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Huntington Beach
is the Southern
California vacation station. It is
close to the L.A. and Disneyland
action, yet beach-based for
vacations that integrate the best of
big city life with laid back beach
cool. When you first enter the town
of 200,000 along Beach Boulevard or
Pacific Coast Highway, you'll wonder
what's so special about this place.
Lots of traffic, signage and urban
noise may greet you, depending on
which entrance welcomes you. From
the south on "Coast Highway" you'll
see a huge water treatment facility
and power generating plant with
smokestacks spewing white smoke into
the air and you'll wonder why
there's so much hype here. But hang
on. Like most cities, there are the
signs of industry. And with that,
you can't exactly call it paradise.
But those who've visited and decided
to stay think it's not too far off
the mark.
Those eyesores that
unfortunately permeate other beach
cities such as Carlsbad, Redondo
Beach and even Oxnard do not seem to
hurt tourism one bit. Like
Huntington Beach, they sit in one
small place and do not dominate the
landscape. So don't be put off.
Investigate the downtown hub, Main
Street and the Huntington Beach Pier
to catch the beach vibe.
While Laguna Beach to the south has
gorgeous coves, tide pools, diving,
romance and art, its parking is
quite difficult for accessing over
20 beaches in tucked away
neighborhoods. Huntington Beach, on
the other hand, has flat
expanses of sand that stretch on for
miles. Big cement parking lots are
equipped to handle millions
(literally) of visitors each year.
Huntington Beach is the every man's
beach with easy parking, ample sand,
and the welcome sign that draws the
L.A. and Riverside crowd to the
shores for a little R&R. For
tourists seeking a relaxed
Southern California vacation,
Huntington Beach is great for an
overnight stay, or for a beach home
base to daytrips. What tourists like
to do is come stay a night or two
for the beach, then book rooms
closer to the Disneyland theme park
or L.A. for another portion of the
stay.
The
coastal city located in Orange
County is conveniently close to
several major airports (Orange
County Airport, Long Beach Airport
and Los Angeles International
Airport), making it an ideal
destination or beach escape. Home to Boeing Space Shuttle and
8 miles of beaches, Huntington Beach
is not only a nice place to live,
but also offers miles of sandy beaches that are
largely undeveloped. Huntington
Beach beaches attracts huge crowds during
the summer months, offering a cool
spot when the weather gets
hot at the inland communities
that can sometimes swelter.
Ideal for tourists seeking a low
stress vacation or overnight stay at
the beach when visiting Disneyland,
there are no hotels directly on the
beach though several are across the
street. The luxury hotels include
two 4 Diamond AAA resorts, a Hilton
and a Hyatt. For those willing to
pay $200 upwards, you may receive an
ocean view room (though they cost
more), easy access to the beach and
all that it affords. There are no
major tourist attractions other than
the beach in Huntington Beach, but
nearby offerings include Newport
Beach boats to Catalina, Long Beach
and Los Angeles cruise ships,
Aquarium of the Pacific (Long
Beach), Disneyland, Knott's Berry
Farm, South Coast Plaza shopping,
Orange County Performing Arts Center
in Costa Mesa and a variety of local
bars, pubs, nightlife and dining.
Family vacations, surfing vacations,
kids vacations, couples romantic
getaways and singles on a sports
escape are all served well in
Huntington Beach. With low stress,
you can relax and kick back,
enjoying the simple things such as
building sandcastles and taking
summer strolls. A paved jog
path that's made of concrete
stretches between Sunset Beach and
ends at Newport Beach's famous body
surfing spot, "The Wedge." For those
on a roll, be it renting some roller
blades at Zack's Beach Rentals (714)
536-0215, a bike, or
jogging, you can get around 26 miles
of round trip exercise. But
for the distance bicyclist, a
connecting trail goes an additional
25 miles inland along the Santa Ana
River.
Huntington Beach and California are
event driven. Major events
usually run 2 to 8 days and include
surfing competitions, marathons,
concerts, 4th of July parade and
even a paintball competition on the
beach. The hotel rooms often
sell out for the major events, but
there are plenty of days throughout
the year to enjoy overnight or
weekend stays in Huntington Beach.
HUNTINGTON BEACH LINKS TO FUN
New:
HB Chamber's
Pam Wilkinson now CEO Am.Canyonon Chamber
Bikini Body @HB
Skin Spa
Sunset Yellow
Sunset Pink Sky
Attractions
& Events
Beaches
Hotels
Food - Dining
Stores -Shop
Video- Photo
Beaches
Bicycling
Farmer's Market
Bird Murals
Clubs & Orgs
Sunset Gondola Ride
Where to
play:
Adventure
Playground
Boys & Girls Club
California Dog Beaches
Surf Museum Exhibit
What to see & do:
Number
4th of July
Parade
A -
Aerial photo Huntington Beach
AVP Pro Beach
Volleyball
B -
Bicycling
Bingo
Bird Murals
Body
Piercing - Tommy T's
C -
Car Cruisers Show Cruise of
Lights
City Beach
D -
Duck-a-thon
F -
Film efforts in Huntington Beach
G -
Giant Surfboard
Harbors & marinas Golden West College
Golf Courses Gondola
Ride
Grunion Run
H -
Halloween on Main
HB Concours
d'Elegance Hellogoodbye band
Huck Finn Fishing Derby
Huntington Beach High School
architecture
I -
Interfaith Day @ Beach
J -
Jan & Dean Band
K -
Kayaking
M -
Massage Envy
Monster Surfboard Record
P -
Pacific
Shoreline Marathon
R -
Running is for the Birds
S -
Skateboard Dog
Southern California beaches
State Beaches
Sunset Gondola Ride
Surfer Statue
Surf Theatre
U -
US Open of
Surfing
W -
Wetlands inlet
Where to eat:
Luggatti's
Taste of Huntington Beach
Chimayo at the Beach Guy-Kaku Japanese BBQ Dining Spark Woodfire Grill
Huntington Beach Bars and Clubs
Where to stay: Hilton
Waterfront Beach Resort
Hyatt
Regency Huntington Beach Resort and
Spa
Beach Weddings
Spa vacation
Tennis vacation
Hotels 4 Diamond
Huntington Beach Vacation Getaway
Huntington
Beach Vacation
Misc:
Population -
top 25
Huntington Beach slide
shows:
Main Street slide show
Pier slide show
BBJAZZ slide show
Emergency Operations
Center slide show
Downtown HB Halloween slide show
Bolsa Chica wetlands birds slide show
Vacation sunset slide show
Huntington Beach videos:
Street Dancers Huntington Beach
Video
Golden West College
Pumpkin Patch
Golden West College Swap
Meet
Huntington Beach
photos:
Huntington Beach
Customer Appreciation Day
The Eliminators surf band at
Bella Terra mall grand opening
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