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You go to the Los Angeles area to catch a glimpse of celebrities and to spend a day at Disneyland. However you’ll be sure to notice the beautiful weather while you are in the L.A. area and you’ll want to take advantage of it. The best way that you can enjoy the California sunshine is to don your swimsuit and sunglasses and get yourself to the beach. You can go surfing, go sun tanning or even go celebrity hunting on the beaches that are located all up and down the Pacific Coast near Los Angeles. You just need to know which beach to go to in order to engage in the activity that you enjoy most.

Here is your guide to some of the best beaches in Los Angeles and the surrounding area:

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• Venice Beach. Venice is a great little community that is really nothing like the rest of Los Angeles. Sure, there is the chance that you’re going to run into a celebrity here but she’s more likely to be walking her dog and looking incognito than walking the red carpet and showing off her stardom. The Venice Canals are located just off of the beach and provide a great little getaway for seeing some really nice houses while walking along man-made canals designed to look like “the other Venice”. On the beach itself, you will find that there’s a laidback attitude that can easily be associated with the surf-and-sun California mentality. You’ll find a whole lot of souvenir shopping, cheap eats and people selling art on the sand. It’s a tourist trap but it’s one that’s relaxed and fun so you can get in your tourist fix without being overwhelmed.

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• Santa Monica Pier. This is a family-friendly area where you can go to enjoy shopping, street performances and arcade games. There are a few rollercoaster-style rides here for the more adventurous and fishing off of the pier for the more laidback. During summer nights, free concerts are hosted here which bring numerous locals and travelers alike to the area. There’s quite a mixture of people here because it’s such an all-ages place and you can pretty much find whatever you’re looking for … except perhaps for the celebrities who tend to stay away form the major tourist destinations.
• Redondo Beach. If you think that the idea of Santa Monica Pier sounds nice but you want something that’s just a tad quieter, you probably want to head down to Redondo Beach. This area has a pier and some amusement stuff as well as a little bit of souvenir shopping but it isn’t as overwhelmed with people as the Venice Beach / Santa Monica Pier area is.

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• Muscle Beach. This is a section of beach which you’ll find located between Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier. It’s technically a part of Venice Beach but is a destination all its own because of the attention it has gained over the years. Muscle Beach got its name from the fact that there’s an outdoor gym here where bodybuilders are regularly working out their muscles and mugging for the cameras. There are also racquetball and basketball courts for people who want to get active on the beaches of Los Angeles.

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• Manhattan Beach. Speaking of wanting to get active, there’s a good chance that you might be wondering where the best surfing is in Los Angeles. It’s agreed by many that you can ride some good waves at Manhattan Beach. There’s also a paved walkway for those who want to walk/jog along the water easily and a volleyball section for those who want to get fit but stay dry.
• Huntington Beach. This is another good surfing spot but you have to drive about twenty miles of south of Los Angeles to get there. It’s worth the drive for those people who prefer to surf in relative solitude since it doesn’t often get a lot of tourists. There are also some neat attractions and landmarks in the area including Atalaya Castle, the former home of a Spanish architect and a beautiful little building worth checking out if you’re in the area.
• Malibu Beach. You may be wondering why we didn’t mention Malibu as a top surfing spot since it’s the one that always gets the recognition. This is a great place for people who want to see the sights since it’s a place that’s been featured as a surfing area in countless films and television shows. And yes, you can surf here. It just tends to bring in more non-surfing tourists than Manhattan Beach. It’s a great place for spending a fun day and it’s also the best beach to go celebrity-hunting if you’re on the prowl for some stars.
• Dockweiler Beach. At the end of the day, you may still want to hang out on the beach but you aren’t going to want to get into that cold water. In fact, the air can also get a bit nippy, even in the summer, so you might start thinking that a beach bonfire sounds nice. This is the beach that’s available for you to go join others around a campfire. People here are friendly so this is a great way to make some friends if you’re new to the Los Angeles area. It’s also a great place to get local tips on activities and events if you’re just visiting the area.
• El Matador Beach. Los Angeles beaches offer a lot of opportunity for romance. You’ve got the warm sun and the waves just off the shore. You’ve got the glamour of Hollywood in the air. But the problem is that most of these beaches are going to be crowded. El Matador Beach is the one beach that’s more likely than others to have some more seclusion to it. Sure, you may run into other couples out here but you’re not going to find lots of families and star-hunters here. It’s a great place to take a date whether you’ve been together for years and want to rekindle some romance or you just met and want to head to that next level.

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• Laguna Beach. Perhaps you’re part of a couple that’s not so traditional. (Or a single seeking to partner up.) People who are looking for the homosexual social scene are probably seeking to find Laguna Beach which is a Los Angeles resort area. It’s actually south of LA in the Orange County area but you’ll find lots of nightlife nearby if that’s what you’re seeking out.

A note on nude beaches. Sometimes people are seeking out specific types of beaches such as topless or clothing-optional beaches. You’ll be sad to know that there’s a law against this in Los Angeles so you shouldn’t go without your Speedo even if you’ve heard that a beach in LA is clothing-optional. It’s not. Head south of the city to the nudist resorts located further down along the coast if this is what you’re hoping to find.

Los Angeles is an interesting city filled with plenty of activity that can keep you busy all day long. But the great thing about LA is that there’s also the opportunity to get away from all of the noise and just catch some rays if that’s what you’re seeking to do. Choose the beach that has the most appeal to your interests and grab a spot on the sand there. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

Tags: beaches | California | getaways | travel