Exitting LAX when in transit
 

hi - i arrive at LAX from Orlando on Sat 5th Feb 2011 at 4pm; my onward flight to Sydney Australa is approx 8 hours later. I am looking to exit LAX and go somewhere eg Manhattan Beach/Santa Monica for dinner and then return.
1 - is the 8 hours sufficient - my assumption is 1hr each way, 3 hour check in process = 3hours for dinner
2 - if i check my bags through to Sydney in Orlando, can i drop them in LAX and still exit the airport or will i be kept in a secure area
3 - if i will be kept in a secure area, presumably i will have to check my bags only as far as LAX, then go through the check-in process again on returning from dinner
Help welcome! i just dont want to spend 8 hours at LAX

8 hours is plenty of time, it will take less 30 minutes for either going north or south. Check your bags through to Sydney, no need to deal with them at LAX.

I've done this relatively recently, incoming domestic flight into T6 around noon, outbound flight LAX-BKK in the evening from TBIT. In my case, I just arranged for a rental car, picked up my stuff at the T6 baggage carousel, then took the shuttle over to the lot, stuffed bags in trunk, and off I went tooling about for the next 8 hours. I wasn't travelling too heavy and didn't want my stuff hanging about in LAX baggage area, so preferred the recheck-option to interlining. I think I allowed enough time to get back to TG check-in a couple of hours early.

Nobody cares if you leave LAX during transit, but it's up to you to get yourself back to appropriate area to do check-in and/or security.

8 hours is definitely more than enough time. Manhattan Beach is a little closer, but the Santa Monica pier is always fun at sunset. There are great restaurants in either city, but Santa Monica has a more centralized shopping area (3rd Street Promenade) that would make for a nice walk after dinner. Even with commuting back and forth, you'll have a lot of time too kill. Would you be renting a car? I don't know about buses, but there's probably some kind of bus or shuttle to Santa Monica. A taxi would be pretty expensive, I think.

:)thanks - very helpful feedback; looks like santa monica it is