Originally Posted By iksnamhcok Hey, SoCal people, My wife and I are thinking of a trip to your area just after the holidays, January 2-6. We'll include a visit to DLR, but we may stay at one of the beach towns. Questions: * How long does it take to drive from Laguna Beach to DLR? * How long a drive from Santa Monica to DLR? * Which do you recommend, Laguna Beach or Santa Monica? Or another SoCal beach town? Thanks again!
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I don't know Laguna Beach, but my brother lives in the Santa Monica area and I would estimate at least an hour from there. No matter what time of day or what day of the week the first 10 miles of your trip out of Santa Monica is going to take AT LEAST a half an hour. Then, if you are leaving at the right time the next 30 miles can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Also keep in mind that many of the carpool lanes down there are THREE people or more from 6 to 9 am and 4 to 7 pm. I personally don't have any experience with Laguna Beach traffic. Google Maps says 21 miles, so estimating from normal coast traffic I say 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the time of day and the day of the week. However, I am prepared to be corrected by someone with more experience.
Originally Posted By TinksBestFriend Santa Monica to Disneyland... I-10 east to I-405 south (you may have congestion here because of construction) to I-105 east to I-710 OR I-605 south to the 91 east to I-5 south to Disneyland Drive. An hour is a good estimate. All the carpool lanes are 2 or more. Disneyland to Laguna Beach... I-5 south to route 133 (Laguna Canyon Road) south to the ocean. About 30-45 minutes. No recomendation, all beach cities have their sppecial attributes but Laguna Beach is more of an artist community and much smaller then Santa Monica. Huntington Beach (Surf City USA) and Newport Beach are directly south of Disneyland. (South on Harbor Blvd.) Be sure to bring warm clothes. It can get down to the 40s at night.
Originally Posted By friendofdd I always recommend folks consider Seal Beach. A cozy community that only locals seem to know about.
Originally Posted By friendofdd Her is a link - <a href="http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us/" target="_blank">http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us /</a>
Originally Posted By TinksBestFriend I agree with friendofdd. Seal Beach is one city that has not gone crazy from overdevlopment.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf Isn't there an oil platform off of Seal Beach? I like San Clemente - it's about 45 minutes south of Disneyland but it's right off I-5, which makes for an easy trip. It's a good size beach town with nice beaches and lots of places to stay. Plus, if you wanna go to San Diego, it's an easy trip down there as well.
Originally Posted By friendofdd >>>Isn't there an oil platform off of Seal Beach?<<< There might be one way out that I haven't noticed, but I think all of them are off Long Beach
