Best Beach in California to stay:Huntington,Santa Monica or Laguna?
 

Family with children ages 8, 10, 17 coming from east to the west for the first time. We are spending 11 days in California. Flying into Santa Ana. Want to see the ocean ....possibly Disney...and all the tourist attractions of LA, Hollywood, etc...then to Yosemite for a couple of days, then ending our trip in SFO. We have been told that we will be disappointed in the beaches in June. Is this true? Also what touring company would you recommend to see all the "touristy" sites? Any recommendations on hotels? How about hotels by Disney? And can we see Disney in one day? Sooo....many questions????

Did this trip not too long ago

rented a car www.carrentals.com

Laguna Beach Montage Hotel my fav prettiest

Beaches around LA ok not great

www.lasightseeing.net good tours

Anahiem has super disney Hotels can be done in a day

Drive up the Pacific coast highway amazing drive

like Ventana Big Sur and www.carmelcalifornia.com

Yosemite.com on into SF.

A wonderful journey.

over to

Days in June along the coast are often very foggy in the morning. Some days the fog disappears by afternoon, but many days it doesn't. The ocean water temp is colder than most people expect.

How many days were you going to spend in Southern California before going to Yosemite? Have you booked your Yosemite lodging yet?

You can't comfortably see the usual L.A. and Hollywood sights from either Huntington or Laguna Beaches. To maximize a single day at Disneyland, you should plan to spend a night or two in the immediate area around the park, So, it comes down to how many days you have and what your priorities are. What are the "touristy" sights you want to see?

That time of year, the Southern California coast is beseiged by "June gloom," which means the coastal areas in the morning are foggy, overcast and somewhat chilly despite it being clear and sunny inland. In may or may not burn off by the afternoon.

You could pick one home base location in LA or split it up. Since you're flying into John Wayne, you could do a couple of nights in the Orange County area to do Disneyland and see the beach areas to experience the more "laid back" SoCal lifestyle. I would definitely do Laguna or Newport over Huntington. Newport would be more central location to Disneyland, South Coast Plaza as well as to Laguna. It's also not far from Huntington if you want to see that. However, Laguna Beach is a more charming and eclectic town. It's filed with art galleries, good restaurants and nice shops. The various beaches, most are small coves, are often quite beautiful. Check out Crystal Cove State Park. They have some relatively inexpensive beach bungalows to rent. And although you didn't mention it, I think it's worth a drive down the freeway to the San Diego Zoo. You could easily do it as a day trip from OC.

I would then head up to LA. There are lots of options. Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are centrally located but Santa Monica is also a good option. I LOVE the Shutters on the Beach Hotel. It's right on the sand and the rooms are luxurious but comfortable -- a perfect location to watch the sunset! And it's not too far away from the more interesting Venice Beach.

I'm not sure about tour companies. I think you can probably do it on your own with a little research but I highly recommend the Warner Bros Studio Tour. It's much more of an authentic behind-the-scenes look at movie making vs Universal Studios, which is fun but more amusement park.

have fun!

>>Beaches around LA ok not great<<

Depends on what you mean by "around". I grew up in LA county & thought Laguna Beach was fabulous. After I got married, we lived there for 4 years. Not a fan of Huntington Beach or Santa Monica.

Stu Dudley

I'm not a big fan of Venice or Santa Monica or Huntington. Laguna is beautiful but somewhat remote for the usual touristy sights. But it all comes back to the OP's priorities.

FYI, some Junes we get lucky with only a little fog that burns off fairly early in the day. Some years May is worse than June, and even if the fog is dense right at the water's edge, it can be perfectly clear and sunny 2-3 miles inland. Late June is usually better for clearer days, but there's no predicting any of this.