Hermosa Beach or Redondo Beach? (Santa Monica, Malibu: apartments, townhomes, live)

[Larkinhill]

Just moved to LA(hollywood area) three weeks ago with my wife and 20-month old daughter. We're going to the beach tomorrow and can't decide between Hermosa and Redondo. We've been to Manhattan and like it alot, but want to go somewhere new...which is why we can't really decide which. They seem pretty similar.

So, which one do you prefer? Is parking a nightmare at either beach?

Thanks in advance!

[KnoxTown]

Hermosa is alot of fun. Cool pier, good restaurants, and lots of shops for you guys to check out.

[Sorcerer68]

Redondo is the nicest beach with good geographic Feng Shui to boot.

[JesusisLord]

I've lived here for 22 years.

Hermosa-More party atmosphere, younger crowd, more congested on streets and homes bunched together, less families, hardly any parking for family and friends if west of Pacific Coast Highway. More of a beach culture.

Redondo-Much less beach culture than Hermosa, more families, more younger families moving into the area. Much more spread out, alot of townhomes and apartments ALOT!! More diversity. Probably less neighbor oriented than Hermosa Beach in some areas. Some streets are only one way.

I didn't even read the OP comment until now, ha!

[BRinSM]

if its not too late, parking should be easier in redondo since they have the giant structure near the pier/king harbor area.

[Drowningintherain2]

My vote goes to Redondo, more chill beach expierence. Hermosa would be more fun if you were looking to pary though. But with a kid I think you would prefer Redondo.

[JTGJR]

Ditto Redondo. No way I'd take a 2-year old to Hermosa on a weekend. But, I think you'll find you'll have liked Manhattan better.

[normie]

Redondo's my favorite, but Hermosa's little shops, bars, and restaurants are great too.

If you want a more "natural" beach away from crowds, try RAT beach. (It stands for R.edondo A.nd T.orrance, not furry little rodents). It's at the southernmost end of Redondo, where it curves into the PV peninsula. Lots of tide pools to explore.

If you have a lot of energy to burn and a lot of time, you can try walking around the edge of the PV peninsula to find the remains of an old ship wreck. Warning: This involves a lot of scrambling over rocks, and the wreck isn't that impressive anymore.

But it's a cool thing to do. You see a lot of beautiful scenery, and my favorite thing is that when you're walking along this little bit of shoreline you can actually look in any direction and not see any evidence of mankind (except boats on the water). That's an awesome thing to be able to do in LA County.

[SusieSlimms]

long beach is better than both !

[Larkinhill]

Thanks for all the info! We settled on Hermosa(were only two comments at that time) and we loved it...it was pretty sparse as far as people go, but it was fairly early. We'll try Redondo next time, but our favorite is still Manhattan at this point(having been there, Hermosa, Venice, Santa Monica). We've been to Malibu, but it was a few years ago and we just hopped onto the beach for a minute.