Marina del Rey's public calendar this year was laid out so that the outdoor season ends almost exactly when the construction season begins. Phase 1 of the Boat Launch Ramp rebuild on Fiji Way starts October 1 on the County's phasing map. Within the four weeks that follow, the Sunday drum circle, the Halloween festival and the Thursday food trucks each hold their last 2026 date. Fall here is less an off-season than a change of shift. The people running Burton Chace Park on summer weekends hand the harbor to dock crews and garage builders, and the largest of those jobs isn't scheduled to finish until Summer 2027.

October, Date by Date

The County's 2026 schedule puts the last public events and the first work dates in the same month. Here they are in order:

• October 1: Phase 1 of the Boat Launch Ramp Facility Improvement Project begins on the County's phasing map.
• October 18: The final Marina Drum Circle Sunday at Burton Chace Park, 13650 Mindanao Way, with free sessions from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
• October 24 and 25: Marina Spooktacular takes over Burton Chace Park from 4 to 10 p.m. both days. The County bills it as a two-day festival where "the frights intensify as night falls."
• October 29: The last Beach Eats Thursday of the season, 5 to 9 p.m. at Lot 11, 14101 Panay Way. It closes a run that began May 7.

The rest of the summer lineup had already ended before October started. On the County's 2026 flyer, the Saturday summer concerts ran July 11 to August 15 and Marina Movie Nights ran August 22 to September 26. After October 29, the only regular public gathering at Lot 11 is the year-round Saturday Farmers' Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the same lot that hosts the food trucks.

The Ramp on Fiji Way Runs on a Longer Clock

The biggest change for anyone who trailers a boat is at 13477 Fiji Way. The Department of Beaches and Harbors is replacing the launch ramp's aging dock system and adding a new accessible queuing dock next to the ramps. Everything stays within the existing footprint. On land, the plan adds Low Impact Development stormwater features and repaves and restripes the parking lot to add accessible spaces and improve circulation.

The County's phasing map spreads the work over most of a year:

The development page describes the timing more loosely. It anticipates construction starting "at the beginning of Fall 2026" and finishing in Summer 2027, and it still lists the ramp under upcoming projects. Treat the October 1 start as the County's plan. The published materials don't confirm that crews were on site in the first days of the month, and no lane-by-lane closure notice has been posted in readable form. Boaters planning winter launches should check with Beaches and Harbors before towing to Fiji Way.

The ramp is also the first of several dock jobs. The Parcel 77 Dock Replacement Project will rebuild a facility used for kayaking, rowing, sailing and other small craft. It will add new launch areas, slips, an ADA-compliant gangway and upgraded lighting. That project is in plan check, with construction expected to start in late 2027. If both schedules hold, a second dock project will be starting within months of the ramp's Summer 2027 finish.

The Projects Already Finished or Nearly Done

Some of the rebuilding is already open to the public. On July 2, 2026, the County completed its improvements at Marina "Mother's" Beach. The project added a promenade, a renovated and expanded restroom and office building, more dry-boat storage, picnic shelters and grills, improved access and a beach access mat. These are the first new pieces to arrive in a year that is mostly about construction.

Next comes Lot 4, near Admiralty Way and Mindanao Way. The County is building a 368-space public parking structure there, with a plaza and rest area that connect to the Marvin Braude Bike Path and the Visitors Center. The surface lot closed on December 1, 2025. Two County documents give slightly different finish dates. The groundbreaking announcement estimates completion in "late Fall 2026." The development timeline shows the construction phase ending in December 2026. Either way, construction is scheduled to wrap up close to the Holiday Boat Parade. The County hasn't announced a date for the garage and plaza to open to the public.

A Dock for the Sea Lions, Still on Paper

The newest item on the County's project list is also the least settled. Beaches and Harbors has posted a draft site plan for a dedicated pinniped dock in the main channel near Fisherman's Village. In the County's words:

"The Marina del Rey Pinniped Dock project is designed to give these marine mammals a safe and dedicated floating home of their own and reduce crowding and disturbances throughout the harbor."

The County says the project responds to public feedback and to recent surveys showing seals and sea lions crowding onto docks, vessels and waterways around the harbor. The dock would also serve as a public viewing area. On the draft plan, the dock area measures 1,512 square feet inside a construction footprint of 1,848 square feet. It sits beside an existing floating dock and the existing Aquatics Center.

The idea isn't new. The County's July 2019 pinniped management plan found that California sea lions had become more abundant in the marina and were damaging public and private property. Surveys that spring counted 45 to 95 sea lions a day, mostly sub-adults and young adults. That plan already proposed a dedicated sanctuary as an alternative place for the animals to haul out. Seven years later, the same idea has a site plan. It still has no published schedule, budget or permit decision, and the Small Craft Harbor Commission's September 9, 2026 agenda didn't list it. For now it is a draft drawing with a stated purpose and no start date.

Most of the New Tables Arrive in 2027

The restaurant news follows the same timeline as the docks. A few places have opened recently, and most of the rest are scheduled for 2027. The Marina del Rey Tourism Board's September 30, 2026 release names three recent dining additions. The Northwind Experience runs dining, cocktails, entertainment and private events aboard a 130-foot historic yacht. STOA Wine Bar & Market and Cafe Cache are the other two. Bitter Root Pottery Aqueous adds a waterfront clay studio overlooking the marina.

The rest of the list carries 2027 dates or none at all:

• Luna Bistro & Cafe at 13181 Mindanao Way in Villa Marina Marketplace, the former Kalaveras space. In August it was aiming for a September opening in an all-day restaurant of roughly 8,000 square feet. The Tourism Board now says it is slated for 2027.
• Niche Cafe at 714 Washington Blvd. It had targeted the summer for a coffee, matcha, smoothie and milkshake café. Its own site still lists the location as "Opening Soon."
• Waterside, the 10-acre outdoor center. Anthropologie and New Balance have opened. Wake & Late, Lululemon, Brooks Running, Brandy Melville and its Chill Since '93 cafe are listed as upcoming.
• Nordstrom Rack, scheduled for spring 2027, and Fire Pilates Club, an oceanfront studio described as set to open.

The former Tony P's Dockside Grill site follows the same slow pattern. Tony P's closed on June 29, 2025, after 28 years. The County's October 2025 announcement of its agreement with the California Yacht Club described a sea-to-table restaurant and gathering space there, targeted to open in Spring 2026, with interim bar service for club members only. That target has passed. The club's current dining page describes a menu designed for members, and no newer opening date for the full restaurant has been published.

The hotels are working to a fixed deadline. The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey is renovating all 304 rooms and suites floor by floor and expects to finish in time for Super Bowl LXI in February. After that, work moves to the lobby, reception, corridors and its restaurant, Cast & Plow. Marina del Rey Hotel will unveil 164 refreshed rooms and suites in 2027. The Marina del Rey Historical Society also marks its 20th anniversary in 2027.

Between the Last Food Truck and the Boat Parade

After October 29, the weekly calendar comes down to the Saturday market at Lot 11, and the next large public event is weeks away. The 2026 Holiday Boat Parade is listed for December 12, 4 to 8 p.m., at Burton Chace Park. The County's listing gives event hours but not the start time of the procession on the water. By that Saturday, if the schedules hold, Phase 1 at the Fiji Way ramp will be about ten weeks in, and the Lot 4 garage will be at or near its December finish.

The construction schedules shape the property calendar too. A Marina del Rey home with a slip, a harbor view or a short walk to Burton Chace Park will be shown to buyers at different times as the ramp, the garage and the dock projects move from fences to finished work. If you're weighing when to bring a harbor-adjacent property to market, Leonard Rabinowitz and the LeonardR Group can map those County dates against your own timeline and plan a launch that presents your home well. Give Your Home the Christie's Touch.