drivers in the neighborhood, like the people who I assume live there. He knew where to pull off to view homes and he knew to pull to the side to let people pass since we were driving a little slower, which I thought was very courteous. All in all, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon! read more

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Our tour driver was very informative and pleasant to be with. He answered all questions and requests and you could tell he really enjoys giving these tours. We came in from Philly so we had a great time. Shout out to josh! read more

This tour company really lives up to it's motto "We're The Fun Ones"! Expect to be entertained and educated by top shelf tour guides as you set sights on all the classic LA landmarks and more. Vehicles are comfortable and provide excellent visibility to landmarks and legendary locations that that you have read about, heard about and dreamed about. And the vibe is just right to start off your stay in the City of Angels, giving you an overview of the city's highlights that you can circle back on for more on your own if you wish...Priced right, Surf City Tours lives up to expectations and beyond. It is refreshing to see small businesses that "try harder". read more

We had a great time! Our tour guide Gary was awesome!!!!!!!!! He was funny, energetic, knowledgeable about the city and a great driver. He sang songs every now and then to make a point on the location which was funny. We had our baby with us so it was nice that they were able to accommodate a car seat. Overall unforgettable experience and we recommend to anyone looking to spend the day learning and stopping the cool sights of LA with a great tour guide. read more

Surf City Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Santa Monica, California

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me and my boyfriend went on the malibu tour with david. he was absolutely amazing and catered to everyone on the tour. he took us to a bunch of great sites that we had never heard of, as well as past a bunch of celebrity houses. he knew so much about the area and could answer any questions that we had along the way. I can not the recommend the malibu tour more it was a great day excursion! read more

Took the tour today. We were picked up from our hotel and driven to their office about 5 minutes away. Garrett did a great job. The tour hit everything you want to see in Hollywood and LA. We were overwhelmed looking online for tours and didn't want to have to Uber from Santa Monica to catch the tour. Plenty of time for lunch at the Farmers Market, Rodeo drive and Hollywood. read more

The tour was fabulous! Garry, our guide was a great guide who knew lots about the city and even knew about some LA YouTubers for our kid's enjoyment - - He was fun and enthusiastic and the courtesy water bottles were a nice touch too! thank you Garry! read more

Well this is my first review so enjoy! I went on this tour with my friends the other day and boy was it worth! Seeing the celebrity houses and sets alongside cruising the beach, I was starstruck peacefully. Just relaxing for two hours with wind in my face and plus the view was worthwhile Also as a **tip kids under 3 are free read more

Wow, This tour was awesome. We spent a couple hours in the coolest fully narrated tour around. The tour guide really knew his stuff and was extremely friendly and funny. My boyfriend was sure he saw Halle Berry while we we going through Malibu. I'm not sure if it was here. But damn those Mansions are sights that rival the rival the 7 wonders of the world. lol. Hope this helps as this is my first review. read more

The good: DOUG (Best tour guide). Loved his subtle humorous approach. The bad: (just kidding, DOUG)...You can SHAVE off the 25 minute stop at Rodeo Drive. No one cares. Ultimately, it was invigorating for DOUG to show non-L.A. residents the city he loves so much. read more

One of the highlights of our recent trip to California was taking the tour of Hollywood, L.A. and Beverly Hills with Surf City Tours. Our tour guide Doug was the best. Super knowledgeable with great wit, humor and insight. Even the bus was very cool. Highlights were the original Tower Records spot, the Whiskey a-Go Go, and Ringo Starr!s house. The tour lasted 5+ hours but moved along. Well worth the price of admission. read more

If I could give Chad more than 5 stars I would! We took the Spooky Hollywood Halloween Tour with friends who were visiting LA for the first time. Chad is a wealth of LA knowledge! We learned a lot of interesting stuff about the city in a fun and spooky way! No better way to experience LA for both locals and visitors. Chad was fun & made us laugh - a truly awesome experience. He was very kind & accommodating. I would recommend 100%. read more

We wanted to see more of Los Angeles during our brief stay in this city. So we reserved our seats on a bus that was leaving at noon and arriving back at about 5.30. Frank was our tour guide. We couldn't have wished for a more knowledgeable and entertaining host that day. He was cheerful and obviously loves relating stories and interesting details along the way. We saw several homes of the stars in Beverly Hills area and enjoyed seeing exclusive shopping areas including a lovely stop at the Farmers Market. We especially appreciated his consideration towards all of the passengers including a delightful service dog who was accompanying a young woman with medical challenges. If we were in the area again we would ask for Frank. Thank you for a lovely time read more

David went above and beyond to give us the best experience of Malibu. We saw 2 celebrities (Willow smith and Simon Cowell), dolphins, sea lions, and the most incredible views. David is hilarious and super knowledgeable about literally everything Malibu, hollywood, and Cali. This was a super intimate tour with just 5 in our group and it was not cheesy at all. He only took us to current celebrity homes and knew all the hotspots. There was never a dull moment. He even ended our trip with a little gift. So thoughtful, and above and beyond. I wish I could give this 20 stars! David made this unforgettable for us!!!!! read more

Booked a private tour (for 11) via the concierge at the Ritz. Talib, our guide was amazing. We loved his sense of humor and were impressed with his knowledge about the city. He took us to all the key spots and made the tour memorable. Highly recommend Surf City Tours and Talib. read more