Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Navy of the King", or "Seacoast of the King") is a census-designated place seaside community located in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, California. The population was 8,176 at the 2000 census. Marina del Rey is only four miles from the Los Angeles International Airport, close enough to provide easy access by car or public transportation, yet far enough away that residents are not disturbed by the noise.

The Fisherman's Village offers a good view of Marina del Rey's dominant feature, the largest man-made small boat harbor in the world with about 7000 pleasure boats and yachts. The marina is surrounded by many high rise luxury Condos, hotels, apartments, shops, and restaurants, as well as the USC Information Sciences Institute and ICANN, currently the closest thing the Internet has to a governing organization. There are also a large number of shopping centers lining the Pacific Coast Highway just to the east.

It is served by its own freeway, the three-mile-long Marina Freeway (California State Route 90) which links Marina del Rey directly to Interstate 405 and nearby Culver City. However, the freeway does not go directly to the marina; it ends at Culver Boulevard and Highway 90 continues west as an at-grade expressway to Lincoln Boulevard (California State Route 1). As a result, the entire area has a reputation for traffic congestion. A Caltrans project to extend the freeway is currently underway.

Marina del Rey lies in area code 310. Its ZIP code is 90292. It is currently the world's largest man-made marina but its title is threatened by the soon to be completed, Dubai Marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Marina del Rey is located at 33°58′46″N, 118°27′10″W (33.979361, -118.452912). GR1. It is located just south and east of Venice and just north of Playa del Rey and the Ballona Creek. Venice actually extends north and south just west of Marina del Rey up to the north edge of the entrance channel. Just south of the entrance channel lies Playa del Rey. Marina del Rey is completely surrounded on all sides by the City of Los Angeles, just east of Marina Del Rey is the community of Del Rey in Los Angeles City. The beach-style homes, the strip of land and the beach itself just west of Marina Del Rey are actually part of the community of Venice, within the City of Los Angeles limits, but with a Marina del Rey address. Via Dolce and the southern portion of Via Marina are the boundaries between L.A. City and the unincorporated area

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²). 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (40.14%) is water.