My bf’s coming in this weekend to see me and I’m trying to plan out an itinerary for stuff to do. Sunday we’ll be staying Pasadena-side for the Huntington, I think, or maybe go into a city neighborhood like Little Tokyo or something…but for Saturday I’m planning an interesting excursion.
Right now I’m thinking of starting the day going to the Getty museum for a while in the morning and then heading west to the surf for a picnic lunch somewhere on a PCH beach, goofing around on the beach for the afternoon, taking in a scenic drive and then going to the Santa Monica pier in the evening. Can anyone suggest any cool beaches that allow picknicking or spots along the PCH where you can just pull over, munch and enjoy the view and I know know know this is ridiculous seeing as I’m going to the BEACH but I really despise tanning (must be the only person in SoCal covered up from head to toe hee hee) so if there are any beaches/spots with cliffs that would provide me some shade, I would prefer those. I’m looking to stay out of Orange County so I don’t have to double back to Santa Monica in the evening. My co-worker told me to take the 10 to the PCH and then drive North and there are cool beaches on that side.
If any local dopers know of any nice scenic drives and cool beaches (esp. with some shade provision) I would really appreciate it.
If you go North on PCH, you have to realize that there will be a lot of houses blocking your view from Santa Monica to Malibu. Also, in order to find a really choice spot you are going to have to drive a bit - I’d say from 15 to 30 miles.
However, once you get out there North of Pepperdine Univ, you have Zuma Beach (where they filmed Baywatch), and further up there are nice spots to pull over and chill. There’s a neat little (divey) seafood restaurant all the way up at County Line called Neptune’s Net (featured in Point Break).
Also, when you first get into Malibu, you’ll find yourself at the ever-iconic Surfrider Beach. It will be chock full of surfers if you just want to stop and watch for a bit. I don’t recommend touching the water there - it’s pretty nasty with bacteria.
I don’t know of any nice shady places like you are looking for that are easily accessible to the public - I think you’d have to go way North on PCH to find something like that.
Now… on to the REAL reason I posted: TRAFFIC!!!
You need to be aware that from about 12:00 - 5:00 (and I’m giving you a generous estimate, it could be longer) the PCH will be an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE traffic-wise. It might be a scenic drive, but it will be a bumper-to-bumper scenic drive. A real gridlock relationship-breaker. And that’s not for me, but YMMV.
I might also recommend that you schlep down to Venice Beach - that’s always good for out-of-towners: beautiful beaches, scenic boardwalk, crazy people, cheap hippie jewelry, more crazy people. Plus there are some palm trees you could use for shade.
NOOOOOOOOOOO! I was thinking about heading out to El Matador or Leo Cabrillo (recent google searches have revealed them). And post-noon was exactly when I was thinking about leaving the Getty! Do you think it might be feasible to get to Leo Cabrillo via another route, spend the afternoon at the beach and then drive down to Santa Monica and the Pier for dinner in the evening?
Bloody freaking traffic…I avoid thinking about it on a daily basis b/c I metro in to work but every time I try to venture out in my car I’m screaming within 5 seconds and yeah, the bf and I will definitely break up in traffic. Thanks for letting me know.
I forgot about Leo Carrillo - it’s a nice beach, and sometimes there are excellent kite-surfers out there. You have to pay to park, however, unless you want to park on PCH and hike down to the beach.
As for an alternative route - I actually thought of a pretty good one:
(1) Take the 405N to the 101(I can’t remember if it’s called the 101N or 101W here, but go either N or W). There will be some traffic at this interchange - because there is absolutely always traffic at this interchange.
(2) Take the 101 to Kanan Road - it might be called Kanan Canyon Road. It’s north of Calabasas.
(3) Get off on Kanan Road and head towards PCH. This is a pretty windy canyon pass, but it has pretty good views of the Santa Monica Mountains.
(4) Kanan dead ends onto PCH above Pepperdine and Malibu proper - this should allow you to bypass a pretty good bit of the regular Summertime beach traffic.
(5) Take a right and head north on PCH. You should be about 15 minutes from Leo Carillo.
I can’t guarantee that this way won’t take longer or that you won’t hit traffic. It’s probably (geographically) a little longer than going back and taking PCH - but if I was at the Getty on a Saturday at Noon and headed to Leo Carrillo, then this is the way I would choose. Carpe Diem!
You’re on your own on the way back. In order to go to Santa Monica, you’re just going to have to aim South and pray for good traffic.