Beach nearby???

[Brika]

Hi everyone.

We will be going to DL and want to avoid traffic so we're planning to be there around 1:00 pm. We are staying at the Camelot and we want to go and pick up our getawaytoday tickets at DL ticket center before they close.

We plan to do this around one... know we can't check in early and don't want to waste a park hopper day on 5 hours... so we're thinking of driving to a beach nearby to walk around. Our girls are 5 and 2... any suggestions? Anything close?


Thanks!

 

[MATTERHORN]

We really like Newport Beach. It's about a 15-20 minute drive depending on traffic.

 

[HydroGuy]

Another vote for Newport Beach.

 

[mikayla73]

Another Newport Beach vote here. We have gone there everytime we go to DL. We eat at Charlies Chili, swim and hang out at the beach, then I grab a frozen choc covered cheesecake and DH gets a frozen banana and we wonder around. I can't wait to go in May/June!!

 

[TwingleMum]

Can you give all of us newbies detailed directions???? Living on the "right" coast I thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing the other ocean. Will it be warm enough @ March 25 to go to the beach???? Thanks you guys are the best!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Can you give all of us newbies detailed directions???? Living on the "right" coast I thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing the other ocean. Will it be warm enough @ March 25 to go to the beach???? Thanks you guys are the best!

It may be warm enough to hang in the sand and play, but we hardly swim in May or September because the water is FREEZING for me at that time of year. But you may be brave being used to colder weather and colder water!!!


Andrea

 

[HydroGuy]

Can you give all of us newbies detailed directions???? Living on the "right" coast I thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing the other ocean. Will it be warm enough @ March 25 to go to the beach???? Thanks you guys are the best!

The earliest I would consider going in the ocean in SoCal would be May. No way in March. Even in May the water will be cold. Heck, even in mid-summer the water is cold - just not as cold.

If you went to the beach in March it would be to walk the boardwalk, eat some food, walk on the pier, and possibly wade in the ocean. But it will be too cold to swim.

Directions should be easy enough to find on MapQuest. From memory, you would take 5 south to 55, and then head west to Newport Beach.

 

[zelda1rn]

We will be there on Mar 25 also....staying until Mar 30....we hope that our goodneighbor hotel will let us add on that Friday night the 30th, and then leave bright and early on Sat. I was wondering about the water at that time also...never been to any ocean and can't wait to see it. I had many folks tell me that Newport is the best for our DD's (11, 9, 6).

 

[spazzyjazzy]

I guess I will be hitting up Newport Beach for my summer vacation trip. We always take a day off from DL and do something else. Newport Beach here we come.

 

[DisQueen]

Newport is nice. It's a beautiful area. I don't think it will be warm enough to swim. The water is really cold that time of year. Beach/sand play will be fun and it's a great place to hang out. Of course, I'm a wimp and the water is barely warm enough for me in August.

 

[TwingleMum]

Will it be warm enough the last week of March to swim at our DLR hotel????

 

[DisQueen]

Probably because the pool is heated, the area is more sheltered than a beach, and inland will be warmer than Newport. Most importantly, kids don't care about temperature when swimming in a fun pool. DS will be blue and still deny that it's too cold.

 

[stampinshauna]

Huntington Beach is also a decent public beach. If you want to go for just a bit to walk along the sand, park at a meter instead of the $10 parking lot. It is just West of Disneyland.

 

[mamatojade]

Can either of those beaches be reached by public transport from the DL area?

 

[stampinshauna]

Back in 2001 we took the bus (got on on Harbor) and it took us to Huntington Beach. It was sloooow! I thought it a bit of an adventure, but my neighbors weren't too thrilled that it wound around through neighborhoods and made like 20 stops before getting us to the beach over an hour later. I don't think I'd recommend the bus unless you have a lot of patience or a lot of time to waste. It seemed like our return bus was more direct, but it still took a fair amount of time. You may want to look into renting a car for a day. There are several car rental companies nearby that may even come pick you up (we used Hertz on Katella and they picked us up so we could go rent the car--about 1 mile from Disneyland).

 

[Albort]

Can either of those beaches be reached by public transport from the DL area?

there probably is but the beach is awefully far though.

 

[mamatojade]

I'm hoping not to need the car seat, so trying to stick with buses and walking. That way, I can just carry all of our luggage on board and not need to wait for checked luggage to arrive.

 

[stampinshauna]

I'm hoping not to need the car seat, so trying to stick with buses and walking. That way, I can just carry all of our luggage on board and not need to wait for checked luggage to arrive.

Most car rental companies have carseats that you can get (for a small fee).

 

[mamatojade]

Thanks, I did look into that, but they are $10 per day, so I would probably just bring DD's own seat as that would add up pretty quickly.

 

[casaazul]

It may look close, but it does take almost 30 minutes plus to get to the coast. Traffic lights, traffic, etc make for a long trip to the ocean.

The ocean is wonderful no matter what time of year. If you want to visit the west coast, go for it!!!! Wading in the water, collecting shells, playing in the sand, all are great fun!!!

Huntington Beach is my favorite, and Laguna and Newport are fun too