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Old 05-06-2019, 01:19 PM
 
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
98 posts, read 62,608 times
Reputation: 73

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Hi first of all let me introduce myself: I am a Brazilian software engineer who works for an American company based on San Francisco, CA. My company offers a 3-month cultural exchange program in which I can work from the San Francisco office and then return to Brazil to resume my work from the office down here.

My wife and 2 daughters who are 5 and 7 years old are going with me in this trip. We realized that the plane tickets to LA are much cheaper than SF so we are planning to go to LA and then go to San Francisco by bus or whatever is less expensive. That will give us the opportunity to get to know some nice places in California before starting to work in SF.

We love the beach and, as we are going in the last week of July, the weather will be appropriate for spending a few days by the ocean. So my first idea was going from the LA airport straight to Santa Monica. I've seen some pictures of Santa Monica and it seems like a perfect place with parks and rides for the kids to have fun.

However, when I started searching for hotels I've found the prices very expensive and, as we are on a tight budget, we will have to stay in a low cost hotel, like this one:
Ocean Park Inn Santa Monica, CA - About Us

But I was thinking, Santa Monica is a famous beach that attracts thousands of tourists every week so maybe it is overpriced? Maybe there is a less know, small town at the beach that could offer the same kind of fun and have more friendly prices for hotels and restaurants?

We don't care about nightlife, shopping malls, museums or things like that. We are more into nature, spending hours at the beach, actually swimming in the ocean, parks and inexpensive fun rides for the kids.

We would stay for 3 or 4 days in this place before our road trip to SF so ideally it would be a place heading north, so we would be going in the right direction, but not to far away from LA because we will be getting there after a 15 hour flight. On our way back to Brazil the plan is to rent a car and go through highway 1 from SF back to LA and stop in places like Monterey, Carmelo, San Luis Obispo, etc... We found plenty of information about this road trip from SF to LA. But I cannot find info about a small town at the beach to stay on our arrival.

Advice will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Last edited by Jose Clua; 05-06-2019 at 02:16 PM..
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Old 05-06-2019, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
1,231 posts, read 1,661,389 times
Reputation: 1821
You may want to consider staying in the beach cities south of LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) such as Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach or Redondo Beach. These are more laid back and less commercialized areas. The lodgings generally less expensive than what you would find in Santa Monica or Venice:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/h....3892325,13.5z

If you're planning to travel down Highway 1/U.S. 101 from San Francisco, some other smaller charming beach towns to consider would be Cayucos, Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, Carpinteria and Ventura.

Cayucos, CA - California beach resort town visitor information

https://visitavilabeach.com/

https://www.pismobeach.org/

City of Carpinteria...Official Site

https://visitventuraca.com/
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Old 05-06-2019, 03:04 PM
 
4,317 posts, read 6,280,585 times
Reputation: 6116
If I were you, I'd stay at one of the hotels at LAX. That would be much cheaper and while not right on the beach, would only be a short drive to get there. The other option would be to stay in the San Fernando Valley, around Woodland Hills or something and do the drive to Santa Monica.
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Old 05-06-2019, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
98 posts, read 62,608 times
Reputation: 73
Thank you so much for your feedback. The hotels have a much better price indeed.

I will focus my research on Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.

And thank you for the beach towns ideas.

This is ver valuable info for us
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Old 05-06-2019, 03:22 PM
 
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
98 posts, read 62,608 times
Reputation: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadwarrior101 View Post
If I were you, I'd stay at one of the hotels at LAX. That would be much cheaper and while not right on the beach, would only be a short drive to get there. The other option would be to stay in the San Fernando Valley, around Woodland Hills or something and do the drive to Santa Monica.
Thanks that is a good idea as well. We do like to stay right on the beach though but depending on the price difference I would definitely consider that plan.
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Old 05-06-2019, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
1,231 posts, read 1,661,389 times
Reputation: 1821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jose Clua View Post
Thank you so much for your feedback. The hotels have a much better price indeed.

I will focus my research on Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.

And thank you for the beach towns ideas.

This is ver valuable info for us
You're very welcome. I think you and your family would enjoy the South Bay area beach cities. Another option near LAX is the Custom Hotel located on Lincoln Boulevard in Westchester. The rates are fairly reasonable.

https://www.customhotel.com/
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Old 05-06-2019, 03:58 PM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,390,729 times
Reputation: 9328
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jose Clua View Post
Hi first of all let me introduce myself: I am a Brazilian software engineer who works for an American company based on San Francisco, CA. My company offers a 3-month cultural exchange program in which I can work from the San Francisco office and then return to Brazil to resume my work from the office down here.

My wife and 2 daughters who are 5 and 7 years old are going with me in this trip. We realized that the plane tickets to LA are much cheaper than SF so we are planning to go to LA and then go to San Francisco by bus or whatever is less expensive. That will give us the opportunity to get to know some nice places in California before starting to work in SF.

.
You will need to rent a car to get around LA to the beaches, so plan on that. Unless you use Uber or taxis, but even that can be expensive.
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Old 05-06-2019, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
98 posts, read 62,608 times
Reputation: 73
The idea when arriving at the US is to stay at one beach close to LA for around 3 days. then go straight from LA to SF and then on our way back, 3 months later, rent a car and do the road trip from SF back to LA.
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Old 05-06-2019, 07:42 PM
 
Location: San Diego
5,736 posts, read 4,692,864 times
Reputation: 12811
Just north of Malibu is Oxnard, which has miles of empty beach. There are many hotels nearby, and cost about about 1/3 of what the Santa Monica hotels cost.
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Old 05-07-2019, 06:23 AM
 
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
98 posts, read 62,608 times
Reputation: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axxlrod View Post
Just north of Malibu is Oxnard, which has miles of empty beach. There are many hotels nearby, and cost about about 1/3 of what the Santa Monica hotels cost.
Hi Axxlrod,

Thank you so much. This is exactly what I was looking for!
I just watched a youtube video about Oxnard and it really seems to be a wonderful place:

https://youtu.be/ujL7QOx2pg0

Currently we are leaning towards Redondo beach or Oxnard. Which one have more things to to with small kids (5 and 7 year old girls)? Which one do you like best?

Thanks
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