daytrips by transit from Anaheim?
 

I'm going to be in Anaheim for a trade show, and will have a couple afternoon/evenings free to myself. I won't have a car. Is there anywhere interesting that I could get by public transit? I love nature and water (beaches, national parks, zoos, waterparks) and I like movies, but don't like busy crowds (not interested in clubs, or downtown L.A.)
Thanks!

Laguna Beach is close, and is really pretty/fun. Nice beach, very attractive, good restaurants and shopping. Not sure how easy it is to get to (to a great extent, "Southern California" and "public transportation" are mutually exclusive!

It will be really hard to take public transportation anywhere that involves a beach or park. I checked the online trip planner to go to either Newport or Huntington Beach and it looks like an hour and 30 minutes one way with transfers. I would suggest renting a car for a day if you want to see anything.

I was looking at some bus schedules and it looks like there's one that goes to Long Beach - is that a nice place?

You can take the Orange County Transit Bus #50 to Long Beach where it ends at the VA Medical Center. Transfer to any of the Long Beach Transit buses (#91, 92, 93, or 94) to downtown Long Beach. Once downtown, you can take the red or purple buses for free and you can visit the Aquarium or the Queen Mary plus there's shopping and great restaurants on Pine Ave. and at the Pike. Take a walk on the bike path on the beach. Check out the oil islands off the coast designed by Disney Imagineers. Go to the Long Beach Museum of Art or the Museum of Latin American Art.

From Disneyland to the VA Medical Center, 45-50 minutes by bus plus another 15-20 minutes further to downtown Long Beach.

At the VA Medical Center I think you can also transfer to one of the red Passport buses to Belmont Shore. Great place to stroll, shop and eat. Walk around Alamitos Bay and hire one of the gondolas for a wonderful boat ride through the Naples canals (singing gondoliers!). Or, if you prefer to do the work yourself, you can rent a kayak and go through the bay and the canals.

Google "Metrolink". There is a station at Anaheim Stadium. You could go directly to Mission San Juan Capistrano or the beach in San Clemente. The trains are prompt and comfortable.

Long Beach is not a beach town, it is a big city with a major harbor.

There is an Amtrak station in Anaheim. It would be possible, but a very long day, to go to the San Diego Zoo.

I checked the schedule at amtrak.com and saw several San Diego destinations, like Sea World and the zoo. You could, for example:
depart Anaheim 6:49AM arrive San Diego 8:55 AM
depart San Diego 9:20 arrive SD Zoo 9:45 (this would be by bus).

Latest return from San Diego station for Anaheim is around 5:50PM. So, you'd want to catch a bus from SDZ to SD station by 5PM at the latest, I would think.

if you only have evenings and don't have a car, it would be very hard to go anywhere great. I don't think there is a point of going to the beach after 5pm. Be aware that it will take you about 45-60 mins to get to anywhere without a car. Anaheim is in Orange County, not LA, so you're very far from anything in LA (60 min drive). You're closer to some Orange County spots like Laguna Beach which is beautiful, but I'm not really sure how doable it will be to get there or to get around those places without a car, especially if you would only be able to leave Ahaheim after 2-3pm. If movies is a good option for you and you're there during the week, you shouldn't experience large crowds there. I would only attempt a beach if you can rent a car for the day or leave Anaheim by 12-1pm.

Check for schedules to Sunset Beach or Huntington Beach, they have nicer sand and water than Long Beach and are a bit closer.

Anaheim and public transit don;t mix - few and far between. You really need to rent a car to do any trips conveniently.

I have about 1:30 PM and on free for 2 days. I was looking at the #50 bus to Long Beach, and saw that it would connect quite easily to a bus to Seal Beach, which I've read has a decent beach?
I don't mind travelling an hour or so to get somewhere for a few hours - I've always liked navigating transit systems, and this would be better than Europe because the drivers speak English, lol. Somehow I see it as an adventure - a challenge of sorts.
I'll check out the San Clemente idea - I saw the Amtrak website in some of my surfing.
Thanks for the comments!

Oh, and I'm from Canada, and will be there in early Sept, so I'm sure the beach in late afternoon will be quite warm enough for me, lol.

Yes, there is a fine beach here in Seal Beach. Nice views of Santa Catalina Islands and Long Beach from the pier.

Seal Beach would be a much better choice than Sunset Beach, imo. Better access to the beach and there is more here. You'd get off the bus at Main Street in SB and walk 2 or 3 blocks down Main Street, past several restaurants and shops, to the pier. Just in the 100 block of Main St are three Irish pubs/restaurants, a couple of pizza places, a couple of restaurants, bikini store, beachwear, a seashell store, kite store, art & jewelry, fashion clothing, psychic reader, two coffee/bakery shops, and more.

Thanks!

Has anyone been to San Clemente, or know anything about it? It looks like a cute beach town, from what I've found on the internet.

I know that there is a bus that passes thru Seal Beach bound for San Clemente, 38 miles south. I expect it comes from Long Beach.

Just south of San Clemente there is a nude beach at San Onofre Beach.

hmm. Not really the nude beach type, but thanks! Actually the train goes from Anaheim to San Clemente, so that'll be much faster.

in terms of weather, just be aware that it actually gets cold ON the beach after 4:30-5pm. So you won't be able to lay out. You may even need a jacket.

The positive thing about the bus is that, I ASSUME it goes down the PCH pretty much the whole trip from SB south.