Picture strolling hand in hand with your sweetheart on an ocean pier, surrounded by shimmering water as waves lap against the pilings. You might get goose bumps—and not just because it can get chilly by the shore.
Photographer Shelly Waldman’s personal “California Piers” project features her favorite piers that invite romantic strolls. The Claremont resident has been fascinated by these structures ever since she celebrated her 16th birthday at the Huntington Beach Pier. Years later, the day after her wedding, she and her new husband continued the celebration with a stroll on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.
“Piers offer us a way to literally walk on water and connect with the ocean like nothing else,” Waldman says. “And I love how each one has a personality unique to its location, history, and community.”
Most piers in Southern California were built to allow steamships to tie up and unload. These days, people take to piers for walking, fishing, spotting surfers, and taking sunset selfies. Waldman’s project focuses on the structures themselves, as well as nearby restaurants and activities that make a visit even more enjoyable. Here are 10 piers from Waldman’s photography project, presented from north to south, whose simplicity is part of their appeal.