best time for California beach vacation (Malibu + San Diego)?
 

I will be planning a week long visit to California -- a few days in LA , where I plan to visit Malibu beaches...and then heading down to San Diego where I plan to visit La Jolla beaches. my priority is sun!

I've heard May Gray/June Gloom mentioned.... is this something I should plan my trip around... would it be wiser to go in July, is the weather sunnier in the later summer months? I would hate to get to California and not be able to enjoy the beach at all!

Thanks!

You don't have to rely on anecdotal statements from fodorites for your planning. Meteorologists have studied these weather patterns and published their results. Here's one site that presents their data and conclusions.

http://meteora.ucsd.edu/cap/gloom.html

August and September are my favorite beach times in SoCal because of the weather and September has much smaller crowds.

Absolutely -- September if you have flexibility.

oops didn't mean to hit post . . .

If you don't have that much flexibility and it must be summer, then IMO late July through mid-ish August. You want to avoid the July 4 and Labor Day weekends to miss huge crowds, higher rates.