Beach between LAX and Anaheim
 

We will be in LA early June with family (2 boys 9 & 11) My husband has a conference in Anaheim. We will be arriving Sat morning (LAX)and would like to take scenic drive to Anaheim and stop at a beach and let the boys enjoy the ocean. What beach would you suggest and what is the road we take from LAX to drive closet to the ocean? Thanks so much!!

I think Seal Beach is your best bet. I would not call any drive in the LA/So Cal area "scenic" though. Well, maybe over in Malibu.

Seal Beach has a pier and is a beach I used to enjoy when I was in college (Cal State Long Beach). Anaheim is close by.

I agree w/ halfapair - there really isn't a "scenic" drive from LAX to Anaheim. But you could stop in Seal Beach.

We were just at Laguna Beach, not too far from LAX, and a wonderful beach, park, etc. Can't remember how far exactly, but it may be an option.

Laguna Beach is way too far south. You'd be backtracking quite a bit to get to Anaheim.

Agree with Seal Beach. You could take the 405 south from LAX and exit Seal Beach Blvd. After hitting the beach there, continue south on Pacific Coast Hwy. to Huntington Beach. The drive is really nice along that stretch and you could stop at the beach and pier in Huntington (or at Sunset Beach or Bolsa Chica State Beach which you'll pass along the way).

You could then get to Anaheim by taking Brookhurst Ave. (so no need to get to the freeway). Not at all scenic but easy enough to do.

Yeah - you won't be anywhere near Laguna Beach. And if you did go that far you'd have to back track a long ways to get to Anaheim.

Redondo Beach is 15 min south of LAX and has several miles of path south from the pier. Clarasong is correct that Laguna Beach is also a great destination but not directly en route to Anaheim.

Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, Huntington or Newport, probably one of the last two.

Try Mapquest, dial in Long Beach as a central spot, then zoom OUT from there to see them all. (Long Beach isn't 'really' a beach so don't plan on it as a choice).

The easy way to Seal Beach is to take I-405, the San Diego Freeway, south. Exit at Seal Beach Blvd. At the light at the end of the ramp turn left. Go straight for 2.7 miles and turn right, north, on US-1 the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), then left on Main Street (after 10th, the street I live on). After you cross Central look for a parking spot. Definitely stop at the seashell store! And maybe the kite store. And Cinnamon Productions on a Saturday morning you might find me there with a few locals and probably a swarm of cyclists making a pit stop. You'll want to park down by the pier where the metered spots are for a longer stop (over 2 hours, I think).

There is a somewhat scenic way here. Take the 405 south and get off at I-110 the Harbor Freeway, south, until almost the very end of the freeway where you exit to the California route 47 and the big cool bridge to get onto W. Ocean Blvd. The drive goes through the harbor area, with big cranes and stuff, and then into the city of Long Beach.

Continue thru L.B. and there is a scenic stretch where you get a good view of San Pedro Bay and some of the oil facilities out on the water. Then bear left at Livingston and right on 2nd Ave. Cross the bridge over the marina and turn right on route 1, the PCH, south, and go until Main Street and turn right.

If you go to mapquest and get the three sets of driving directions between the following four points then you can patch together the route I described above.

1 World Way
Los Angeles

- to -

734 N. Seaside Ave
San Pedro

- to -

3200 E. Ocean Blvd
Long Beach

- to -

100 Main St
Seal Beach

After visiting Seal Beach you go up Seal Beach Blvd (Main St to right on PCH to left on SB Blvd) and get on the freeway and bear off onto the 22 Freeway to Anaheim. Leaving Seal Beach at 5:20PM gets to a seat at Angel Stadium in Anaheim in 30 minutes.