Santa Barbara to Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles, Oxnard: apartments, houses, construction)

[stlmomof2]

My husband and I will be spending 1 1/2 days in Santa Barbara and then driving down to Manhattan Beach. Any tips for our drive? I was also wondering how bad traffic will be for our Saturday mid-day drive. We are trying to figure out how long the trip will be.

This is our first time in California so any other info would be appreciated! We will have 1 1/2 days in Manhattan Beach. Thanks!

[BRinSM]

without traffic it can be done in 2 hours, but i'd count on closer to 3. and since it's going to take that long, you may at least make a day of it and take PCH from the Ventura area through Malibu to Santa Monica. beyond that, you might as well hop on the 405 for the rest of the route, the city street route through venice, westchester and LAX isn't very exciting.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by stlmomof2

I was also wondering how bad traffic will be for our Saturday mid-day drive.

Be careful as PCH can get really bad traffic from Malibu Canyon to Manhattan Beach (both directions) on warm weekend days.

Check google maps traffic and zero in on this area to see real time traffic.

[Beth56]

Originally Posted by Charles

Be careful as PCH can get really bad traffic from Malibu Canyon to Manhattan Beach (both directions) on warm weekend days.

Agree. I would leave Santa Barbara early in the morning, say 8:00 AM. You might avoid some of the beach traffic. Afternoons are bad.

But taking the coast route is beautiful!

[smartchoiceresume]

Traveling along Pacifc Coast Highway, and once you enter Los Angeles County, you'll definitely see more traffic. Venice, Santa Monica and Manahattan Beach hosts a number of events and festivals in the summer and it can be very congested.

[Charles]

Also, As we've written in a few posts above, the traffic can be bad once you pass Malibu Canyon Road. It's about from there that the drive southbound actually isn't that scenic. On PCH from MCR south to Santa Monica Pier mostly what you'll see is grungy tacky worn out old business, beach houses, powerlines, trashcans in front of the beach houses, a couple of restaurants, parked cars, construction material, and a few glimpses of the ocean. Once you're past the pier you're either on ugly Lincoln or boring Neilson/Pacific or trendy Main towards Venice. Nothing that interesting to see on Pacific except apartments. Main is lots of shops, coffee joints, pizza, bars. You'll wind around Marina Del Rey on Sepulveda - nothing special there until you wind up in Manhattan Beach. The other option from SM Pier is to get on 10 to 405 to Rosecrans.

[1200RT]

PCH would be the ideal route ... unless you've got a time constraint. I drive (or ride) to/from Santa Barbara almost every weekend via PCH.

[Bruin5]

I make the coastal 101/1 commute quite often as I go back and forth between the Central Coast and Los Angeles to visit family. Keep in mind there's construction going on around Milpas and the freeway. So you might want to leave early/ Take PCH once in Oxnard- once you leave the city limits proper and hit the coast you'll be in for some good views. Plenty of places to park and take in the ocean views. Like the above posters said, you'll transition from the one to Lincoln in Santa Monica. Lincoln becomes the one via the 10 Freeway. I would urge you to take that until you reach Culver Blvd. Take it into Playa Del Rey, which will eventually lead you to Vista Del Mar.