Hello fellow FT'ers,

Well coming from a city with non-existant beaches, am quite excited about my upcoming mid-October trip with hunny. However, there seems to be a lot of beaches to choose from --just don't know where to start!

Would really appreeciate some help if can...

We don't have too much time to spend in LA (3 nights, 3.5 days weekend --i know, busy time to choose but alas, that was what worked best for us) and we will take one of those days to go to Universal Studios. My question then, is which of the following beaches would be a good choice for our short stay in LA? I guess we want relatively un-crowded, beautiful views and sand, and nice walks, of course.. i have never seen an LA coastline before.. any good places for sunset watching, too?

Santa Monica Beach
Venice Beach (is this joined to Santa Monica?)
El Matador Beach
Zuma Beach
Manhattan Beach
Newport Beach
Dockweiler Beach


PS: Do any of you know how long approx it takes to go to each beach via car from downtown LA Westin Bonaventure Hotel?


Thanks for your help,
~Little Dragon Kitty