Which LA Beach vacation?
May 1, 2016 3:22 PM Subscribe
I want to take my family to the beach in LA for a vacation in July. Which beach will be less crowded and best for my daughter to dig giant sandcastles?
We'd like to stay somewhere near the beach (and getting to LAX easily via bus/subway/taxi would be a bonus). We won't have a car.
I can find a number of guides detailing different beaches down the coast, but not one comparing them. We don't need super calm water, but Éppaulette likes to jump waves near the edge of the water, so if that's possible for an ~4 1/2 foot person & not where we'd get in the way of surfers, that'd be awesome. (We're from Seattle, so cold water is not an issue.)
Any recommendations for how to have a beach umbrella (rent, buy an easy to carry one, day use?) would be great too.
The most important thing is being able to construct detailed sand villages that won't be stepped on and ruined while she's still working. (I'm happy to dig moats around them, but on busy beaches that's often not enough.) Mr. Epps and I will do some wave jumping or swimming, as the water permits, but otherwise just want to read a book and relax.
We'd like to stay somewhere near the beach (and getting to LAX easily via bus/subway/taxi would be a bonus). We won't have a car.
I can find a number of guides detailing different beaches down the coast, but not one comparing them. We don't need super calm water, but Éppaulette likes to jump waves near the edge of the water, so if that's possible for an ~4 1/2 foot person & not where we'd get in the way of surfers, that'd be awesome. (We're from Seattle, so cold water is not an issue.)
Any recommendations for how to have a beach umbrella (rent, buy an easy to carry one, day use?) would be great too.
The most important thing is being able to construct detailed sand villages that won't be stepped on and ruined while she's still working. (I'm happy to dig moats around them, but on busy beaches that's often not enough.) Mr. Epps and I will do some wave jumping or swimming, as the water permits, but otherwise just want to read a book and relax.
Seconding the South Bay -- Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:47 PM on May 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:47 PM on May 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I stay in Venice every year. The boardwalk is very crowded (and very fun-- always some music video or film being done there), but the beach isn't busy once you get past the cyclists (there's a bike path-- and the cyclists are very determined-- stay out of their way, I learned). It's flat with fairly easy waves, but of course, children shouldn't go in alone as there is a tide and some rocks to the north. There is a lifeguard stand, so you might swim by there. Nice sand. There are parking lots, but parking can be an issue, as it's all residential off the main streets.
You can rent an umbrella right here on the beach (and chairs too).
Manhattan Beach is a few miles south of Venice, and much more "small town" with a quiet beach. A good choice, but I don't know if you can rent umbrellas.
Both are within a few miles of LAX.
posted by rasley at 3:52 PM on May 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
You can rent an umbrella right here on the beach (and chairs too).
Manhattan Beach is a few miles south of Venice, and much more "small town" with a quiet beach. A good choice, but I don't know if you can rent umbrellas.
Both are within a few miles of LAX.
posted by rasley at 3:52 PM on May 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I agree with the Manhattan/Hermosa recs. They're really good family beaches.
posted by rednikki at 4:17 PM on May 1, 2016
posted by rednikki at 4:17 PM on May 1, 2016
Best answer: My spouse who grew up in Manhattan Beach suggests Redondo or Hermosa, only because Manhattan is supposedly the nicest, so it's a bit more crowded. He says even on Manhattan Beach, there should be plenty of space for sandcastle-building, though! Check the cities' websites on your preferred dates to see if there are any sand volleyball tournaments happening. Those can draw some big crowds.
posted by fussbudget at 5:31 PM on May 1, 2016
posted by fussbudget at 5:31 PM on May 1, 2016
The least-crowded beach in the LA area is Marina del Rey. Close to LAX, but no hotels nearby. Probably lots of Air B&B-type options, though.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:14 PM on May 1, 2016
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:14 PM on May 1, 2016
There's like 7 huge chain hotels on Admiralty Way* along Marina del Rey, including my favorite, the shabby-chic Foghorn Inn, which is actually on Mother's Beach (the downstairs rooms have glass-front patios right on the beach). I really like Mother's Beach because a) aside from the tide level shifting and the occasional low-speed boat wake, the water is pretty much completely still, b) huge public parking lot right there at the sand, c) you get a tiny bit of Venice bike-path traffic, just enough to be amusing, d) the beach is not hugely popular and there's no surfing, e) unlike a lot of stretches of California beaches, there's restaurants all along the beach. (There's also a Ralph's on Washington very nearby, for groceries (there is probably also grocery delivery, if you stay somewhere with a kitchenette), and a tiny liquor/market shop sharing a parking lot with the Foghorn.)
You're not terribly far from Venice there, though I don't know if it's walkable-with-a-small-child close. Certainly a quick Uber or taxi, possibly hotel shuttles too.
*And a bunch more, slightly cheaper, on Washington Blvd.
Possibly the bigger hotels (the ones in the $300 range) have beach equipment you can use, as well.
I really like that area, before I moved to LA I stayed there half a dozen times for work. I was just down there last weekend and the restaurants (even the Cheesecake Factory) are crazy busy on the weekends but that's basically LA everywhere for you. Make reservations at least a couple hours in advance.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:05 PM on May 1, 2016
You're not terribly far from Venice there, though I don't know if it's walkable-with-a-small-child close. Certainly a quick Uber or taxi, possibly hotel shuttles too.
*And a bunch more, slightly cheaper, on Washington Blvd.
Possibly the bigger hotels (the ones in the $300 range) have beach equipment you can use, as well.
I really like that area, before I moved to LA I stayed there half a dozen times for work. I was just down there last weekend and the restaurants (even the Cheesecake Factory) are crazy busy on the weekends but that's basically LA everywhere for you. Make reservations at least a couple hours in advance.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:05 PM on May 1, 2016
(Correction: the Foghorn is not a huge chain hotel, it's only like 12 rooms. But the other hotels are pretty much one of each major luxury chain.)
posted by Lyn Never at 8:13 PM on May 1, 2016
posted by Lyn Never at 8:13 PM on May 1, 2016
I live next to LAX in Westchester. A sort of unknown and quiet beach is Dockweiler. It's nice and never packed (really only on holidays or when the mercury shoots to the top of the thermometer). The flights out of LAX go over the beach--which is pretty cool if you're into it. If you drive all the way west to the end of the I-105 freeway, you hit the entrance to the pay lot. It's a decent beach area; there are barbecue pits you can use, and you can make bonfires here. Next to the parking lot, I believe, is a place you can rent your umbrella and other stuff.
If you're not into fires and grilling on the beach, you can park on the street around Vista Del Mar and Waterview for free and walk down to the sand. If you have strollers and a lot of equipment (umbrellas, coolers, etc.), I would go to the parking lot. The parking lot is right next to the sand. However, the crowd really thins out as you move away from the parking lot. If you park on the street and walk down, you'll feel like it's your own beach. Your family will have plenty of room to design and build your sand castles.
We don't have a beach umbrella, and tend to go to the beach pretty often over the summer. In a pinch, you can lay out a king or queen size sheet (from any hotel or your friends or whatever) with something to hold down each corner and you have an easy place to sit and lay down. Huzzah!
Near here, you could stay at the Custom Hotel on Lincoln, which is okay--not fancy, but not expensive and it tries to be hip. You would need an Uber or bicycles to get to the beach, but there are a few decent restaurants you can walk to nearby.
posted by rybreadmed at 10:42 PM on May 1, 2016
If you're not into fires and grilling on the beach, you can park on the street around Vista Del Mar and Waterview for free and walk down to the sand. If you have strollers and a lot of equipment (umbrellas, coolers, etc.), I would go to the parking lot. The parking lot is right next to the sand. However, the crowd really thins out as you move away from the parking lot. If you park on the street and walk down, you'll feel like it's your own beach. Your family will have plenty of room to design and build your sand castles.
We don't have a beach umbrella, and tend to go to the beach pretty often over the summer. In a pinch, you can lay out a king or queen size sheet (from any hotel or your friends or whatever) with something to hold down each corner and you have an easy place to sit and lay down. Huzzah!
Near here, you could stay at the Custom Hotel on Lincoln, which is okay--not fancy, but not expensive and it tries to be hip. You would need an Uber or bicycles to get to the beach, but there are a few decent restaurants you can walk to nearby.
posted by rybreadmed at 10:42 PM on May 1, 2016
At the beginning of July at any LA beach, you could have June Gloom.
Dockweiller, already mentioned, has a hang gliding school. Could be fun to watch.
posted by Homer42 at 4:44 AM on May 2, 2016
Dockweiller, already mentioned, has a hang gliding school. Could be fun to watch.
posted by Homer42 at 4:44 AM on May 2, 2016
Response by poster: We ended up at Venice Beach (it's where the right-priced VRBO was) and it really was perfect, once you walked across the huge desert of sand to get to the beach there was always a ton of space and not a lot of people. (Crossing bicycle traffic is not a problem for us.) Thanks, everyone, for the range of good beaches -- it was nice to have a wide search zone and know we'd be happy at any of them. Mr. Epps was happy to have an excuse to sing Rooming House at Venice Beach by Jonathan Richman.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:36 AM on August 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:36 AM on August 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by doctordrey at 3:41 PM on May 1, 2016