Marina del Rey (Spanish for “Marina of the King”) is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous port that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The port is North America’s largest man-made small-craft harbor and is home to approximately 5,000 boats. The area is a popular tourism destination for both home and water activities such as paddle board and kayak rentals, dining cruises, and yacht charters. Land events include bicycling upon several bicycle paths, walking paths along the waterfront, and birdwatching (birding). Wildlife watching opportunities tote up California sea lions and port seals. Dolphins and whales occasionally visit the deeper waters of harbor. This Westside locale is nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Santa Monica, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Los Angeles International Airport, and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) west-southwest of Downtown Los Angeles.

The port is owned by Los Angeles County and managed by the Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH), but the waters are environmentally regulated by state direction and federal management through their many agencies and departments later overlapping oversight. The Los Angeles Times said in a 1997 editorial that the harbor is “perhaps the county’s most critical resource”. The population was 11,373 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Marina del Rey as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the Place may not precisely be consistent with to local bargain of the Place with the similar name; for example, the 90292 ZIP code includes whatever of Marina del Rey and portions of against Los Angeles, such as Del Rey, and has a population of 21,576, more than double that of the CDP. Many residents of the 90292 ZIP code regard as being themselves to bring to life in Marina del Rey though they in aspire of fact live outdoor the certified boundaries of the CDP.

Prior to its press on as a small-craft harbor, the land occupied by Marina del Rey was a salt marsh fed by blithe water from Ballona Creek. The Place was frequented by the Tongva, who used plank boats known as te’aats to traverse the waters and paddle out to the Channel Islands. Fishing and shellfish harvesting were common. The village of Guashna was a major regional trade middle between villages upon the islands and the mainland.

With the increasing introduction of European settlers, in the mid-19th century, Moye C. Wicks thought of turning this estuary and wetland of Playa del Rey into a advertisement port. He formed the Ballona Development Company in 1888 to build the area, but three years later the company went bankrupt. The area became frequented by duck hunters, including their hunting club, as skillfully as by birdwatchers of the Los Angeles Audubon Society and the southern chapter of the Cooper Ornithological Club. Burton W. Chace, a former councilman of the City of Long Beach, who progressive became a aficionado of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, referred to the Place as mud flats, though today the Place would more properly be referred to as an estuary and wetland.