Hollywood, famous for movie stars, is also home to famous beaches from Malibu to Santa Monica. Los Angeles County has 33 listings on its Beaches and Harbors site, but two are not beaches. The University of Southern California used GPS to map 90 beach areas, but several are piers and other non-beach sites, and some are private.
To the north, fabled Malibu is a surfers' paradise, while Santa Monica State Beach is wide and divided by the famous pier. Venice City Beach is famed for street performers and home of "Muscle Beach."
Santa Monica is the perfect idea of a beach, with Hermosa and Manhattan farther south on the Pacific Coast Highway doing their best perfect beach imitations in a competitive field.
Malibu catches riding waves while lesser-known Zuma is the ultimate SoCal Beach with four miles of surf and sand. Dockweiler State Beach near LAX has waves, allows bonfires and has an RV park.
Marina/Mother's Beach and Marine Park/Mother's Beach offer protected waters ideal for families. Manhattan Beach's beach volleyball courts are also family friendly and Alamitos Bay's beach is protected with mild surf.
Most of California's and Los Angeles's 1,000 miles of beach are public--but not all (like Paradise Cove in Malibu). Some L.A. beach areas are recreational. Marine Stadium is a rowing and waterskiing spot, while others are viewpoints: you can see whales and the lighthouse from Point Vicente, but there's no beach.
