How to Find the Best Beaches in Los Angeles
For whatever reason you are in LA, you must make at least one trip to the beach and see the Pacific Ocean. Whether you are in LA for a business trip or on a two-week holiday, you have enough time. LAX airport is less than 15 minutes from must-see Venice Beach, so you have no excuses. Bring your sunscreen, sun hat and bottled water. Learn where to set your beach chair in the sand and discover why people come from all over the world to enjoy the California sun, sea and sand.
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Instructions
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Start with a kid-friendly, shamelessly touristy beach: Venice Beach. Located just south of Santa Monica Beach, Venice has become gentrified and the city itself is home to Julia Roberts and her family. Other famous residents live there, as do plenty of ordinary folks, too.Be a tourist and walk the Venice boardwalk, stopping to buy corn dogs or rent a bicycle for the day. Pick up postcards, leather bags made in Mexico, all manner of women’s and men’s shoes, and the usual touristy fare: T-shirts and beach cover-ups emblazoned with palm tree motifs and the word "Venice" writ large.
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Drive up Pacific Coast Highway (which Californians call PCH) to Malibu. Stop at PCH and Entrada to eat at Gladstone’s, a seafood restaurant overlooking the water. Eat outside and ask for the fresh catch of the day: mahi mahi or whatever looks good. If it’s your birthday, the staff will bring out a small cake and sing you "Happy Birthday." Your leftovers will be artfully wrapped in aluminum foil in the shape of an animal.
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Trek up to Zuma Beach in Malibu. You cannot miss it: Keep driving until you see signs for Zuma and park in the ample public lots. Surfers come here and you’ll understand why when you see the waves. Lather up the sunscreen and stay hydrated. Locals know to stay out of the sun when it’s hottest, between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Drive back south to Manhattan Beach. The beaches here will seem empty compared to the crowds at Venice. An upscale, affluent beach community, Manhattan Beach has much less public parking. Sink your toes in the sand and watch the locals play beach volleyball. Professional volleyball tournaments take place here each year, drawing big crowds. Manhattan Beach offers family and fine dining restaurants for all palates. Open 24 hours a day, The Kettle offers something to suit fussy children and adults alike, from veggie soup to double cheeseburgers with fries and a milkshake.Pick up a small stack of fire logs, wooden skewers and marshmallows for a beach bonfire, your next destination.
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Make a bonfire at Dockweiler State Beach. From Manhattan Beach, go north toward El Segundo. You will see signs on the western (ocean) side of PCH. Park along PCH and bring your gear to the sand. Dockweiler is equipped with facilities for bonfires; most other Los Angeles County beaches prohibit bonfires of any kind.Set up your fire logs and carefully light them. Once you see red glowing goals, skewer several marshmallows and roast them over the fire. Enjoy them as you remember some of the most famous beaches in Los Angeles.
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