What beach is good for kids?

[KristyKenna]

We are doing five days at Disney and want to go to the beach for one day and maybe check out hollywood for one day. I'm not sure what is a good beach though. Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, any other beach that I don't know the name of. I've never been to anyone of them. I have heard some have ferries out to island's. What would you recommend? Thanks!

 

[undertheseas]

Bumping this up because I have the exact same question!

 

[tigger1514]

Corona Del Mar state beach is a good beach for little ones. (not a lot of big waves) And it's easy to find parking,,,they have a big parking lot but you have to pay to park. Corona Del Mar is right next to Newport, but on the other side of the channel. As far as ferrys go, there is a small ferry that goes from the newport pennisula to Balboa Island. It takes like 3 minutes, but the little ones might find it fun. There is usually a long line to take the ferry in your car though (esp. on weekends). Huntington might be a good beach for kids too. I am not sure how big the waves are there...haven't been there in years. Parking at Huntington is pretty good. They have a pay for use parking lot. Some parts of Newport Beach are better for kids than others (Balboa has a sharp drop off into the water, so I wouldn't recommend it for kids) Plus parking at Newport is a pain...,mostly street parking and you have to money for the meters. Hope that helps.
Mary

 

[blue donkey]

I'm not sure how old your children are but,
-if they like tide pools, then why not try Laguna Beach Crystal Cove (it's a bit farther than newport or hb)
-or, if they like to play in the water w/boogie boards, I think you can rent them from Huntington Surf & Sport or Jack's near the pier in HB. Remember though the water is cold, IMO.
-if you're looking more for a boardwalk with games, Balboa Island might be your bet

 

[Bess92]

The night after our cruise we are staying at Embassy Suites N at LAX. Since the cruise will get in early, we were trying to find things to do for the day. Is there a beach that we would be able to get to fairly easy? Thank you for your help.

 

[disney-inspired]

I like Huntington and Santa Monica. Both have piers

 

[arliepooh68]

i grew up going to balboa, the plus to balboa is not so much the beach, but the arcade place, they have some dinky rides, a place called pizza pete's or pete's pizza that has really good pizza, my DH likens it to new york style. . .

the negatives are the waves, they crash right there practically on the beach. . . and it has the drop off towards the water, and yes as a kid I "rode the beach!" up and down when a wave caught me off guard. . . the plus to this is you do not have to do the shuffle so much cuz the stingrays don't tend to hang out right there. . .

the beach on the other side of the the *****ula is corona del mar, I THINK IS THE NAME, and that has a nice beach, but nothing extra . . if you go to balboa they ahve all those boats that do the bay cruise, on one fo them it takes you past what i call the rocks, but there is a small alcove area where parts of gilligan's island was filmed. . . we thought that was cool . . .

 

[blue donkey]

The night after our cruise we are staying at Embassy Suites N at LAX. Since the cruise will get in early, we were trying to find things to do for the day. Is there a beach that we would be able to get to fairly easy? Thank you for your help.

I'd say you're best bet may be Manhattan Beach. It has a pier, walking downtown area, surfers, soft sand & a tiny, tiny aquarium on the pier. You can rent a bike & ride along the beach for miles & miles.

 

[NWPrincess]

I think Newport is awesome because Balboa has some really, really old rides/attractions which might interest kids.

The ferry to Balboa island is kinda fun too because it's a really small boat (if I remember right, it's been almost 7 years) that you sit in. The actually island though is filled with shops and rich people's houses Haha! so I don't know how "kid friendly" that is.

A really nice place though and a really neat experience.