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ATP: California Beach Town

discdude

discdude

Lampin in the cut
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Looking to take a quick jaunt for a relaxing long weekend with the disclady for her birthday at the end of April. So far I have looked at spots through Airbnb in these locations:

  1. Avila Beach
  2. Dana Point
  3. Imperial Beach
  4. Oxnard
  5. La Jolla
  6. Manhattan Beach
  7. San Clemente
  8. Laguna Beach
  9. Solana Beach
  10. Encinitas


Really top desires are:
  1. Not Resortish or Touristy (I know some on this list may check this, so help me weed them out)
  2. Bomb seafood (landlocked here in CO so looking to gorge seafood)


Anyone have a favorite or clear best from that list, or do you have a spot that is not listed that would be dope?


THANKS!


EDIT: Cold water is no problemo...we have two transgendered cats so we are a progressive household
 
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there is a poster who is willing to escort you about town for $20/hour
 
I had a blast at Manhattan Beach. Was there for work but had an afternoon and nights free. Cool spot. Very Upscale neighborhood. Good restaurants and bars. Enjoyed it. Don't know much about the others, so can't compare it. Was not very touristy when I was there. It's p small feels like a neighborhood not really a town but there are bigger towns very nearby
 
I used to bum around Pacific Beach a lot in college and it was always fun. These days I like the North County SD beaches - La Jolla, Solana, Encinitas, Carlsbad.
 
leftcoastdeac said:
I used to bum around Pacific Beach a lot in college and it was always fun. These days I like the North County SD beaches - La Jolla, Solana, Encinitas, Carlsbad.
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Encinitas sounded really appealing at first blush. I will look into Carlsbad.
 
Timely thread. Winter in OR is terribad this year and an escape to SoCal is sounding pretty good right about now.
 
vadtoy's father grew up in Imperial Beach, and her uncles and rest of the family are still there ... it's a small but really cool community, one of the few "proper southern California beach towns" left (i.e - blue collar, originally military but now mostly just locals who are 2nd or 3rd generation - i.e, vadtoy's family type). In part, that's because it's kind of a pain in the ass to get to. You either have to go from San Diego over the (often packed) Coronado Bridge and then drive down a narrow road for quite a ways in traffic, or you have to go down the 5 through Chula Vista and it's also a mess. This tends to make IB quite isolated from the rest of the San Diego metro - the residents there like that, but if you are planning on doing anything else in the region it's something to keep in mind. You want something not touristy, it's hard to get less touristy than IB.

IB is also a GREAT surf town. Unlike some of the more accessible and popular surf areas, it's not packed with tourist surfers and I found it a very comfortable place to learn.

SEA180 has bomb seafood in a nicer setting near the pier, but the best food in the area is all the little Mexican hole in the wall spots (El Amigo is my favorite, it's directly on the path to the beach from vadtoy's uncle's house so I can grab a burrito or carne fries on the way to/from). You're also a close drive to Coronado, and that's got a lot of places to eat a bit higher end if you want (Coronado Brewing Co. also has excellent beer, would definitely recommend the 20 minute drive for a evening there). Lots of old school coastal dive bars - the local VFW post is actually an awesome spot to spend an evening putting a few cold ones back with the locals and Ye Olde Plank near the pier is every stereotype of a California beach dive bar you've seen in movies.

Here's a travel gallery from a guy who spent a few weeks in IB - just found it Googling around. It captures a lot of what my experiences in IB have been like: https://pnd1.smugmug.com/Travelgalleries/Imperial-Beach-Californiaa/i-G8h8Rxr

29.%20Surfhenge%2C%20Imperial%20Beach%2C%20CA.jpg
 
I prolly say La Jolla as the most scenic, but I only know about half of the ones you said on your list.
 
There aren't a ton of tourists this time of year

I live south of Manhattan Beach, its cool/convenient to LAX although expensive so maybe not great if you're trying to do more of a lowkey/sleepy beach town

The SD beach towns are all tight too

The central coast ones are a pain to get to if you're flying in

Would not recommend Oxnard
 
No matter where you go, the water will be quite cold.

Avila Beach is really nice. However, you'll be driving 150-200 in each direction from LA or SF. It's basically in the middle. It's a pretty drive but a long one from either place.

Dana Point is very quiet. You might be still be able to do a whale watching trip. There are some very nice beaches and eateries there and in Laguna Beach (15 minute drive). Dana Point borders San Clemente and Laguna. You can get all three there. There are lots of good restaurants there.

If you do Dana Point/San Clemente. you can hop an Amtrak double-decker train and be in Solana Beach in about 45 minutes on a trip all along the ocean for a scenic ride. You'd fly into John Wayne for any of these places.

Solana Beach is a tiny,tiny beach town. It's where Del Mar racetrack is. Fly into SD for Solana Beach. The "downtown" has a number of shops and restaurants. The Pamplemousse is high end and excellent. You might need to call ahead for a reservation. A little north on PCH is a family, storefront Mexican place that has 100s of kinds of tequila and amazing, homemade salsa. Believe them when they say hot. You are about equi-distance from SD and LaJolla without the tourists and traffic. Again, if want to see. San Clemente, you take a short, pretty train ride up and have a fish lunch on the pier which is right at the train station.

Encinitas is the next town north of Solana Beach. I think that's where the Mexican place is. If you are driving north on PCH, it will be in a strip center on your right. I forget the name. Probably because of all the tequila.
 
Final point for IB - it's the very last city in the US before the Mexican border (you can see the bullfighting ring in Tijuana from the beach) ... meaning if you want to hop over the border for a bit of time in TJ, it's very easy. In fact, at some times of the day even with border control it's probably faster to drive to TJ than SD.
 
RJKarl said:
No matter where you go, the water will be quite cold
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This. 100% this. For a kid who grew up in coastal NC, my first time in southern California I was like "WHAT.THE.FUCK". You need a wetsuit to do any watersports through probably at least late April or even into May.
 
A very large percentage of gay people sold their places at the height of the market in the mid-2000s and moved to Palm Springs. There are definitely a lot of gay people in Laguna but nothing like it used to be.
 
vadimivich said:
This. 100% this. For a kid who grew up in coastal NC, my first time in southern California I was like "WHAT.THE.FUCK". You need a wetsuit to do any watersports through probably at least late April or even into May.
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Yah I still hate the Pacific Ocean that shit is too cold
 
vadimivich said:
This. 100% this. For a kid who grew up in coastal NC, my first time in southern California I was like "WHAT.THE.FUCK". You need a wetsuit to do any watersports through probably at least late April or even into May.
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I was kayaking in the ocean in January. El Nino, bitches.
 
Just don't go to Oxnard and you'll have a great time!
 
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