The coast takes a sharp turn straight west just north of Santa Monica so from Venice looking north west you see Malibu and the Santa Monica mountains. Therefore during the summer the sun does in fact set behind the Santa Monica mountains as can be seen in this photo. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/9267881002_dc30589ab0_o.j...
I had no idea. Wow, that's beautiful.
The moutains go far to the west from the vantage point of SM or Venice. In the middle of Summer the sun sets in the north west, so over the mountains just above Malibu.