California sells itself well. Golden beaches, redwood forests, Hollywood glamour, wine country sunsets. The tourism boards have done their job beautifully, and millions of visitors flock here every year expecting paradise.
But here’s what nobody tells you: some of California’s most hyped destinations will leave you disappointed, broke, or both. Certain spots look incredible on Instagram but deliver a very different experience when you actually show up. Overcrowding, safety concerns, inflated prices, environmental hazards—these are real issues that trip planners routinely overlook.
So before you book that flight or load up the car, let’s talk honestly about which places deserve a hard pass. Your time and money matter too much to waste on destinations that won’t deliver what they promise.
Places to Avoid in California
California has hundreds of destinations worth exploring, but a handful of locations consistently disappoint visitors or present genuine concerns. Here are ten places you’d be smart to skip—or at least approach with serious caution.
1. The Hollywood Walk of Fame
You’ve seen it in movies a thousand times: that glamorous stretch of sidewalk where celebrities’ names are immortalized in pink terrazzo stars. The reality? It’s a grimy, overcrowded tourist trap that smells like exhaust fumes and desperation.
The Walk of Fame runs along Hollywood Boulevard, and on any given day, you’ll find yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with crowds while aggressive costume characters demand money for photos. Street vendors hawk overpriced souvenirs. Homeless encampments line nearby side streets. The stars themselves? Many are so worn and dirty that you can barely read the names.
Petty crime runs high in this area. Pickpockets work the crowds. Scammers approach tourists with fake mixtapes or “free” CDs, then demand payment. The LAPD regularly patrols the area, but that should tell you something about what they’re dealing with.
If you absolutely must see it, go early on a weekday morning before the crowds arrive, stay alert, and keep your valuables secured. Better yet, skip it entirely and spend your time at the Getty Center or Griffith Observatory instead. You’ll get much better views—and actually enjoy yourself.
2. Salton Sea
This one breaks my heart a little because the Salton Sea has a strange, haunting beauty. But it’s also an environmental disaster that can make you genuinely sick.
Located in the desert about 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the Salton Sea was accidentally created in 1905 when an irrigation canal breached. For decades, it was a thriving resort destination. Now it’s a dying lake with salinity levels higher than the Pacific Ocean. Fish die-offs occur regularly, and their decomposing bodies line the shores along with barnacle-encrusted debris.
Here’s the health concern: as the lake continues to shrink, it exposes the lakebed, which contains pesticide residues from decades of agricultural runoff. Wind picks up this contaminated dust and carries it for miles. Respiratory issues spike in surrounding communities. The air quality can be genuinely hazardous, especially on windy days.
The abandoned resorts and eerie landscapes attract photographers and urban explorers, and honestly, the desolation is striking. But unless you’re prepared with N95 masks and willing to limit your exposure time, this is one destination where the aesthetic appeal isn’t worth the health risks.
3. Venice Beach Boardwalk (After Dark)
During daylight hours, Venice Beach has its charms—street performers, the famous Muscle Beach outdoor gym, colorful murals, quirky shops. But once the sun goes down, the vibe shifts dramatically.
Violent crime increases significantly after dark along the boardwalk and adjacent areas. Gang activity, drug deals, and assaults happen regularly. The homeless population in Venice has grown substantially over the past decade, and while many individuals are harmless, the concentration of people experiencing mental health crises creates unpredictable situations.
Even during the day, you’ll want to stay alert. Keep your phone and wallet secured. Don’t leave valuables visible in parked cars—window smash-and-grabs are epidemic along the beach parking areas. A locked car with nothing visible inside is your best protection.
The canals themselves, a few blocks inland, remain lovely for a daytime stroll. And the boardwalk during morning hours can be genuinely fun—grab breakfast at a local spot, watch the skaters, and leave by mid-afternoon. That’s the sweet spot.
4. The Tenderloin District, San Francisco
San Francisco has world-class food, stunning architecture, and neighborhoods worth every bit of their hype. The Tenderloin is none of these things for casual visitors.
Situated right in the center of the city, the Tenderloin has one of the highest concentrations of homelessness, drug use, and crime in California. Open-air drug markets operate in plain sight. Needles litter the sidewalks. Aggressive panhandling is constant. Property crime rates—car break-ins, theft, muggings—far exceed city averages.
Some people will tell you the Tenderloin has great Vietnamese restaurants and historic architecture worth seeing. That’s true. It also has legitimate residents and businesses trying to make it work. But for tourists unfamiliar with the area, the risks outweigh the rewards. You’d need to know exactly where you’re going, move with purpose, and stay extremely aware of your surroundings.
If you’re determined to try a specific restaurant in the Tenderloin, go during daylight, take a rideshare directly there, and leave before dark. Otherwise, you’ll find equally good food in safer neighborhoods like the Richmond or Sunset districts.
5. Bombay Beach
Speaking of the Salton Sea, this tiny community on its eastern shore has become Instagram famous for its post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Decaying trailers, art installations made from debris, graffiti-covered ruins—it’s become a destination for influencers chasing that desolate-chic look.
The problem is that people actually live here. About 250 residents call Bombay Beach home, and many of them are tired of tourists treating their community like a photo backdrop. Visitors wander onto private property, ignore posted signs, and leave trash behind. The “art installations” are on private land in many cases, and not everyone appreciates strangers photographing their homes and belongings.
There’s also the same air quality issues that plague the entire Salton Sea region. The lake’s shore here is particularly toxic, with high concentrations of selenium, arsenic, and other contaminants in the exposed lakebed.
If you do visit, respect private property boundaries, support local businesses by buying something, and limit your time outdoors when the wind picks up. But honestly? The novelty wears off fast, and you’ll leave feeling a little grimy—both literally and ethically.
6. Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
This might be controversial because Fisherman’s Wharf is one of San Francisco’s most visited attractions. But that’s precisely the problem.
Everything here is overpriced and underwhelming. The “famous” clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls? Mediocre at best, and you’ll pay $15-20 for it. The seafood restaurants along the wharf serve tourist-quality food at premium prices. You can find better seafood—fresher, cheaper, more authentic—in neighborhoods that locals actually frequent.
The crowds are relentless. During peak season, you’ll shuffle along packed sidewalks, waiting in lines for everything, surrounded by chain stores and tacky souvenir shops selling the same San Francisco hoodies and Golden Gate Bridge snow globes. The sea lions at Pier 39 are genuinely fun to watch for about ten minutes, and then you’re done.
Here’s what to do instead: head to the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero for genuinely excellent food vendors and local producers. Take a ferry to Sausalito for waterfront views. Visit the actual fishing boats at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. You’ll get authentic experiences instead of a sanitized, overpriced imitation.
7. Skid Row, Los Angeles
This 50-block area in Downtown LA contains the largest stable population of homeless individuals in the United States—somewhere between 4,000 and 8,000 people on any given night. It’s a humanitarian crisis concentrated into a small geographic area.
Tourists sometimes end up here by accident while exploring DTLA. The boundaries aren’t marked, and you can find yourself suddenly surrounded by tent encampments, people in mental health crises, and open drug use. The smells can be overwhelming—human waste, rotting food, and worse.
This isn’t about judging the people who live here. Many are dealing with addiction, mental illness, or impossible economic circumstances. But as a visitor, you have no business treating this area as something to gawk at. It’s not a spectacle. And from a practical standpoint, the area sees high rates of assault, theft, and other violent crime.
If you’re exploring Downtown LA—and the Arts District, Grand Central Market, and Little Tokyo are all genuinely wonderful—just stay aware of your location. Keep north of 5th Street and east of Main Street to avoid accidentally wandering into Skid Row.
8. Lake Berryessa’s Glory Hole
Let’s be clear: Lake Berryessa itself is fine. It’s a popular reservoir in Napa County with good fishing, boating, and camping. The “Glory Hole,” however, has become a dangerous attraction that regularly puts people at risk.
The Glory Hole is actually a massive concrete spillway—200 feet in diameter—that drains excess water from the lake. When the reservoir fills above a certain level, water pours into this funnel and drops 200 feet into a drainage pipe below. It looks dramatic, and videos of it operating have gone viral multiple times.
The problem? People keep trying to get close to it. Swimmers have died after being sucked into the spillway. Others have drowned trying to approach it by boat. The currents near the structure are powerful and unpredictable. Warning buoys mark the area, but people ignore them constantly.
When the spillway isn’t active, some visitors have attempted to climb inside it—an incredibly dangerous choice given the potential for sudden water release and the sheer drop inside. Park officials regularly rescue (and cite) people who’ve gotten too close.
Appreciate it from a safe distance if you must, but don’t let the internet clout chase turn into a tragedy. The lake has plenty of other features worth your time.
9. The Malibu Pier at Peak Season
Malibu conjures images of celebrity homes, pristine beaches, and laid-back coastal living. The reality during summer weekends involves gridlock traffic, no parking, and beaches so crowded you can barely find space for a towel.
Pacific Coast Highway—the only real route into Malibu from LA—becomes a parking lot. A drive that should take 40 minutes stretches into two hours. Once you arrive, public parking lots fill before 9 AM, and street parking is virtually nonexistent. Private lots charge $30-50 for the day. The beaches themselves, while beautiful, get packed with visitors who’ve made the same pilgrimage.
The Malibu Pier specifically draws crowds for photos, mediocre restaurants, and general milling around. There’s not much to actually do there. You’ll spend most of your time waiting—waiting for parking, waiting for a table, waiting for the traffic to clear so you can leave.
If you want the Malibu beach experience, come on a weekday during the off-season, or try the beaches farther north like El Matador (arrive very early for parking). Better yet, explore the beaches in Orange County or Santa Barbara County, where crowds are more manageable and the sand is just as gorgeous.
10. Slab City
About 190 miles east of San Diego, in the desert near the Salton Sea, sits Slab City—a squatter community built on an abandoned military base. It’s become known as “the last free place in America” because there’s no running water, no electricity grid, no sewage system, and no laws.
Some travelers romanticize this place as an off-grid utopia. The reality is harsher. Summer temperatures regularly exceed 115°F, and without air conditioning or reliable water sources, heatstroke is a genuine risk. Sanitation is rudimentary at best. Medical emergencies become life-threatening because the nearest hospital is over an hour away.
Crime happens here too—theft, assault, and worse—and there’s no police presence to respond. Some residents are welcoming to visitors, others are territorial and hostile. You won’t know which you’re dealing with until you’re already in the situation.
The famous Salvation Mountain, a folk art installation near the entrance, is worth seeing and safe to visit during daylight. Beyond that, Slab City is a place for people who choose to live there, not a tourist destination. Respect that boundary.
Wrapping Up
California absolutely deserves its reputation as one of the most beautiful, diverse, and exciting places on Earth. But like anywhere else, it has spots that disappoint, deceive, or genuinely endanger visitors who don’t know what they’re getting into.
The destinations on this list aren’t necessarily bad places—they’re bad choices for unprepared tourists. Some can be visited safely with proper precautions and realistic expectations. Others are better skipped entirely in favor of California’s countless alternatives that deliver on their promises.
Do your research, trust your instincts, and spend your precious vacation time in places that will actually make you glad you came.
