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Southern California
beach sunset above is actually a daytime sun photo with
a star filter creating a burst of light shaped like a
star.
Southern California
Beaches, California's warmest beaches, offer fantastic fun all year long. Surfboards,
sand, sunshine and swimming are the ingredients for a
wonderful vacation at the sunniest beaches and best
weather on the California Coast. Beach cities
considered in the southern region include Oxnard,
Ventura and
Los Angeles beaches, Malibu, Santa Monica, Catalina Island beaches,
Venice Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo
Beach, Torrance Beach, San Pedro, Palos Verdes and Long
Beach. Los Angeles beaches are generally flat, sand
beaches and are for the most part operated by the Los
Angeles County beaches department. These beaches are
some of the busiest, most trafficked beaches in the U.S.
and are not only vital to location film shoots for the
movie industry (remember Bay Watch, Gidget, etc.?) but
are also entertainment and relaxation venues for
millions of visitors each year.
Bordering Los Angeles
are the
Orange County beaches of Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach,
Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach and San Clemente.
The OC Beaches begin with flat, sand beaches on the
border of Los Angeles County and end in the south
beaches some 40 to 50 mile distance at Laguna Beach,
Dana Point and San Clemente where they sit at the base
of cliffs. Accessibility in Laguna Beach and the other
southern beach cities of Orange County is somewhat
limited by parking and stair-climbing, though each of
the cities to the south has one beach that's large
enough to attract volumes of tourists, vacationers and
locals.
Oceanside,
Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solano Beach, La
Jolla, San Diego's Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean
Beach, Imperial Beach and Coronado Island.
What you'll find at
these beaches on the Pacific Ocean are usually medium to
pale tan-colored sand, some coves, some cliffs and lots
of waves. The summer water temperatures seldom peak
above 70 degrees and winter temperatures usually do not
drop below 57 degrees. Air temperatures at the Southern
California beaches and beach
cities are around 76 daytime and 68 nights during
the summer months of July through October. Winter
temperatures are around 69 degrees during the day and 56
at night (these numbers are averages and don't reflect
the rare but occasional extremes of over 100 degrees or
below freezing.)
The beach scene is a
mix of ages, sizes and backgrounds but teens and
students are the most noticeable in the summertime when
they have time on their hands to socialize and enjoy
the lifestyle Southern California has gained a
reputation for—California cool. For tourists
escaping the Nevada and Arizona heat, cool is where it's
at. You'll also find people from around the globe
visiting the Southern California beaches.
California ranks as the top destination in the U.S.
and Los Angeles is the top city to visit. It features
Universal Studios Hollywood and many theme parks, movies
stars and attractions, and it also features beaches.
One factor that
delineates a Southern California beach from other
California beaches is the ocean temperature. The
temperature of the Pacific Ocean waters acts as an air
conditioner during the summer months, blowing cool
breezes onshore. In the winter, the same water acts like
a heater, keeping the coastal cities a gentle, moderate
temperature. An effect caused by the Alaskan cold water
ocean current keeps the northern and some Central
California beaches cooler, however. This current of cold
water travels from Alaska to the north and stops around
Point Conception, a weather monitoring location 50
nautical miles west of Santa Barbara.
Southern California
beaches enjoy amusements and the top theme park in
California, Disneyland, 15 miles from the Orange
County beaches that are part of the Southern California
Beach experience. By county, Southern California
Beaches include Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San
Diego Counties. The photos on this section attempt to
provide a flavor of the beaches at their peak. For
an ordinary beach experience, be sure to check out each
featured city where beach photos are included that tend
to be more scenic and represent the overall look you'll
see most of the year. Believe it or not, Southern
California's population exceeds 15 million but on the
majority of days, you can walk to the beach and find the
scene serene, un-crowded and simply pleasant.
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