Beach Towns S California

[Hownoobrooncoo]

anyone have any recommendations? Would like to spend a week or so relaxing. Me, husband and boys 10 and 7 yrs. Have been looking at Laguna which looks nice. Also Santa Monica, La Jolla.

All expensive. Santa Monica possibly the least so.
I would imagine that Laguna best fits British tastes.
La Jolla doesn't have much beach, really, it's more cliffs & rockpools.
Northern end of Pacific Beach is better (& cheaper than others).

You could consider Mission Beach in SD, too.
When I was a kid South Mission was actually a family neighbourhood, we nearly moved there! Now it's almost entirely vacation & seasonal rentals. Bad for local sense of community, but still very popular with tourists. Little else besides the beach, though.

You might also want to look at San Clemente (south of Laguna Beach) or Carlsbad.

Laguna Beach very beautiful and relaxing, also right next door is Crystal Cove state park - gorgeous, completely noncommercial and not crowded.

Nearby Newport and Balboa both beautiful, and lots to do there. If you're on tight budget and can't afford on-beach accomodation, look for airport hotels around John Wayne then drive to the beach (go early to get parking!).

I love Santa Monica but the water there and at Venice isn't very clean. This is an old link but looks up the clean beach reports: www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/cleanest-southern-califor_n_664159.html#s120584&title=Bolsa_Chica_State

But try Manhatten Beach if you want LA - very near Venice and Santa Monica.

Don't personally like San Clemente/Dana Point so much.

San Diego is good fun, and Carlsbad and Misson Beaches are great.

Then again, you could always drive north from LA and do Pismo/Morro Bay/Cambria... very nice beaches without the urban backdrop. Depends what you're after!

Newport/Balboa and Santa Monica/Venice probably have more to offer your boys, thinking about it. Long stretches of cycle/rollerblading paths, Balboa and Santa Monica have funfairs, both have lots of shops/bars/restaurants that are geared to the young and the average of income.

Laguna is smaller, very pretty, wealthier. IMO.

Oh, and I forgot Huntington. Which is a nice, nice beach.

La Jolla has lots of beaches and they are all quite different. La Jolla shores for instance.

I love our beaches. I have pictures if you are interested.