Huntington Beach - hostels?
 

I'm going alone to LA in just under two weeks and I'm going to spend half my time in Santa Monica then I've been recommended the other half in Huntington Beach. I can't seem to find any hostels in HB though... does anyone know of any?

I don't want to stay in a hotel as I want to make friends. HB seems like a good local area with skaters and surfers (my kind of people).. I don't want to stay anywhere too touristy the whole time.

Any help would be appreciated! Is Long Beach kind of close? Maybe I'll stay there if I can't find anything ... :)

P.s I'm 24!

For a 25 year old I highly recommend
Colonial Inn Youth Hostel, Huntington Beach
421 8th St, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 | (714)536-3315
Safe clean and convenient.

For a 24 year old I highly recommend
Colonial Inn Youth Hostel, Huntington Beach
421 8th St, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 | (714)536-3315
Safe clean and convenient.

Thanks for the advice... I can't seem to find a website for this hostel anywhere online???

It looks like it's closed down :(

Actually - I don't think there are any hostels in Huntington Beach.

There are other beach communities - why do you want Huntington Beach specifically?

That property ceased operations as a hostel in <b>2006</b>.

In fact, in the whole of Orange County, I only see one hostel: Anaheim Executive Inn and Suites. You're nowhere near a beach.

The hostels in Long Beach are generally in sketchy areas. And, as much as I love my hometown (I live in east Long Beach due east of Long Beach Airport), I must admit that our beaches aren't particularly great in comparison with other communities.

There's a hostel in Hermosa Beach: Surf City Hostel (http://www.hostels.com/hostels/los-a...y-hostel/5591#). It looks good, and Hermosa is a fun beach city with a bit less attitude than Santa Monica (where I work).

If you're determined to stay down across the Orange Curtain, there are budget-ish motels in Seal Beach, Sunset Beach and Huntington Beach up and down Pacific Coast Highway. I can't vouch as to their quality, other than the Pacific Inn in Seal Beach (http://www.thepacificinn.com/), which is few-frills but clean (I had family stay there and they liked it).

How are you planning to get around? I hope you have a car....

Thanks for all the advice.

The reason I want to stay in Huntington is just due to the fact that I've been advised it by a few friends..

I'm really in to skateboarding and surfing and don't want to be too much in the toursity bit as for the first half I'm staying in Santa Monica.

I was going to rent a car but I mostly just want to hang out on the beach... would you say it's difficult to meet people in Huntington? Is there not much to do?

Overall there is not a lot to do in Huntington but the beach there is one of the best around. I am not sure where you are coming from but I hope you know how cold the water is and you will need a wetsuit for surfing. Since this is March, the beaches are generally almost empty during the weekdays although the surfers are always out. If there is a really warm spell, people will be out on the weekends. The rest of this week the weather will be nice (right around 70) but last week it was rainy, cold and chilly.

rjw's recommendation of Hermosa is a good one. A lot more activity there, I see skateboarders, etc but I can't speak to the quality of surfing as opposed to Huntington Beach. There are always people out in the water. I think you will meet a lot more young people in the Hermosa area.

If you decide on Huntington, you could also visit Newport Beach which a short drive.

As I only have 10 days in LA, maybe I should just go from Santa Monica to West Hollywood and stay there for the remainder... sounds like there'd be more to do?

Since your interests are skateboarding and surfing, I don't know that any move to West Hollywood would really suit you. I think of WeHo as being more "entertainment industry" and "LGBTQ" than "skateboarding and surfing". Not that there's anything wrong with WeHo and its attractions. It's quite nice. Just a bit glitzy and tinselly.

You'd be better off staying at the hostel in Santa Monica. Or finding a cheap hotel down in Venice Beach on Washington Blvd. (the hostel there looks frankly scary-- the pot dispensaries around the place attract a fairly rough-looking crowd, even if the area is generally safe). Or.... How about checking out San Diego, which is only 2 hours away if you don't go down at rush hour? Fun town for young folks!

I agree you'd probably like the beach area better. If you are in LA for 10 days and have a car, you'd be able to go from Santa Monica to West Hollywood more than once. Just be aware that traffic on Santa Monica Blvd or any other main thoroughfare will have lots of traffic, particularly heading east out of Santa Monica during rush hour.

Maybe instead of staying in Santa Monica, spend half your time in West Hollywood to get a little more action and LA glitz and then the other half of your time in Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan Beach. You will definitely get two different feels of the LA area. Don't know about hostels in those areas but rjw is right about the area around the hostel in Venice.

Thanks for all your help! Maybe you're right, I think I should just go on a day trip to West Hollywood when I'm staying in Santa Monica.

I'll check out Hermosa... maybe if I stay there I can do a little trip down to Huntington if its not too far?

:)

Now you get it...! Stay in SM, take trips to WeHo, Beverly Hills, Hollywood itself, etc.

Huntington Beach isn't too far unless it's rush hour. Then it's a punishing drive in slow traffic. Although you can drive there on CA-1 from SM, DON'T DO IT. Between SM and the LA County line, PCH (as locals call it) is urban/industrial and slo-o-o-o-o-ow. Take the main freeways (after rush hour): I-10 east to I-405 south. Follow to Seal Beach Boulevard; turn right on Seal Beach and follow that to Pacific Coast Highway. Make a left, and in about 10 minutes you'll be at the Huntington Beach Pier. Park, watch the surfers, walk to the end of the pier and have a burger at Ruby's (not transcendental, but old-time good), get a drink at one of the bars around there (Barefoot Bar [Duke's], Chimayo, Fred's, etc.), stroll. If you continue south on PCH you can see Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, etc.

Long Beach is not nearly as pretty as any of these beach communities, but it's a pleasant seaside town with a long history of industry and commerce. Downtown LB has the Queen Mary drydocked in the Port; it also has the excellent Aquarium of the Pacific and the Museum of Latin American Art, plus lots of good restaurants and galleries and what-not. We live there because real estate is roughly one-third the cost of Santa Monica's. Trade-offs, trade-offs....

I agree with everything rjw said!! A reminder of what I said though about traffic in Santa Monica. If you are going to go to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc just don't do it in rush hour. When I work in Santa Monica and leave around 5, it can often take me 20 min just to go a few miles. There are ways around if you live there and know the area, but it would make more sense to head to West Hollywood, etc in the afternoon (before about 3) and sight see, have dinner etc before driving back to Santa Monica.

Ahhh thanks so much for everyones help! Really glad now I didn't decide to stay in WH!! I'm really excited to see Huntington, Laguna etc

So where are you staying after you leave Santa Monica? Still a little confused on what you decided.

I still haven't booked Paula! Haha. I'm definitely not staying in West Hollywood, I've cancelled that reservation and I'm waiting for a reply from Air BNB for a guest room in HB so if they reply I'll stay there for the four days...

I'm staying 7 nights in Santa Monica, and 3 nights in Huntington ten minutes walk from the beach in a lovely BnB I found on Air BNB. Thanks everyone for your help... SO happy to be staying by the coast. 7 days to go!!

great trip plan! you are in the perfect age group for Huntington Beach. Yes, people will be friendly as long as you are. Have fun!! We will b in HB in June but in a resort which would b boring for you:)