If you come to visit Los Angeles, many times, you would likely be drawn to all the Hollywood scene, and forget about the gorgeous coast stretching all along Southern California. However, the phrase "west coast, best coast" exists for a good reason, since the SoCal coastal scenery is truly something to die for. There are so many beaches along the SoCal coast and each has its own unique vibe.
Today, I'm going to take you with me along the beautiful coast of Southern California. I have hand-picked several of my favorite beaches to take you along on this "road trip" down the coast.
As you can see in the map, we'll dive into 8 different beaches along the coast:
A. Malibu Lagoon State Beach
B. Santa Monica
C. Manhattan Beach
D. Hermosa Beach
E. Redondo Beach
F. Long Beach
G. Newport Beach
H. Corona Del Mar
Ironically, my favorite beach in SoCal, Laguna Beach, is not on the list, since I forgot to take pictures every single time that I was there. So maybe I'll do a separate post on it someday. For now, let's get started with these eight gorgeous beaches!
To level the play field, for each one of the gorgeous beaches, I will comment on the following four areas that are all dear to my heart when I 'judge' a beach on a 5-point system:
Quality of sand/water
Crowdedness
Entertainment options
Easiness of parking
Now, let's get the beach party started!
A. Malibu Lagoon State Beach
There is a reason that there are tons of mansions in Malibu. The beaches here are quite accessible and are simply just gorgeous.
1. Quality of sand/water: 4/5
The sand is soft and the water is clear. The reason I didn't give it 5 star is that there are some sediments in the water. All the natural sediments that a beach could have, but it just makes the water less clear visually.
2. Crowdedness: 5/5 (meaning not crowded)
Since it is kinda far from LA compared to some other beaches, this area does not get too crowded. Lack of parking, which I'll mentioned later, might be another reason why.
3. Entertainment Options: 3/5
If you are tired of sitting on the beach, you can
a) find some nice restaurants by the pier
b) go shopping, or
c) go wine-tasting.
However, the shopping options are not that grand.
Wine-tasting is a great alternative. However, considering that the vineries are a bit far from the water, I rated the entertainment options down a notch.
4. Easiness of parking: 3/5
It might just be me, but I usually find it quite challenging to park by the beach.
B. Santa Monica
There is no way that you won't talk about Santa Monica on the subject of beaches near LA. However, because of its celebrity, it is quite crowded.
1. Quality of sand/water: 4/5
If you find a day when there are not as many people and can actually spend some time on the beach, you'll find that the sand and water are pretty nice in Santa Monica.
2. Crowdedness: 1/5 (meaning it gets really crowded)
What can I say? Maybe people just love Santa Monica. There is rarely any time that this place is quite. Which could be a good or a bad thing depending on what you are looking for.
3. Entertainment options: 5/5
Shopping, hipster events, bars, nice restaurants etc. Santa Monica has almost everything that you need for entertainment.
Oh yes, there is a ferris wheel at the pier. So yes, Santa Monica really has almost everything that you need for entertainment.
4. Easiness of parking: 4/5
Well surprise, surprise! Even though the beach gets super crowded, parking here is actually not that bad since there are lots of public parking lots by the beach. Moreover, all of them offer free parking for the first hour.
C. Manhattan Beach
Oh this might be my second favorite beach in SoCal. It's got that chill small town feel but it's next to the ocean! It doesn't get better than that!
1. Quality of sand/water: 4/5
Once again, typical Cali beach with nice sand and clear water. There are lots of vegetation in this area of water, which is a good thing for the environment but might not be as pleasant when you are tangled in a large piece of seaweed.
2. Crowdedness: 3/5
It never gets as crazy as Santa Monica is but you can still see its fair share of visitors. I will say that the level of crowdedness is ideal for me and anyone who enjoys that company of a decent number of people.
3. Entertainment options: 4/5
There are shopping spots, nice restaurants, and bars. A good selection of things to do for a couple of hours.
4. Easiness of parking: 3/5
It can get quite crazy during the weekends. The parking structures are quite tiny and there are all sorts of rules on whether you can park in certain spots.
Now the further away we get from LA, the more laid back the beaches are.
D. Hermosa Beach
1. Quality of sand/water: 4/5
Just standard quality SoCal beach.
2. Crowdedness: 4/5
Because the bike lanes and walk lanes are right next to the beach, it can seem busier than how it actually is.
3. Entertainment options: 3/5
There are nice restaurants and cute shops around. Other than that I haven't found much more to do.
4. Easiness of parking: 4/5
I don't remember there being any public parking structures but I also don't remember having trouble parking here every time I went.
E. Redondo Beach
Now we're getting to a place where many older and more established people decide to locate, so the vibe is a bite different here. I think they made a great choice to live at Redondo and I have nothing against it.
1. Quality of sand/water: 4/5
Once again, just standard quality SoCal beach. Oh, this is actually a great spot to catch the sunset.
2. Crowdedness: 5/5
A combination of distance, its known vibe, and probably many other things made this place a peaceful beach to visit.
3. Entertainment options: 3/5
There are nice restaurants around. There is also a marina nearby if you like 'boat-sighting'.
4. Easiness of parking: 4/5
I don't remember there being any public parking structures but I also don't remember having trouble parking here every time I went.
F. Long Beach
1. Quality of sand/water: 3/5
Long Beach is famous for its port. Even the beach is not too far away from the port. So, unless you want to swim with the ships, I would not go into the water here no matter how clear the water is.
2. Crowdedness: 4/5
The beach does not get too crazy except for July 4 weekend. Even then it's not as crazy as Santa Monica is.
3. Entertainment options: 3/5
Long Beach is somewhat in the middle of LA county and Orange county, and even its vibe is somewhere in the middle of LA's and OC's.
So it has its fair selection of nice restaurants, bars, and shopping spots.
Moreover, there is also the famous Queen Mary if you are intrigued.
However, I'm still rating 3 stars for this category because all of the above are quite far from the beach.
4. Easiness of parking: 3/5
It can get busy and there are no large parking structures nearby. However, most of the times you can find parking relatively easily.
Now we're leaving Long Beach for a different county: Orange County (OC) !
G&H. Newport Beach & Corona Del Mar
Oh boy, I love beaches in OC! I am combining the last two beaches because granted that Newport Beach is more popping than Corona Del Mar, they are quite close to each other.
1. Quality of sand/water: 5/5
Quality SoCal beach with little to no pollution.
2. Crowdedness: 4/5
It never gets too crazy in OC and so it is for the beaches. Actually, Laguna Beach might be an exception but it earned its own spot in a future blog.
3. Entertainment Options: 3/5
Newport Beach probably has the most exciting restaurants and bars in the entire OC. The shopping plaza nearby, Newport Center, is no doubt a heaven for outdoor shopping.
Still, things are not as out there but much more spread out when compared to similar establishments near LA beaches.
4. Easiness of parking: 3-4/5
It actually depends on whether you want to spend money to park. If you don't mind paying for parking, which is a rare phenomenon in OC, parking is a breeze. Otherwise, be prepared to have a hard time finding street parking.
Alright that was a long one from me! However, hopefully it helped you to get to know the beaches near LA more!
Always a good time by the beach :)