Job Carder from Michael’s Santa Monica won first place for most oysters shucked in five minutes. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Few things in life are more pleasant than a sunset on the beach. Add fresh seafood, cold beer and shamelessly cheesy yacht rock, and you’ve got paradise.

The sixth annual “Off The Hook Seafood Festival” on the Santa Monica Pier on Oct. 13 brought together Santa Monica restaurants, chefs and seafood lovers from far and wide. Attendees enjoyed luscious bites of dishes like tuna tartare, raw oysters and jamon-wrapped shrimp that very well may have just leaped out of the ocean and onto the plates. The event benefited Heal The Bay, an environmental nonprofit aimed at protecting the ecosystem in the Santa Monica Bay.

As seafood lovers set sail on their tasting voyage, they were serenaded by the sounds of The Windbreakers – a wonderfully kitschy yacht rock quartet that looked as if they were just cast on the next season of “Below Deck.” Appropriately dressed in white suit jackets and captain’s hats, they ran the gamut of beachy classics, from Michael McDonald to Christopher Cross. As the ocean breeze carried the salty sea air while the horizon became an oil painting, the soft rock provided a perfect score to each moment of the festival.

Well it’s not far down to paradise, at least it’s not for me.

Tasting menu highlights included a hearty clam chowder from The Whaler and baked crab hand rolls from Sushi Roku, each packed and rolled individually by the chef for every attendee. A notable standout was the seared rare yellowfin tuna from The Lobster. Served atop a bed of Dungeness crab fried rice with mango salsa, it was a perfect juxtaposition of differing textures and sweet and savory flavors.

Activities included an oyster shucking contest, pitting competitive kitchen staff from the various restaurants against each other for a test of speed and finesse. Facing hordes of hungry onlookers waiting to taste the tender morsels they just witnessed effortlessly plucked from the shell, the oysters were quickly devoured by attendees.

Your everlasting summer you can feel it fading fast. So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last.

Beverage options included a wide variety of wines from vineyards across California, such as Darcie Kent Estate and Bogle Family Wines, and beer from Santa Monica Brew Works. The brewery’s 310 Blonde Ale offered a crisp and refreshing sip that paired well with every seafood plate, and the yacht rock music.

Yes, I like piña coladas, and gettin’ caught in the rain. I’m not much into health food. I am into champagne.