Southern California Beach Towns

SANTA BARBARA: The classiest small beach town in Southern California. Also known as the California Riviera. A paradise of a city!

VENTURA: Miles of beautiful beaches. Great town for arts and antique buffs. Dozens of galleries in the historic downtown area, near the Mission.

MALIBU: An ultra-rich beach community. Home to the Malibu Colony, where the rich and famous live, and the Malibu sun-kissed pristine beaches.

SANTA MONICA: The closest beach city to Los Angeles. Famous for it's historic landmark pier, beachfront hotels, and the Santa Monica beach.

VENICE BEACH: The main draw is the Ocean Front Boardwalk, with its year around funky beach actions. Venice is know for its bohemian atmosphere.

MARINA DEL REY: Built around the World's largest man made small boat harbor. It's waterfront playground is very popular with the locals.

PLAYA DEL REY: Spanish for "Kings Beach", this beach town has the feel of a small California beach town. The beaches here are usually uncrowded, even during the summer, due to a lacking of public parking lots.

EL SEGUNDO: This beach town is located directly south of LAX airport. There is a 1,000 acre oil refinery, run by Chevron. There are some tranquil residential areas west of Sepulveda Boulevard. The beaches are nice and uncrowded.

MANHATTAN BEACH: An affluent lively beach town. The upscale beach life centers around the Strand, a a beach promenade, popular with skaters, joggers or walkers.

HERMOSA BEACH: Hermosa is Spanish for "beautiful". One of my own favorite California beach towns It's known as the Beach Volleyball Capital Of The World. A wonderful vibrant fun beach area.

REDONDO BEACH: Located just north of Hermosa Beach on Pacific Coast Highway. Redondo is home to a great small boat marina, and a huge pier with restaurants and shops.

LONG BEACH: Visitors come to tour the luxury historic cruise ship The Queen Mary, and the Aquarium of The Pacific. I also enjoy the Shoreline Village with it's great seafood restaurants, and ocean views.

SEAL BEACH: A very quaint and small beach city with a wonderful municipal pier, a well maintained beach park, and a skate park for kids. I love browsing the Main Streets shops and boutiques.

HUNTINGTON BEACH: Known as the "Surf City USA", the main action is around the huge pier, and the Main Street, which is packed with people even at midnight during the summer. One of the California beach towns that's popular with young single people.

NEWPORT BEACH: The Newport beaches are on the Balboa Peninsula. This is the wealthiest beach town in Orange County. It has a great harbor and boat marina, and a huge pier with a lively beach atmosphere.

LAGUNA BEACH: The most romantic and charming of all small California beach towns. A popular honeymoon destination. It's an artsy beach city with lots of galleries, and a central Main Beach Park.

DANA POINT: A wonderful seaside town with a charming small boat marina, loaded with restaurants. The dramatic natural harbor is backed by high bluffs. The Doheny State Beach is at the south end of town.

AVALON CATALINA ISLAND: This beach town is located on the beautiful Catalina Island, a 2 hour boat ride from Los Angeles. There is a small beach right on Crescent Avenue, the center of town.

SAN CLEMENTE: This charming beach town is affectionately called The Spanish Village By The Sea. The pier area is our favorite place to hang out. Great surfing beaches.

CARLSBAD: It's a small town full of antique stores and galleries. The beaches are spectacular and very popular, especially the South Carlsbad Beach with it's lagoon.

DEL MAR: Del Mar is best know for horseracing, upscale boutiques, fine restaurants, celebrity visitors and pristine wide beaches. A great beach town to visit.

LA JOLLA: An upscale beach city community with a stunning curved coastline,natural beach coves, and million dollar homes, tony restaurants and shops.

SAN DIEGO: The second largest city and the birth place of California. It has 70 miles of beaches, historic donwtown areas, and it's home to the San Diego Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.

CORONADO: Home of the famous and historic World class beach resort Hotel Del Coronado. It's a charming place with beautiful old homes, neighboorhood parks and pristine beaches.