Enjoy the Los Angeles Beach & Active Vacation like the locals on this 7 day/ 6 night vacation that’s great for families and couples that includes Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach or Catalina Island, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, West Hollywood and Downtown.

Los Angeles Beach and Active Southern California Vacation

Day 1: Arrive to Los Angeles

Check in at your hotel and enjoy the rest of your day in Huntington Beach! Huntington Beach is located about 37 miles from LAX in the north, 48 miles from Beverly Hills, and about 5 miles from Newport Beach in the south. With one of the largest recreational piers in California, a wildlife preserve, marina and biking, skiing, jogging and walking trails along the beach, this is a great place to enjoy the outdoors.

Spend your time at the beach, checking out the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve (popular with bird watchers and photographers) or enjoying one of Huntington Beach’s special events. On Saturdays, enjoy the art & craft market or Surf City Nights Street Fair. Summers bring the U.S. Open of Surfing, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Series and more.

Enjoy a beachfront escape in Huntington Beach

Day 2: Costa Mesa & Newport Beach

Costa Mesa is known as the home of action sports enthusiasts! Get in on the action with a morning skateboarding lesson— great for adults and kids!

Lunch Suggestions! Head to lunch at Wahoo’s Fish Taco, a Costa Mesa institution owned by Wing Lam, or walk around The Camp, a green, eco-friendly retail space dedicated to an active, healthy lifestyle mindful of environmentalism and supportive of the local community.

Spend some time this afternoon exploring Costa-Mesa Back Bay on a kayak, or Newport Beach /Balboa canals on a duffy. Newport Back Bay is the home of nearly 200 species of birds and serves as a sanctuary for migrating flocks. The back bay is also an important fishery habitat. The bay is usually a quiet place however during certain times of the day the calm is interrupted by the sound of planes taking off from nearby John Wayne Airport.

The Newport Bay Conservancy offers a 2-hour guided kayak tour through the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve with a Naturalist every Saturday and Sunday morning year-round. Kayak tours are conducted in partnership with the Newport Aquatic Center. They are great for both novices and experienced paddlers alike.

*Newport Aquatic Center asks that you carry kayaks to and from the water and wash off your kayak upon return. You may also be asked to return the kayak to its rack unless someone is waiting to use it. *To explore the bay, paddle boards are also available. Swimming is not allowed in the bay.

Dinner Recommendations: Keep it casual with Wahoo’s Fish Taco or back at The Camp or head to Vaca, where Chef Amar Santana of Top Chef fame, cooks up authentic Spanish tapas.

Day 3: Laguna Beach or Catalina Island

Option 1: Laguna Beach ocean morning and afternoon at leisure

Embark on a whale watching mini-cruise (year round). From finbacks and minkes to humpbacks and giant blue whales, plus several species of dolphin and seals that can be seen year round, you’re almost guaranteed a close encounter on a trip with this top local outfitter on a two-hour morning cruise. Want more depth? Choose to ‘swim with the dolphins’ in a special Eye-to-Eye Underwater Viewing Pod. Feel what it’s like to swim with dolphins and whales—underwater—without getting wet, making it an unforgettable whale watching tour.

Enjoy Laguna Beach on your own this afternoon. In addition to the beach, there are lots of great artist shops and enclaves in Laguna Beach. There’s an art walk here, art festivals, outdoor painting classes, Pageant of the Masters - a major summer event (runs several evening in a row, and needs early reservations), and Sawdust Art Festival (Christmas time and Summer). At the beach, volleyball, surfing, paddleboarding and sea kayaking also await.

Option 2: Catalina Island

In the morning, drive to Newport Beach and embark on the Catalina Flyer (1 departure a day at 9:00am). After about 50 minutes, you will reach the island, where there are lots of options for family fun.

Land Expeditions on Catalina Island:

See and learn about charming and historic Avalon on a private tour. Or hop aboard a biofuel Hummer and explore Catalina’s pristine wilderness on our exciting private land tour like the popular bison expedition. There’s nothing like a journey through Catalina’s pristine wilderness aboard an open-air biofuel Hummer. You’ll get an intimate feel for Catalina’s unique topography as you cruise the ridge around rugged canyons up to 1,500-foot East Peak.

Ocean Excursions:

See dolphins, sea lions and other aquatic life in the crystal clear waters of Catalina’s world-renowned marine environment on our many ocean tours including undersea expeditions and sealife safaris, and everyone’s favorite Glass Bottom Boat Voyage.

Descanso Adventures

Tucked away in Descanso Canyon behind Descanso Beach Club you’ll find TripAdvisor’s top-rated Zip Line Eco-Tour the challenging Catalina Aerial Adventure, and the 32-foot tall Catalina Climbing Wall as well as the seasonal Catalina Falconry Experience.

Our Sunset Recommendation

You won’t want to miss a Laguna Beach sunset while you’re in town. Skyloft is one of the most popular sundowner spots in town. Boasting live music 5 nights a week, both early and late night happy hour deals, and a rooftop setting with views of Main Beach, it’s the ideal place to toast your day in Laguna.

Day 4: Long Beach Family Fun & Downtown LA

Located at Long Beach harbor, Aquarium of the Pacific is a fabulous world-class exhibits for adults and kids. Not only is it an extraordinary and education entertainment center for all ages, but it is a conservation center and a research center as well.

With more than 11,000 animal exhibits, animal encounters, behind the scenes tours, and even dive immersions, your family experience will definitely be a memorable one.

Continue to Los Angeles and check in at your hotel downtown.

The historic Hotel Figueroa is the original California creative oasis at the center of the Downtown Los Angeles revival. Opened in 1925 by Maude N. Bouldin, it has hosted traveling artists and creators through every stage of the city’s cultural growth. The current rebirth returns the hotel to its original Spanish Colonial design with a focus on comfort and welcoming service, plus all the technology a modern traveler needs. It is a home, a workspace, and a place to create and share works of art with guests and the local community. Steps from the Staples Center, LA Live and LA’s most prestigious museums and theaters, it is at the heart of some of the most vibrant and creative downtown neighborhoods on the planet. The hotel takes part in the process, collaborating with like-minded creatives, and sharing its community with the world. Hotel Figueroa is a canvas for the art that makes the community great.

Day 5: LA Hiking & Hollywood

Morning Hike in the Angeles National Forest:

Spend the morning in nature and the afternoon in Hollywood! Embark on a new family adventure this morning: go hiking! The Angeles National Forest offers lots of family hikes for all kinds of walkers. Discover Los Angeles from its canyons and hear about wildlife. You may want to chase waterfalls or films and TV locations, and even like Darley Newman, volunteer to maintain or restore the trails in a strong team spirit, and end your morning having lunch all together.

Afternoon in Hollywood:

After your hike in the wilderness, go back to you hotel, and get ready to visit Hollywood. Have fun at Gelato Festival, where you can become a gelato specialist. Learn how gelato is made with this two-hour unique and super tasty experience that the kids will love.

At the end of your afternoon, go back to Hollywood Boulevard. Lots of family entertainment awaits: Madame Tussauds is one of them! Enjoy dinner while you explore.

When night falls, head over to Griffith Observatory, where you will see Los Angeles from the top of the hill at night.

Enjoy the planetarium spectacular show, one of the finest planetarium in the world. Every show is presented by a live, engaging storyteller.

Free public telescopes are available each evening the Observatory is open and skies are clear. Knowledgeable telescope demonstrators are available to guide visitors in observing.

Day 6: Venice Beach & Santa Monica

Venice Beach and Santa Monica are iconic and fun for families. We’ve geared up two fun and family-friendly options to explore.

Enjoy a guided bike tour (2 hrs 30 min) from Venice Beach to Santa Monica. See the Venice Canals, the architecture, sculptures, and West Coast graffiti walls that have become a source of expression for world-renowned street artists. Check out the famous Muscle Beach, the skate park, and the Santa Monica Pier. Visit hidden treasures often missed and overlooked as your tour guide provides insightful information about the culture, communities, and history of the area.
Prefer a segway tour (2 hours) with a group? Sights include:
- Santa Monica Pier, with its carousel and Ferris wheel
- Muscle Beach (original and current), where body builders, gymnasts, and lifeguards work out
- Venice Graffiti Walls, seen in dozens of movies and TV shows
- Venice Skate Park, where skateboarders carve and grind at one of the best skate parks in America
- Not suitable for children under 12. You must also weigh between 100 and 250 lbs. Helmets provided and are required.

Spend the afternoon in Santa Monica.

Explore the open-air mall at Third Street Promenade, an area made all the more lively by street performers. The stylish boutiques on Montana Avenue are perfect for finding the perfect so-L.A. item to take home, and keep your eyes peeled. This is a great place to spot local celebs. On Main Street, peruse handmade accessories and gifts by local artists.

A cultural hub for Southern California, Santa Monica boasts numerous art galleries all around the city, with the biggest concentration at Bergamot Station, a former railroad station and industrial site where you’ll find leading 20 galleries.

Fabled Route 66 once traveled along a stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard and reached the terminus of its 2,448-mile/3,940 km run from Chicago near the beach in Santa Monica. A sign commemorates the “end of the trail” on Santa Monica Pier, where you can marvel at amazing coastal views from atop the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel at Pacific Park amusement park.

Enjoy dinner in Santa Monica (Bubba Gump Shrimp Co is fun for the family) or back at your hotel.

Day 7: From LA…Home

We hope you enjoyed Los Angeles and Southern California.

Los Angeles Beach and Active Southern California Vacation Itinerary