Let's enjoy the beaches of L.A. and its Californian way of life

Published on June 25, 2024 at 4:00 pm

The largest city in the United States (1,214 km2, 10 times the size of San Francisco) stretches for 100 kilometres along an exceptional stretch of coastline. It's lined with beaches the size of the city, facing west. Every evening, the sunsets here work wonders. You can savour its rays right up until the last second, when everything is bathed in a golden glow, while the gentle trade winds invite you to stay a little longer.

Every American state has its own culture. In California, and Los Angeles in particular, it's all about the beach. They are huge, the sand is fine, the sea is good, and they are perfectly maintained. It's a veritable living space, giving rise to an effervescence and a particularly positive spirit. So much so that there's even a Californian soundtrack, immortalised by the Beach Boys, who composed some universal hits that symbolise the Californian American way of life, where everything happens on the beach!

They called themselves Venice beach, Playa del Rey beach, Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Cabrillo beach, and for 10 years, the series Malibu Alert was a worldwide success (1 billion viewers every week!). Enough to keep us dreaming for decades to come.

Summary

The Pacific Coast Highway and its beaches
Santa Monica
Malibu, all the way to the north

The Pacific Coast Highway and its beaches

Unless you live in the area, you go to the beach by car. It's worth noting that almost all Californians have a car, and that's how they get around the city. Its size makes it a necessity.

The Pacific Coast Highway starts in Los Angeles and heads up towards San Francisco. It follows the coastline, offering some of the most beautiful panoramas in the United States. It's the perfect way to go from beach to beach. Starting from the south, with San Diego at your back, you will wind your way along the few most emblematic kilometres leading to these beaches, starting with Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

La très belle plage de Santa Monica

Huntington Beach is a mecca for surfers. Located in Orange County, the beach is a must and Huntington Pier, its wooden jetty, a model for other beaches. At the end of the pier is Ruby's Restaurant, where time stands still for a meal.

Continue up Ocean Av. still on the Pacific Coast Highway, just a few kilometres from Disneyland in Anaheim (we're still in Los Angeles). You're now on Ocean Boulevard, with Delray Beach and its blue parasols on your left.

La plage de Huntington Beach, la tranquillité dans la lumière des Anges.

You will then have to cross the town of Long Beach. It has a vast port area and some of the busiest activity in the world. You might as well go straight for a swim at Rosie's Dog Beach or Alamitos Bay (it's not far from Paramount Studios!). Further down the road comes Rancho Palos Verdes, which isn't really a seaside resort. It's an area of small cliffs and inlets that aren't very accessible.

To the north, past Torrance, you'll once again have miles of fine sandy beaches to choose from! Inglewood, Santa Monica and Malibu are all within easy reach.

La plage de Santa Monica

Santa Monica

Venice Beach

This 2.5 km long promenade with its famous beach is the scene of many activities. Inline skating, ball games and bicycles are all part of the fun on this legendary beach.

The beaches of Los Angeles, California's version of the American way of life.

Sport and the cult of the body

Venice Beach and its promenade offer a wide range of sports, including skateboarding, cycling, Frisbee, beach ball and gymnastics. A section of the beach, called Muscle Beach, is dedicated to bodybuilding in general and bodybuilding in particular.

Un skateparc affiche complet sur Venice beach depuis sa création, il y a quelques années.

And always surfing...

It was here that Arnold Schwarzenegger first came to prominence before embarking on his celebrated film career, the prologue to his political career as Governor of California. This is one of the cradles of body culture, because Americans are pragmatic. If you're going to show off, you might as well put on a good show. It was also on one of these beaches that Stallone ran with Carl Weathers at the end of Rocky III, flaunting his perfect bodies. Showing off on Venice Beach in this way is, in a way, access to universality.

The Strand

Also in Santa Monica, on Hermosa Beach, The Strand is the cycle path that runs from Will Rogers State Beach to South Bay Beach. It's an athlete's paradise, where you can rollerblade in shorts or a bikini. It's an essential part of Californian folklore.

A deux roues sur le Strand de Santa Monica.

Pacific Park

Just a stone's throw away is Pacific Park, with its attractions and restaurants serving seafood, fish and chips and burgers. Santa Monica Beach is famous for the Pacific Wheel in the Pacific Park amusement park, which contains the historic Looff Hippodrome Carousel and the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

Pacific Park sur le fameux et iconique Santa Monica Pier.

The Santa Monica Pier is the place where all the beach-goers, local residents, children and teenagers from the surrounding area and, of course, tourists converge. It's a resort with a concentration of attractions and restaurants. The spirit of the funfair, where whipped cream and ice creams have replaced candyfloss!

La fameuse Pacific Wheel vue à travers les rails du roller coaster.

S'amuser, se détendre, profiter de ses amis. Loisirs californiens au Pacific Park du Santa Monica Pier.

Where and what to eat on Santa Monica Pier?

As you'll see, there's no shortage of options: Mexican at Maria Sol, hamburgers or hot dogs at Pier Burger, a variety of cuisine at Perry's Cafe (omelettes, burgers, various salads). And prawns and other seafood in all their glory at Gump Bubba, plus Californian salads.

🍽 Le Maria Sol

If you like Tex-Mex food, we recommend Le Maria Sol, which is located on Santa Monica's wooden pier. Its terrace is large and you're right on the sea, with a panoramic view of the horizon, the ocean, the beach and the city. What a delight! In terms of food, the restaurant serves gourmet Mexican cuisine at lunchtime or in the evening. Not cheap, but hearty. Their signature: giant margaritas. Just the thing to get you in the mood!

Address

401 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica.

💰 Prices

Expect to pay between $15 and $20 for a dish (tacos, enchiladas and burritos), and up to $33.95 for fajitas. Sodas are $5.

🔗 Its website

See here

No reservations. "We seat on a first come, first serve basis. "

🍽 Au Bubba Gump

A must! Here, they've invented a whole cuisine around prawns, in homage to the film Forrest Gump! But you can also eat salmon, seafood, Cajun jambalaya, fish & chips and salads.

📍 Address

301 Santa Monica Pier Building 9, Santa Monica.

⏰ Opening times

Open every day from 11am to 9pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Until 22:00 on Thursdays and Sundays. And until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

📞 His phone number

310-393-0458

🔗 His web page

See here

🍽 At Perry's Cafe

Perry's Cafe serve a variety of cuisine from Mexican burritos to hamburgers, turkey sausages, omelettes and pancakes. Bikes can be hired here!

📍 Address

Perry's Cafe has several addresses in the area, the first of which is on the beach, behind the Santa Monica pier in Pacific Park. For all the addresses, see this

⏰ Opening times

Perry's Cafe closes early (7pm), and even 6.30pm on Fridays. Check the link above for full opening times and closing days, depending on the restaurant.

To find out more about the other food and drink spots on this pier, click here. Pizzas at Pacific Wheel Pizza Co., American pies at Funnel Cake Factory and ice creams at Scoops Ice Cream & Treats!

Sur le Santa Monica Pier, vous trouverez toujours un petit quelque chose à manger.

Where to eat a really good burger on Santa Monica Pier

On the pier, it's joy, excitement and greed!

There's no shortage of places to get a burger, especially as you can eat them even in restaurants that don't specialise in them, like Perry's Café.

But for burger specialists, it's this way:

🍽 Le Pier Burger 🍔

The Pier Burger, Last Burger on Land, serves up the standards of American fast food, and we're in for a treat! Their ice creams are to die for. And what's more, it's really cheap!

📍 Address

330 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica.

⏰ Opening times

Monday to Thursday: 9am to 10pm Friday to Sunday: 8am to 10pm.

📞 Phone

310-587-2747

💰 Prices

The cheese burger (Pier burger) is between $6.25 (single) and $8.95 (double). The hamburger is $1 less than the cheese burgers. The hot dog is around $6.

🔗 Its web page

See here

🍽 Le Beach Burger 🍔

Here you can eat the must-try burgers and cheeseburgers, but also sandwiches and salads with roast chicken, and garlic or chilli fries!

📍 Address

380 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica.

⏰ Opening times

Times vary from day to day, and a calendar is online here

📞 Phone

310-260-8744

🔗 His web page

See here

On ne peut pas la rater ! La boutique du Beach Burger.

Eclat de joie à Pacific Park !

Malibu, all the way to the north

Surfrider Beach

Surfing is in the DNA of many Angels who spend a lot of time on the beach. This is because surfing is both a tradition and a sport, and a symbol of freedom, carefreeness, communion with nature and youth. The cult of the perfect body is no stranger to this.

Here, we're not really in Los Angeles any more, but still in its county, at Malibu Lagoon State Beach. This is an eminent surfing spot, nestling in Malibu Bay, which lies to the very north, between the sea and the mountains.

Topanga beach

Malibu is a community of over 12,000 inhabitants in Los Angeles County. It gained worldwide fame thanks to a famous TV series that chronicled the adventures of its lifeguards camped out on the beach. Ironically, the flagship beach that the series showed from every angle was not this one, far too small for the series' ambitions. Everything was shot on Venice Beach.

Topanga Beach, intimate compared to L.A.'s other huge beaches.

Venice Beach at sunset.

by Jude JONES | Staff Writer

Jude Jones is a writer and editor from Manchester, England. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in History and Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge. He has a keen interest in art, film and literature.

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