Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. Public restrooms on a beach, as well as a kiddie playground nearby, and a parking lot. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 6, of Season 5, "Everything Is Illumenated". We first see Dexter playing with his baby son, Harrison, at a kiddie playground on the beach. But we quickly learn that he is actually stalking a new victim: Lance Robinson, who lures gay men (via internet ads) into casual encounters, and then murders them. We see Lance meet a man and they head together into the nearby public restroom building. We see the same location later, when Dexter returns at night. He has rented a large RV (to use as a kill room) and parks it near the restrooms. Lance shows up, referring to Dexter by his Internet ad moniker (and intentional pun), "10 Inches of Pure Steel". Dexter quickly knocks Lance out with his syringe, and moves him into the RV. But just as he is busy wrapping the unconscious serial killer in plastic wrap, Lumen calls, in a panic, saying she has shot a man. Dexter is forced to put things on hold, so he tosses Lance into the trunk of his car, and heads to the warehouse where Lumen is waiting. ( Eventually, the M-99 wears off, and Lance wakes up while Dexter is dealing with Lumens' problems. He tries to escape, trailing plastic wrap like a mummy... But Dexter catches and kills him. ) Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A beach, a building that contains public restrooms, and a parking lot - but no kiddie playground.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This beach (and this restroom building) can be found south of the Belmont Shore area, off Ocean Blvd, at Granada Ave, in Long Beach.

That's at the southeast end of a large beach parking lot that begins up near the Belmont Pier and the Long Beach Olympic Pool. This end of the lot - and the restrooms - are about half a mile southeast of that pier.

They faked the kiddie playground, building it a few yards in from where Dexter parked his RV.

They used this same beach once before, in the third season, passing it off as a Bimini beach (with a little help from CGI).

That's about a mile southeast of Dexter & Rita's home and the spot where Astor yelled at Dexter, and about two miles northwest of the street where Dexter went driving with Boyd.


And its about three miles down the coast from downtown Long Beach and Shoreline Village, where they filmed multiple scenes this year.

In previous seasons, they filmed even closer, at the Belmont Pier, where they shot the scene of Angel and LaGuerta professing their feelings for each other, a beach patio cafe scene with Prado & LaGuerta, the scene of Debra interviewing transvestite hookers (in an alley), and the beach scene where a perv photographer stalked Astor.




I shot the photo below in November 2010:



I shot the above photo from the approximate spot where Dexter was parked.




As you can see from the photo above, there is no kiddie playground on the beach here.  They added that.

They also added a few small palm trees, right in front of the building. But there are plenty of very real, tall palms nearby.

Here is an aerial photo of the beach, with the restrooms, playground and parking place all marked.

And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  In previous seasons, I've usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using clues from the various scenes.  By the 5th season, though, I'd developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and would let me know in advance when something was about to film there.

Between those reports, and my own personal reconnaissance around town, by the time the first episode aired, I already knew most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only needed to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Kerry, Rick, Joel, Geoff, Ellen, Julie, Susan, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.

This particular location came from Rick, who let me know they were filming there. Bing aerial photos let me establish the exact spot where Dexter parked. And then I went there in person to check things out and shoot matching photos. (Thanks, Rick!)