Huntington Beach
 

Need info on Huntington Beach area, please. Whats it like...beaches, main street, weather, etc in August? Also, any info you have on the Hyatt would be appreciated. Is it nice etc? Good location to N.B., Laguna?THANKS!!!

Surf City USA. Great beaches-- long stretches of sand. High surf, high resultant number of surfers. Fun pier (with a Ruby's Diner at the end). Main hangout area right at Pier, with surf shops, little shopping center, movie houses, restaurants and bars, etc. Cool, but not too high-brow. Weather in August should be good-- highs in the upper 70s/low 80s, lows in the low 60s, low humidity. Occasional overcast in the early morning should burn off by mid-morning.

I haven't stayed at the Hyatt (I live up the coast in Long Beach), but it's new, looks very nice and has a pedestrian footbridge over PCH to the beach. HB is less than ten minutes drive from Newport Beach, and maybe 25 minutes down to Laguna Beach.

HB is a largish suburban town with an excellent beach - wide, good sand, famous for surfing. There's some attractive commercial development right along the beach, inland it's pretty standard SoCal residential/commercial stuff - neighborhoods of ranchburger houses, cement block walls, big busy arterial streets (Beach Blvd. being noteworthy) and not a great deal of tourist interest.

The weather in August ought to be just fine - chance of morning overcast near the beach but burning off by lunchtime, then sunny afternoons, breezy on the beach as the tide comes in/goes out, very nice.

Newport Beach is to the south; Laguna south from there. It's around a 20 min. drive from the HB pier to, say, Lido Isle in NB (NB is very strung out along the coast), 20-25 more to downtown Laguna.

The Hyatt is new, sits on the east side of PCH, and is quite monumental-looking.

You can see various pictures of HB here: http://www.hbonline.com/hbphotos.htm

Thanks everyone for the info! One more question if you have time...is the age group by the Pier a mixed crowd or a younger crowd. We are in our late 30's....looking mainly to relax by the ocean, shop a little, have drinks by the pool...you know your basic beach getaway.

Didn't see your latest question.... But to answer it: Crowds around the Pier tend to be young (including families with children)-- and some aging surfers in the mix. For your purposes, you might find Newport or Laguna Beach a bit more upscale-- and the prices of lodging will reflect that. HB is still a fun place, just a bit more downmarket.