Hermosa Beach is the party capital of the South Bay. No matter the night of the week, residents and visitors can be seen roaming the streets looking for a good time—from a nearby to live music set.
And Hermosa resident Richard Podgurski, known to the masses as DJ Dik, would be the perfect tour guide.
Dik is rapidly becoming one of the biggest DJs on the West Coast, and perhaps on the cusp of earning the blessing-yet-curse title of a celebrity DJ, playing events from everywhere in California to Honolulu to Portland.
Dik has spun at Jackass star Johnny Knoxville’s house in the Hollywood Hills, a Jimmy Choo-sponsored pre-Oscar event, and Beta, a club in Denver that was once named the top dance venue in the country.
To put it bluntly, the guy knows what he’s doing. As the party rocker that he is, he talked to Patch about his recommendations for getting loose in Hermosa Beach during the day and night:
Daytime chillin’
Dik said that the best place to hang during the day is on the beach at 8th Street in Hermosa Beach between the volleyball courts and the sand.
"That’s probably the main spot I spend during the days," he said. "It’s a quick little downhill skate from my place and we [his friends] don’t need to talk, Facebook or text, we just know to go there since it’s such a chill spot."
If it’s hot and sunny outside, he said kick back, soak in the sunray and enjoy yourself in perhaps the best beachfront area in town. Or play , hit the surf, or grab some food at nearby .
"I pretty much keep Ashley’s in business," Dik said. "I spend so much money there on sandwiches, drinks, beer, snacks and whatever else there is. It’s the best and closest deli and they have it all. You have to get a sandwich from there because they are so frickin’ good."
When the sun goes down
Day and night in Hermosa Beach are as different as, well, day and night, Dik said. And the nighttime vibe depends on the day of the week.
"Mondays through Wednesdays, is the only place to find enough people to be entertained and, more importantly, people watch," he said.
Early in the week, he also suggested visiting with a big group of friends. For a quieter evening, he said and are places to go.
Then the weekend starts early on Thursday night. Dik said that the tight-knit Hermosa Beach community knows where to go on the weekends, often times not having to say goodbye to friends, because you know you will see them at the next stop on your bar crawl.
"Everything is so close that it’s like one big bar on a weeknight," he explained. "You can hop around from place to place to place and enjoy the nightlife."
If you’re in the mood for some live music, Dik said one hop should be to . With a topnotch soundsystem, large space and most importantly, the best bands, the venue has established itself as a leader in live music in the South Bay.
is another one of Dik’s top choices, and no, it isn’t because he performs there. The new soundsystem, the new DJ booth and favorable management make this one of his favorite spots in town to spin.
Another added bonus, he said, is that he’s allowed to stage dive (one of his favorite pastimes.) It gets the crowd riled up and adds an element of excitement to his DJ sets, he said.
"They let me rage as hard as I can, and that makes it by far and away my favorite place to spin," Dik said. "It’s okay to jump off of stuff, even my mom was jumping off stuff."
From Mermaid to Ocean Bar, the variety of watering holes is what makes Hermosa Beach fun for everybody—or, as Dik put it, "like Disneyland" for the 21-and-older.
