Hi Manxpolly,

I bet you and your friends will have a good time over there in L.V and L.A! Me and my husband has been to westcoast a few times and we really like it over there!

So you are going down to L.A? Well after a 4-5 hours drive you will come down to L.A and I must say that our favorite beach the Huntington Beach, we have been there almost everytime we visited US. But we have never stayed there because is much more expensive.

When we have been in L.A we have stayed in Buena Park area, it's near Anaheim and the Disney area. Just a short drive from the beach.
But I must say that I like San Diego better, it's just 1,5-2 hours drive south of L.A. I really recommend you to go down there!

I have more questions feel free to pm me!

Hope you will have a great vacation "over there"!

I think the previous post is bang on the nose. If all you want is a beach then San Diego...one of the hotels out on Coronado island is a better bet

San diego is a lovely city...not the huge mass of conurbations/towns that makes LA

Not that ive got anything against LA...Its great too..

Huntington Beach is a good bet and always scores highly on LA beach scene. You should be able to get a hotel very near or even on the beach front road. However the Anaheim (Disneyland) area and Buena Park (Knotts Berry) are about 5 miles up the road and hotels there are plentiful with big choice of grade and cheaper. And since in LA you are not really going to be able to avoid driving its a good option
You will probably want to do Venice Beach (the obvious fun beach) and Santa Monica with its pier in LA too. If you do remember LA is big. About 30 miles from Huntington Beach to Santa Monica. Same to downtown and probably 35 to Hollywood attractions...
So wherever you are if you want to See a bit of LA you gotta drive a bit. Its not really a problem. Freeways get you there pretty quick but the rush hours are busy busy busy and they can crawl along

Yes Hazzy007, L.A is BIG city, it takes hours just to drive through the city... and you are right about the distances to different places, that's why we like San Diego better. Ok there are not so many beaches as in L.A but I must say that Coronado Island is lovely!

Here is a few links that I hope will help you guys a little:

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/ A good website about California
http://www.sandiego.org/nav/Visitors San Diego
http://surfcityusa.com/ Huntington Beach
http://www.anaheimoc.org/ Anaheim

Have a good trip!

Thanks for all your help will let you know what we eventually decide upon.

Cheers

Polly

San Diego, or Santa Catalina Island.
They are traveler friendly, very nearby.

Beware of ads for Long Beach (a City on the beach within Los Angeles County).
The ads are ridiculous.
Avoid the place at all hazards.

I will say the number one complaint we hear from foreign and domestic travelers is they fell for the "glossed over" Long Beach ads.

You'll love Catalina or San Diego, and it costs no more, perhaps even less in the same local.
http://www.catalina.com/main.html