Santa Monica Beach Vacations are fun vacations or weekend getaways primarily because there are so many great hotels right at the beach. With no major streets to cross, you can access the beach easily day or night. Possibly the most popular beach in L.A. County for tourists, there are many reasons it holds great interest.

First, there's more star power at Santa Monica beaches than any other L.A. beaches that offer hotels as vacation destinations. Your chance of seeing celebrities is fairly good. On a recent visit, we saw David Hasselhoff just hanging out.

Next, Santa Monica is the closest vacation beach to Hollywood, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. You can get across town to the beach in the quickest time when staying in those cities and heading for Santa Monica beaches. It means that you have the option of staying inland or staying at the beach, essentially.

Finally, of all the Los Angeles County beaches, Santa Monica offers the most entertainment, most shopping, most dining and most hotels and resorts of any beach cities or beach vacation spots.  While there are some great beaches that are developing their tourism base such as Long Beach that now offers an exciting Pine Avenue music and night scene, in addition to cruises and boats to Catalina, Santa Monica still has the beaches near or on the sand. That's worth all the tea in China, finding hotels on beaches in Southern California.

In Los Angeles County there are over 70 miles of coastline with lots of fantastic beaches to enjoy. Ranging from laid back, tucked away Long Beach peninsula 72nd Street Beach to the busy, bustling Redondo Beach, popular for volleyball and pier fishing, and neighborhood Manhattan with its aquarium on the pier or Hermosa where surfers like to go,  keep moving north to Venice, the muscle beach, and Santa Monica, the pleasure palace of Los Angeles County beaches. A fantastic pier features an old-fashioned amusement and fun zone that great to stroll along. Ride a solar operated Ferris wheel or try some miniature golf, then grab a snack right on the Santa Monica Pier.

Just below the pier and right outside the door of hotels such as Loews and LeMerigot you can take the kids to playgrounds or fool around like a kid, yourself.  There are usually chess games going on for relaxing games. Or ride, jog or skate the cement path that runs along the beach.

Not far from the sandy beach are two dining and shopping areas in addition to the beach offerings.

If you need to get away and have some fun for a day, weekend or week-long vacation, head to Santa Monica, the beach destination for all ages and interests.