So this post is dedicated to all the beaches we visited this summer! They are in order from north to south along the coast.
El Matador
We spent one day in Malibu, and El Matador beach was one of the two we visited. We went to this one in the evening so that we could be there for sunset. A lot of photographers had the same idea as us. We had to hike down a set of stairs to get down to the beach from the parking lot. El Matador is just a small stretch of beach set against a cliffside. After a few hours of the tide rising, the waves were nearly reaching the edge of the cliffs, with no room to put our towels anymore. The waves here and the beaches a little more north have some pretty big waves, though the swimming areas themselves are much smaller between the rock formations. El Matador was definitely one of the more unique beaches we went to. It was one of our favorites for the summer!
Zuma
Zuma is the other beach we visited in Malibu. Supposedly this is the beach where Hollywood stars come, but of course we didn't see anyone. We weren't the biggest fans of Zuma. The waves weren't particularly big (I didn't mind too much, but Dustan loves the big waves) and the beach was packed with people. Though it is a decent sized beach, there were people over every inch! It made it hard to play our usual football or frisbee, or fly our kite. One thing we did really like was how far out the water was shallow, which made it a little easier to navigate the waves.
Santa Monica
We didn't actually spend much time on the Santa Monica beach. We were visiting the Santa Monica Pier and spent just 15 minutes on the beach to take some pictures of the ferris wheel at night. From what we saw in the dark though, the beach was probably really popular during the day. Because of it's size, I don't think it would ever feel too crowded. You can read more about our Santa Monica Pier visit in our other LA blog post SoCal Sight Seeing :)
Venice
Like Santa Monica beach, we didn't really spend any time on the beach in Venice, but we visited a lot of the surrounding areas--Abbot Kinney, the Venice canals, the boardwalk and shops, the skatepark, the gym, etc. Many people had warned us about going to Venice and all the sketchy people that hang around there, so we did find that this beach was a great place to people watch (and we made sure to leave before dark). The beach didn't seem remarkable in any way though. You could distantly see the Santa Monica Pier--the beach stretched a long way down. Again, you can read more about our Venice visit in our SoCal Sight Seeing blog post since we didn't do much on the beach :)
Dockweiler
Dockweiler has been our most frequented beach this summer! Dockweiler is huge beach, stretching all the way from El Segundo up into Playa Vista. The sandy part of the beach itself is also really wide, which was nice when we wanted to fly our kite. It is not the absolute nicest beach we have ever been to, with no fun pier or shops or snacks or anything. But it is so close to where we live (literally only 5 minutes away) in North El Segundo with free parking along the street, and Dustan's favorite part was the absolutely massive waves here. Dockweiler also has volleyball nets and fire pits on the south side of the beach, though the best waves are on the north side.
El Segundo
Technically our summer home beach, on the south end of El Segundo! We actually only went to El Segundo beach a couple times. You have to pay for parking and there is no street parking nearby to avoid the cost (though it is cheaper in the morning or evening). There is also a lot of tar on the beach, which is no fun to try and scrape off your feet. But a little fun fact, a little cooking oil gets it right off. The background of this beach isn't the prettiest with big factories and there are oil rigs out on the water. The one plus is that there is a cool little rock outcropping that's a great spot to watch the sunset!
El Porto
This beach is just barely south of El Segundo. There is a bike bath that runs along the beach across pretty much all of these beaches we've listed, so one day Dustan and I picked up some teriyaki for dinner and biked along the path until we reached El Porto. After long days at work, both of our phones were dead and we didn't take any pictures unfortunately. It was cleaner than El Segundo beach (no tar in the sand). It was a very peaceful beach, not too busy with a cute little snack shop/restaurant right there.Manhattan
Manhattan Beach is a beach with a great atmosphere. It's usually packed, especially on the weekends. It has a cute pier with a slightly sketchy aquarium on the end with all sorts of fish, eels, sharks, jelly fish, etc. The only bummer about this beach is the parking--there are only a couple tiny lots close the beach pier that aren't super cheap, though there are bigger parking garages into town a little more. Just at the end of the summer, we finally used the Beach Cities Bus 109, which only costs $1 a person one way. It picked us up literally right outside our apartment and dropped us at the pier.
Huntington
I only went to Huntington beach once this summer with some friends, and unfortunately Dustan was working and we never made it back. Huntington is one of Southern California's most famous beaches, and is therefore usually pretty crowded with little to no parking (at least in the small lots right on the beach). Huntington is a traditional fun beach town with lots of surf shops and restaurants. Huntington is also known for its surfing, so it's fun to watch the surfers from the pier. Then at the end of the pier is Ruby's Diner where you should get a slightly expensive bite to eat and the BEST oreo shake you've ever had!
Corona Del Mar
We visited Corona Del Mar beach three times this summer, and somehow never got any pictures! If this beach was a bit closer to us (it was about an hour away), I think we would have gone more often. Though fairly populated, there is some hidden free parking up in a nearby neighborhood that still made the beach convenient and free to access. This beach also has a lot of space and volleyball nets.Little Corona
Just south of Corona Del Mar beach is Little Corona, which is ideal if you want a bit of a challenge. Don't make the same mistake as us and wear flip flops or flimsy sandals to this beach; Chacos or old tennis shoes would be much better. Little Corona has a lot of tide pools and rock formations that are perfect for exploring during low tide. If you start at the north end of this beach and walk all the way south, you will end up at another Ruby's, a smaller and more shack-like version of the one on the Huntington beach pier. We did this beach walk at the beginning of the summer with some friends in town for a wedding.
Shaw's Cove
On our last Saturday in El Segundo, we finally made it down to the Laguna beaches about an hour south. The first one we went to was Shaw's Cove, a smaller beach that is known for its reefs. We went in the morning before the tide came in and the waves were too big so that we could go snorkeling. There is only street parking, and the entrance to the beach is a little hidden in a neighborhood, so parking was scarce but free! It had a smallish sandbar with rocks and reefs on the north and south sides. Snorkeling was a lot of fun. Not as amazing as Jamaica (which still isn't top tier) but we saw some bright orange garibaldi fish (the California state fish) and it was fun to watch the divers. Swimming at this beach was also great, even without giant waves. The beach was also really hot, probably because it was a little cove that was protected from most of the west coast wind. All in all, one of our favorite beaches!
1,000 Steps
After a morning at Shaw's Cove beach, we went to 1,000 Steps beach in southern Laguna for the afternoon. Again, there was only street parking for this beach. You have to walk down a ton of stairs--not actually 1,000 steps, closer to 300 by our count and the internet--that lead to a gorgeous beach. This beach was pretty big and has one volleyball net up. On the left south side, there is a cave that originally drew us to this beach that supposedly leads to some giant tide pools you can swim in. But due to the high tide during summer, you aren't allowed through the cave from like April to September-ish. We did enjoy watching people getting in trouble with the lifeguards at they tried to go through or swim around though. We did a lot of swimming at this beach, and Dustan took a nap while I read a book. Definitely another one of our favorites! The water down in the Laguna just seemed a little bluer and clearer, and the weather hotter.
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