Where in Southern California?

Huntington Beach is a good choice for a true swim/surf beach. And with Huntington, you are close to Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. So there will be lots of shops and restaurants for everyone. Balboa Island, right next to Newport and accessible by a bridge or ferry, is a cute little place to walk around and gawk at very expensive homes, and cute little restaurants and shops.
That is the part of LA that we enjoy. If there, eat at The Crab Cooker for the best grilled lobster, shrimp, scallops. Awesome vintage place.

Otherwise, I'd recommend you go to Manhattan Beach.

I like Santa Monica, but am not so familiar with its beach activities, except the pier has the ferris wheel, etc.

I don't know San Diego.

PS On second thought, since you want a place the kids can walk to for lunch, etc., you might look more into Manhattan Beach for that. It is a very cute town right next to the beach. Mama D's in Manhattan is a fun family Italian restaurant.

Whereas Huntington is a large public beach with a parking lot, and you'd need to drive to Newport for lunch.

It also puts you closer to Santa Monica and Malibu for day-trips, etc.

Laguna Beach fits that profile and is much more scenic than Huntington or Manhattan Beach.

The Hyatt at Huntington Beach seems to be a good choice. It has a beautiful pool area for you, and is across (a very busy) street from a very nice beach. It is about a mile away from the "downtown" HB area with the shops and restaurants. A little bit of a walk, but they can bike there with ease. Just note that all the the ocean view rooms look over PCH to the beach.

The Beach House in Hermosa Beach is a great hotel, right on the beach, close to lots of shops and restaurants, but no pool.

Manhattan Beach doesn't really have any beach front properties with or without pools. Redondo Beach waterfront hotels are on a harbor/marina, not the beach.

Santa Monica is much more crowded and urban, more of a beach city than a beach town.

Laguna Beach is a great little beach town also.

The Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach is two blocks from the ocean, has a pool (although it's not very appealing IMO), and has bicycles, boogie boards and beach chairs to borrow. There are restaurants nearby, or you can walk or cycle on the bike path about one mile to the pier and 'downtown' area of MB.

http://www.theseaviewinn.com/hotel.htm

If you have a very generous budget, consider Shade Hotel in downtown Manhattan Beach. It's in the downtown area, about three blocks to the pier, with probably 20-25 restaurants of all types within a few blocks and loads of shopping. The hotel has a small 'dipping' pool and bicycles to borrow. The rate includes a breakfast buffet.

http://www.shadehotel.com/index.php

I forgot to mention that you'd see the most beach volleyball at Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches. There are tournaments almost every weekend in July in MB.

http://www.vbventures.com/event-calendar.html#thisMonth

San Diego the choice is probably Hotel Del on Coronado.. or maybe La Jolla Shores Hotel or Tower23 near LA Jolla.

Manhattan Beach does have the 'surfer' vibe you described. Your kids can easily walk from the beach to a restaurant for lunch.

And Dockweiler beach state park is directly north of Manhattan beach, so the kids could probably ride bikes up there. Hermosa beach then Redondo beach are directly south of Manhattan beach, too.

MB: Surfer vibe. Volleyball vibe. Cycling vibe. Jogging vibe. Not as much of a nightlife/alcohol vibe as Hermosa Beach. In fact, if you're here on July 4th, DON'T go to Hermosa.

While the beaches in LA are "happening" - IMO - San Diego not only matches them, but it's also easier to get around here and do more other things, such as visiting the Zoo, or Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park), or Sea World, and places such as Old Town, La Jolla, Del Mar, Coronado, Sunset Cliffs/Ocean Beach, Mission/Pacific Beach, Balboa Park and it's many museums (Air and Space, Auto museum, Hall of Champions, etc) and the like.

Just google away for accommodation choices, and be aware that letting your kids go strolling about in a beach community may not be the best idea - as it's usually a party atmosphere.

If you need more specific info - there are other posts in here - and you can also email me at Tschiffsd@aol.com.

And as for Beach Volleyball - not sure when the big tournament comes to town, but there are always games going on at the nets at South Mission Beach and usually in Ocean Beach, and tournaments on some weekends.

See: http://www.beachvolleyballsandiego.com/

Personally with two teens I would rent a house in Newport Beach and they can ride bikes along the "boardwalk" - tons of volley ball games going on. Newport Beach closes off part of the streets for 4th of July - no in or out (at least when we stayed at a house over 4th of July in like 06 or so?) We have rented a house there about 3 times and it is a great option. More space for you and the teens is nice as well.

I also recommend Laguna Beach - fun area, cute town, trolley's that take you around. We have also rented a house there a few times -

San Clemente often gets over looked and as a local that was always fine by me... meant less crowded beaches but that is also a great little Southern California beach town imo. We will be rented a house there this summer for a week. T street is a great beach, they also have the pier and a cute little downtown area.

One more recommendation would be Santa Monica - you have the volley ball, the pier, Venice Beach, "muscle beach", 3rd street promonade for dining and walking around.

Oh sorry - re-read your post that you want a hotel with a nice pool... honestly I think the Hyatt huntington is a good choice as well for that. We stayed at the Hyatt when it first opened and it was a beautiful property and there is a great pool area - you have to cross a busy street to get to the beach.

In Santa Monica we stayed at the JW Marriott which is also not "right" on the beach and I would not pay for an ocean view rooms as to me they were all obstructed - and the pool is very small.

Renting a house on Balboa Island, next to Newport Beach, is a great idea. There are so many amazing little homes there, I have always wanted to rent one. We like to just wander those little streets and look at the houses. No pool, though, but many are directly on the waterside and have little docks.

Peaceout - I am renting a little one in June!! Wanna come visit

No surfing anywhere near Balboa. You'd have to get in the car and drive to the Wedge. July traffic in that area, especially on weekends, is suffocating.

Jean that is true! and I would hardly recommend surfer at the wedge for anyone that was not experienced. I think there are a variety of places in Newport beach you can surf and take surfing lessons? I did not catch that they were interested in surfing.

For me I rented a little house for a week while my daughter is at tennis camp at pepperdine and I am all by myself. Feeling sorry me Noooooooo

Mom, you're right about surfing. Somewhere along the line, I merged the idea of "somewhere where the beaches are great" with surfing. Oh well. Balboa doesn't have great beaches either.

Be careful at the ferry, Mom. A car got pushed into the water a few weeks ago!

Meanwhile, the OP hasn't been back in nearly a week, so it's just the rest of us gabbing about beach towns.

Be careful at the ferry, Mom. A car got pushed into the water a few weeks ago>

Are you KIDDING ME??? Yikes...

You are right - I would not stay on Balboa Island actually with teens... the beach is tiny if there is one (depending on the tide) and the water is not really where you want to be swimming anyway. I rented a house for a week in San Clemente and then a tiny one on Balboa Island for just me... as I have always dreamt of being rich and living there... I have never taken the Ferry and now never will

And I could gap forever about southern California beaches... love love love them... so much my skin is sure paying for it now! Wear your sun screen folks!

For MomDD:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/surfer-helps-pull-family-from-van-that-plunged-off-balboa-ferry.html

I love how the police drove the family to a car rental place, and they just continued their vacation. I don't know what else they could do, but I have this vision of four dripping wet people walking into Hertz and saying their rental was now in Newport Harbor and they need another car. OK, sure, whatever you say, here ya go. You want insurance with that?

You say the beach on Balboa Island is tiny? Not sure which part you went to but when friends of mine rented a place there on the Pacific side (they later bought one on the bay side) - you had a very long beach and it was over a hundred yards wide.

And one of my old roomies also lives a half a block from the Boardwalk/Ocean side - and there is a beach all along there as I recall.

And yes, a car/SUV came loose on the ferry and pushed another one into the bay. It was a rental I believe.

Here's the story. Guess they just sort of sat there until rescued but I would have been breaking out windows.

http://www.brownandstowell.com/car-sinks-falling-newport-harbor-ferry-4-rescued/

Oh yes, due to the heroic actions of the guys in the nearby skiffs, the family didn't even get wet. Why the parents were just sitting there in the front seat of the van is beyond me though. They even had the windows already down to see the sights - so I guess they must have "frozen up".

And I would still take San Diego beaches over the harder to get to ones in LA.

Tomsd, I think your friends' rental "on the Pacific side" was on the Newport Peninsula which does have a nice, broad beach. Balboa Boulevard runs down the center, but this is not Balboa Island. If you mean "Ocean Front Walk," that's also on the Peninsula.

Balboa Island is completely within Newport Harbor, has a seawall and an extremely shallow "beach" in places of perhaps 20 feet at low tide. But in many areas, the seawall is at the water line, and there is no beach. Interestingly, the island's HOA is studying whether to increase the height of the seawall in anticipation of future rising water globally. New homes are required to be built so that the first floor is x number of inches above high tide.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/06/local/la-me-newport-sea-levels-20110306

Yes, what Jean said. I too have rented a place in Newport Beach twice - it was on the Pacific side. Balboa Island is a small quaint little "island" - it is exactly as Jean explained...

Off to read the article....

MomDD, when can I join you there? Oh, yay!

I still think this is a good place for the OP. The kids will be safe walking everywhere on Balboa, to shop or grab a bite. If the OP wants a beach vibe little town, this is it.

The beach is closeby, and I assume they will have a car and are old enough to drive.

Lack of a pool could be the game-stopper, though.