hellokittie

I will be travelling on Fri. 2/16 (Pres. Weekend). I need to reach Seal Beach by 5pm.
What time would I need to leave Santa Barbara to safely make my destination?
Thanks.

rjw_lgb_ca

It's basically a 120-mile drive: US-101 south (heading to LA) to I-405 south (heading to Long Beach), exit Seal Beach Blvd. (most likely). Barring accidents, if you leave Santa Barbara between 1:30 PM and 2 PM you'll be in Seal Beach at 5. On empty freeways you can do this in two hours, but how often will you be driving at 3 AM?

mlgb

Ordinarily I would say 2pm but if it's the Friday before a holiday weekend might it be more? I think leaving by 1:30 might be better. Thinking of the southbound 405, rjw you would know better.

trippinkpj

I would leave by 1 pm on a holiday weekend Friday. Even then it could still be messy/ traffic wise.

mlgb

Not to panic you, but maybe it would be best to leave right after you check out, i.e. between 9 am and 10 am. You are looking at two potentially ugly situations, the southbound commute traffic out of Santa Barbara, and the southbound traffic on the 405 in LA county, from Mulholland all the way to Seal Beach.

hellokittie

Thanks! Now I am convinced that I must figure out some way to do this trip by public transportation!

trippinkpj

Migb is right. Public transportation might not work well either. I'm not familiar with it in So Cal. Check out Amtrak, and maybe others will have ideas.

mlgb

If you leave in the morning you should be fine. Usually the preholiday rush starts at around 11 am to noon so that's why I said leave by 10 am, you should be almost to your destination by then. They say "Friday morning light". Also Thursday afternoons before a holiday are perhaps even worse, not sure if you were planning on heading to SB for a one-day trip, but you would want to leave by 11 am.

mrwunrfl

If you are heading to Leisure Village or the north part of SB, then exit at SB Blvd. If you are going to old town then you can get off at the first Lakewood Blvd exit and follow the road down to the circle where it intersects with the PCH. Then take PCH south to SB. This is the shortest route to old town SB and would be the way to go if there is a backup on the 405 at that point.

It would cost $251 to fly from SBA to LAX and another $38 via Super Shuttle to Seal Beach.

rjw_lgb_ca

Hmmmmm.... I ignored the part about the Presidents' Day weekend. I'm going to side with mlgb on both of her points:

-- Leaving by 1:30 PM will get you to Seal Beach by 5 99.999% of the time. Even with holiday traffic in greater LA on the 405, you should be fine, even factoring in holiday Get Out of Town traffic.

-- Better to leave right after checkout. Why rush the drive? And then you can explore Seal Beach a bit, especially charming Main Street.

mrwunrfl's directions are good-- I was just thinking it might be better to avoid the street traffic in Long Beach around the Traffic Circle to get to Old Town SB. But it IS easier and a bit quicker.

hellokittie

Thanks for all the great advice!
I am actually considering hopping on the amtrak and going back to union station and having friends pick me up there.
I was going to return the car in seal beach but its not actually my destination.
If I do not have a car in SB but am only there for 1 long day, can I see the major sites? Thanks.

mlgb

There aren't any major sights in Seal Beach, nor really any minor ones other than the pier and beach. There also isn't any public transportation to speak of. If you are trying to see the rest of LA or OC from Seal Beach, you need a car.

mrwunrfl

You could take Amtrak to Anaheim. Anaheim is about 15 miles from Seal Beach. Union Station in LA is twice as far.

I can only think of two hotels in Seal Beach. There is the Ayres Hotel, very comfy, at the SB Blvd freeway exit. The other one is here in old town seal beach (old town being the part of SB on the ocean side of the PCH). I think it is called the Pacific Inn. It is good enough and in a good location for Seal Beach with some decent restaurants and shops in the neighborhood. And it is a short walk to Main Street and the pier and beach.

If you walk down Marina Drive and cross the water you will be at the marina which is actually Long Beach. There is a sightseeing bus, cheap, that goes all the way thru Belmont Short to downtown Long Beach and to the Queen Mary, I believe.

I think there is also a sightseeing boat that leaves from the marina that goes across San Pedro bay to Long Beach harbor. From there you can see the sights of Long Beach or take another boat out to Catalina Island.

So, in the morning after your night at Pacific Inn you can walk down to Main Street and have your choice of four coffee/bakery places or a couple of restaurants. Then go out to the end of the pier and take in the views of SB, LB, Catalina Island, and Surf City (Huntington Beach). Then walk down Ocean Ave to First to Marina and then take the bus or boat to Long Beach, ...

mrwunrfl

Belmont Shore, I meant.

The marina has restaurants and shops so you could actually spend some time there. If you stayed at Ayers Hotel then it is only a 4-mile taxi ride to the marina or a bit less to the SB pier.

hellokittie

Sorry for the confusion---by SB I meant Santa Barbara not Seal Beach.