9 hour LAX Layover - what to do?
 

My wife and boys 14 and 11 arrive at LAX at 2pm and leave for New Zealand at 11pm. Considering the need to deplane and be back at the airport in plenty of time for departure, can anyone suggest a way to spend about 6 hours on a Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Any suugestion welcome! Is there enough time to do something? What transportation options (other than a car) are available.
Appreciate your help!

I'm not sure about public transportation in that area, if your budget can afford it, you might think of renting a car. The closest are worth visiting would be Marina Del Ray/Venice Beach area (about 15 minutes from the airport without traffic of course). Venice beach has a long stretch of boardwal with funky stands, muscle beach, rollerbladers, etc. There's a good Italian restaraunt at the beginning of the beach (actually technically Marina Del Rey) C&O cucina with great food, great outdoor seating www.cocucina.com.

If you want to venture a little further, you can go to Santa Monica (about 30 minutes without traffic), 3rd street promenade. The marina has a boardwalk with games,ferris wheel (your kids might like this), and 3rd street has tons of shops/restaraunts.

If you travel around 2pm and drive back after 8pm then you shouldn't hit too much traffic, anything after 3pm and before 7pm--forget it, you should add and hour back and forth to your commute from LAX

definitly venice beach or santa monica. there is public transportation from the aiport to them. this subject is brought up often so if you do a search here, i'm sure you'll get the information you need.

LAX runs buses to either (a) the Aviation Metro Green Line station ("G" shuttle) or (b) the Metro Bus Center ("C" shuttle). At either point, you can pick up the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus #3 headed to Santa Monica or UCLA. Ride it up all the way into SM, getting off at 4th and Wilshire.

Walk a block west (toward the ocean) to the Third Street Promenade (big Banana Republic and Barnes and Noble at the start of the promenade). Walk south for the shops.

To get to the SM Pier, when you get to Third and Broadway, walk through the mall (Santa Monica Place) to the other side, which is Pico Blvd. Take a right, walk two blocks to the Pier.

To catch the #3 back to LAX, be waiting at the stop between Broadway and Colorado (west side of street) no later than 6:30 PM. Barring huge traffic snarls (which are occurring on a daily basis on Lincoln Blvd. between Venice Blvd. and Jefferson), you'll be back at the airport by 8.

By the way, by the time you get to SM you will have missed one of the very best things about downtown SM: the Wednesday Farmer's Market, which is a lot of fun and a spot for occasional "star-watching" (well, famous chefs and once in a while a celeb like Rita Moreno). I like watching tourists walk through, seething with envy that we get this high level of fresh produce year-round, and not just at this farmer's market but at dozens throughout the area.

If the baggage is already checked through to the next airline, there is no need to arrive back at LAX 3 hours before your flight. 2 hours is the recommended time for international flights currently, and 90 minutes will do if you don't have luggage to deal with. Plus, traffic after 8pm will be much easier to deal with. So I'd say wait until 8pm to head back to the airport from Santa Monica or Marina or even Beverly Hills areas.