We live near Boston and our son is attend a college near LA. We usually travel somewhere warm to spend Christmas. This year instead of him coming home, I'm thinking of the family renting a house on one of the Orange County beaches and spending Christmas there.
Any suggestions on which town to choose? We usually have good luck renting with VRBO but not sure which beach to pick.
I know it won't be as warm as Florida or the Caribbean, but can we expect decent weather? I know it will be warmer than Boston! Thanks!
Christmas in Orange County/LA
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Pretty much any of the beach towns ought to be good. In LA county I'd shoot for Manhattan or Hermosa Beach, but you could also look at Santa Monica, Venice, Playa del Rey, and parts of El Segundo and Redondo. You might also look at Long Beach listings, but only in the Belmont Shore or Naples districts, which are quite lovely.
In OC have a look at Seal Beach (funky and a bit under the radar) as well as Huntington, Newport, Laguna, Dana Point and San Clemente. Note most of the beach towns extend inland some distance, where most of them go from brilliant to blah.
The weather is often quite nice, but no guarantees. Usually some of the biggest surf of the year is around then, but the water is quite wet-suity.
Another option is Palm Springs, where it may be colder at night but probably less likely to rain.
December is an iffy month, sometimes great, sometimes not so much (like last year when there was a ridiculous amount of rain.
We have rented several times in the OC area - even though we lived in Orange County 14 years we would take vacations at the beach with our 4 kids
We like Newport (there is a nice board walk to ride your bikes on - see if you can score a rental that comes with beach cruisers or you can rent them). We also like San Clemente - more quiet... many of the summer rentals go to monthly rentals in the winter months.
We have used VBRO as well.
The weather is iffy - I have been at the pool/beach on Christmas day or it is in the low 60's. Hard to say but whatever it is - it will be warmer than Boston