Teenage daughters (I know, I know) are clamoring to go to Malibu during our upcoming CA trip. I've driven through Malibu a dozen times and never really saw anything worth stopping for. What am I missing? Shopping? Beach? What's worth the time spent? Thanks!

"Shopping? Beach?"

You answered your own question. It's the beach, it's the shopping, it's the people watching, it's the reputation, it's the view.

I'm kinda with you. Malibu is more geared to its well-heeled citizens than to tourists. However, the beaches are quite nice, and that counts for something with teenagers. It's a nice day trip up PCH to get there-- and back.

Mini-rant: I think TV and movies give outsiders (especially teenagers) a weird view of southern CA, as well as distorting the geographic lay of the land. I've heard of kids wanting to go to all the sites seen in the film "Clueless" (well, maybe a few years ago), blissfully unaware that some of those sites are dozens of miles from the others. They want to go to where "The OC" is filmed-- surprise!! It's almost ALL filmed on and around the Raleigh Studios soundstage in Manhattan Beach, CA! Hey-- "CSI: Miami" films a lot of locations in Marina del Rey (which, trust me, looks NOTHING like South Beach).

And the "shopping" in Malibu isn't that hot, either. The girls will be much happier hitting the cool shops on Melrose or Robertson (Kitson! Fred Segal!) or even schlepping up and down the escalators at Beverly Center or Century City Mall. Probably.

However, I seem to recall that the "star-sighting" quotient at the Gelson's in Malibu (actually, the whole Malibu Colony Plaza) is fairly high.

Ha-- I'm an idiot. That's a Ralphs grocery at Malibu Colony Plaza. There's a Gelson's in Pacific Palisades that I'm confusing it with.

My teen daughters had to do this a few years back when we were in So. CA, and were disappointed. I'm still not sure what they expected, but I know it wasn't what they saw. A while back someone posted this web site that has photos on the entire coast of CA, including PCH. Maybe if they saw what it really looks like, they may decide to spend that time somewhere else. Just an idea.
http://tinyurl.com/mlamy

Shopping? In Malibu? I don't know what they are expecting to see there (celebs walking around perhaps?), but they are bound to be disappointed.

Teen girls would be much happier seeing Melrose and Robertson and even the Beverly Center (where I always seem to see a celeb). Fred Segal and Kitson's are definitely good suggestions if they want to see where Paris and Lindsay hang and that sort of thing.

I don't quite get it either. I much prefer Manhattan and Hermosa Beach,and i think it would definitely appeal to your teenage daughters, too

My friend in L.A. says Manhattan Beach is probably what they are expecting to see in Malibu: cute beach town with lots of shops and cafes, etc. But for real celeb-spotting, she says to take them to the Coffee Bean on Sunset or the one at Beverly and Robertson, or the Laurel Canyon Dog Park (where "everybody and their agent" walks their dog apparently). Good to know. The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica also might be something they would enjoy.

I can only tell you that my daughter and her best friends (2 boys) L-O-V-E-D Malibu. We saw so many famous people.
First we went to the coffee place next to Ralphs and TOMMY LEE sat next to us.
Then we saw Buddy Hackett (2 days before he died) and the Joe Millionaire dude. We saw a few people in Ralphs and the one at the newstand on the other side of the coffee shop.
Then we went to the pet shop and saw a couple of actresses (older) and then went to that little shopping area with the park in it and saw like 15 different famous people, some with their kids.
We saw Farrah Fawcett (who was a bit crazed looking) and then not 5 minutes later in another section of that little park saw Lee Majors (who looks awesome) with his family. Funny. He was really nice.
Combine that with the 30-40 famous people we saw at our hotel, the Beverly Wilshire and the kids were simply THRILLED. We also saw people at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms and Long's or whatever the name of that drug store in Bev Hills is...
We did nothing but star search on that trip and it paid off over and over.
Before y'all slam me for wasting a trip to LA you should know that we go all the time and this was the Teen Choice trip.
Lucky for them, I am game and a darn lucky stalker to boot!