LA’s Best Beaches

California dreaming – with beaches like these, it’s pretty darn easy to see how those dreams come true!

Without a doubt my favourite beach in Los Angeles is Venice Beach. A cliche maybe but one I’m glad to be a part of! This is one of the most iconic stretches of sand in the world and in my opinion it really does live up to the hype! Golden sand, cute cafes galore, palm trees and pretty coloured houses lined up facing towards the ocean.

The water’s beautifully blue and the sand is super soft but it’s the atmosphere here that seals the deal for me. This beach is the place to be in the early hours of the morning, grab a coffee and a donut from one of the nearby cafes and wander to one of the lifeguard huts that are placed every 100 or so metres on the beach. Don’t be fooled by the ‘Keep Off’ signs, these mint green shacks are pretty much free reign in the mornings 😉 Here you can watch the barefoot surfers take on the morning’s waves, see the flexible yogi’s welcome the morning sun and coo at the cute puppies that are walking along the sidewalk! The beach doesn’t get busy until 9am so set your alarm and wander down for brekkie, it’s so worth it!

During the day when it’s much busier here you can enjoy the atmosphere of that typical Cali lifestyle; laid back, cool, colourful and full of friendly smiles! You can then stroll east towards muscle beach and Santa Monica pier, continuing that Californian experience by walking past roller skaters, hipsters and macho men 😉 The best instagram spot has to be on Muscle Beach with the back drop of the Santa Monica pier behind you as you pose 😉

My other favourite seaside is a drive east of Venice Beach (around 30 minutes in the car without traffic) to the famous Malibu Beach. Here you’ll find the beaches to be far less busy regardless of the time of day, the trick is to find a beach that seems less visible to the public. Along the stretch of Malibu beach there’s a number of public parking areas and carparks that you can pull into straight off the highway. My advice when you see these? Keep on driving!

There’s a number of gorgeous residential properties in this location the majority of which back out onto the beach – the dream hey?! If you pay close attention to the beachside of the road when driving past you will notice a few small alley ways that say ‘Beach Access’ – when you find one of these signs park up on the road and wander down to you own little private beach 😉 Chances are there may be a few wanderers throughout the day from those designated parking areas but these beaches, or so it seems to me, are somewhat of a secret to tourists, they are a great place to ‘park up’ for the day 😉

I also love the photo opportunities here, those pretty Malibu beach houses are a wonder of their own!