Three buddies and I will be staying at the Double Tree Guest Suites Santa Monica (1707 Fourth St., Santa Monica) from Thursday, October 29 - Sunday, November 1. We are trying to decide whether to rent a car or rely on public transportation. It's pretty cheap to rent a car, but I've come to realize that we will have to pay for parking everywhere we go. The only set plans we have is to go to the Lakers game on Friday night. The hotel told me it will probably cost $65 each way for a cab. I'm thinking that it will be cheaper to rent a car and pay for parking and having the luxury of having a vehicle whenever if we just want to drive around and sight see from the car.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, any recommendations as to what to do would be great as well. We are all 26 yrs old and might enjoy hiking, mountain biking, surfing. We will prob stay close to the hotel at night to drink and be able to stumble home, but aren't sure what to do during the day. We're not into museums, shopping or farmer's markets What is the beach like this time of year?

Thanks for all your help.

I agree with your leanings toward getting a rental car. It will give you much more flexibility than relying on taxis. October is an excellent time at So Cal beaches---usually nice weather and less crowds than summer. If you've never surfed before, sign up for lessons.

I agree that for your purposes, renting a car would work best. You would spend a lot of time taking the public transportation from Santa Monica to downtown and other attractions. However, if you plan on staying close to Santa Monica, then you can just rent a car for your one day going to the Staples Center.

The weather at the beach should be in the 60's unless a Santa Ana wind is blowing, in which case it would be in the 80's-90's. Either way, you will need wetsuits to surf in the ocean.

You can spend a day riding bikes along the beach: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strand_(bicycle_path), stopping in Manhattan Beach or Hermosa Beach for lunches or cocktails.

There are plenty of hiking trails in Griffith Park, the Santa Monica Mountains, or the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Check: www.laweekly.com for other activities.

I guess it would be crazy not to rent a car with such crazy-low weekend rates available. Even with $18 parking at the doubletree and parking rates throught the weekend, you'll save money over two airport cab rides, the Staples Center trip etc.
You might want to see Griffith Observatory on the afternoon of your Staples visit, then head just south into the Los Feliz/Hollywood neighborhood for happy hour or a light meal, then hop the subway down to Staples. Getting out of Staples with all the traffic after the game can be annoying and slow, plus if you'll be drinking at the game, the subway back to Hollywood will give you some more time to sober up. Also, driving from Santa monica to Griffith Park/Griffith Observatory around 2pm Friday afternoon will be a lot easier than waiting until after 4pm (pure hell whether you drive, take the bus or taxi).
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I really appreciate the help! All great insight.

I agree -- rent a car. Definitely check out the scene during the day Sat. or Sun. at Venice Beach.

I would definitely rent a car. So much easier than public transportation in the LA Area.

I'm a huge fan of using public transportation in major cities. New York, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco all especially come to mind. But I would never even think of staying in LA without a car. It's simply the only answer. And with four of you splitting the cost and the parking? No question. Can you really picture all four of you taking taxis everywhere -- that is IF you can even find one?

Just for the record, Santa Monica has their own excellent bus system (the Big Blue Bus) and you would be able to use it to get downtown, but it won't run late enough to get you back to SM.

http://www.bigbluebus.com/busroutes/...asp?routeid=10

You wouldn't have much trouble getting around SM, West LA and Venice by bus/ taxi but you're far from the Metro system that connect Hollywood, downtown, Universal Studios, Pasadena, the airport etc..