Coming from Venice, CA
Tattoo & Piercing near Venice
Apollo sits about 700 feet from the Venice city line, up Main Street in Ocean Park. Here's the honest distance, the parking, and what's worth the trip.
Book a consultationVenice is not short of places to get tattooed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Apollo is not in Venice — we are about 700 feet north of the Navy Street line, at 2625 Main St. in Ocean Park. So this page is not an attempt to look like a Venice shop. It is for the person who has already heard about us, is willing to travel a mile or two for a specific artist or a specific piercing, and wants to know exactly what that trip involves before committing an afternoon to it.
Our standards
The honest distance, measured from your end of Venice
Main Street runs continuously from Venice up into Ocean Park. There is no freeway leg and no confusing turn — you stay on one street the entire way. Straight-line distances from our door:
- Navy Street / the Santa Monica–Venice line — about 700 feet. We are a three-minute walk from the city line.
- Rose Avenue — about 0.3 miles.
- Windward Circle — about 1.2 miles.
- Abbot Kinney Boulevard — about 1.3 miles.
- The boardwalk and the canals — about 1.4 to 1.6 miles.
Driving adds a little to each of those. The realistic figure from most of Venice is five to twelve minutes depending on Main Street traffic, which peaks on summer weekend afternoons. From the north end of Venice it is genuinely quicker to walk than to park twice.
Buyer beware
Parking on Main Street, and how to avoid needing it
We are between Ocean Park Boulevard and Hollister Avenue. There is metered street parking along Main Street, with additional public lots a block away. That is usually fine on a weekday and tighter at peak weekend hours, so give yourself a few extra minutes if you're coming Saturday afternoon.
If you'd rather not deal with it: Big Blue Bus routes serve Main Street, rideshare drops off directly at our door, and — because the whole trip is flat and under two miles — a lot of people simply ride a bike up from Venice. Cycling is genuinely the easiest way to do this trip in summer.
At Apollo
What Apollo is set up to do
The reason to travel to a specific studio is that it does something specific. Ours:
- Tattoos and body piercing under one roof — not a tattoo shop that also pierces ears. Both are staffed disciplines here.
- Needle-only piercing, no guns, ever, performed by a Fakir-certified piercer. Founder Blue Mason has been tattooing since 2007 and holds that certification.
- Implant-grade titanium for fresh piercings, and BVLA solid gold stocked in the studio rather than ordered sight-unseen. You can try pieces on before you commit — see the jewelry shop.
- Curated ear work as an actual service, planned across the whole ear rather than one hole at a time. The piercing experience page walks through how an appointment runs.
- Open 7 days, which matters when the trip is a deliberate one.
Cost
What it costs before you make the trip
Piercing prices are flat and published, so nothing about the ride is a gamble. Lobes, helix and forward helix, nostril, navel and a single nipple are $75. Conch, tragus, rook, daith and septum are $85. Industrial is $125, double nipple $125, and dermals are $200 single or $400 double. Two piercings in one visit are $75 together, and a Curated Ear of up to four piercings is $99 — which is the one that most often justifies the drive on its own. Full list on the piercing prices page. Jewelry is priced separately.
Tattooing is hourly and depends on the artist: $100/hr with Blue, Hannah or Rick, and $350/hr with Raa or David. Any real quote still depends on size, design and placement, so bring a reference — see tattoo pricing for how we scope a piece.
What you pay for
Making the ride worth it
Two practical things. First, book rather than walk in — walk-ins are welcome when someone is free, but riding over to find a full book is a bad afternoon. Second, if you are coming for gold specifically, call ahead at (310) 331-0605 so we can confirm what's in the case.
Browse tattoo styles and piercing services, look at real work in the portfolio, then book a consultation. Directions and hours live on the visit page.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Apollo actually in Venice?
No — and we'd rather say so plainly. Apollo is at 2625 Main St. in Ocean Park, the southernmost neighborhood of Santa Monica. The Venice line at Navy Street is about 700 feet from our door — a three-minute walk. Venice has its own good shops; this page is for people who have decided to come to us anyway, and want to know exactly what that trip looks like.
How long does it take to get here from Abbot Kinney?
Abbot Kinney is about 1.3 miles away. Take Main Street north and stay on it — Main runs continuously from Venice into Ocean Park, so there is no freeway and no complicated turn. Traffic on Main is the only variable, and it is heaviest on summer weekend afternoons.
Can I bike or walk from Venice?
Both work. We are roughly 700 feet from the Venice line and about 1.3 miles from Abbot Kinney, all of it flat. Walking is realistic from anywhere north of Rose Avenue; from Windward Circle or the canals most people bike or drive, which takes a few minutes.
Do you keep gold jewelry in stock, or is everything special-order?
We stock implant-grade titanium for fresh piercings and carry BVLA solid-gold pieces in the studio, so a lot of what you'll want to try on is physically here. BVLA also makes to order in a wide range of stones and metals, which is a few weeks out. If you are riding over specifically to see gold, call ahead at (310) 331-0605 and we'll tell you what's in the case that day.
Do you take walk-ins?
Yes, for piercings and smaller tattoos when an artist is free — but if you're travelling from Venice, book. A booking guarantees the chair and the artist, and it means the ride isn't wasted on a fully-booked Saturday.
