We have been to So Cal so many times but never been to the beach. And for a couple of surfers, that seemed like it had to be remedied. We chose to go to a closer and quieter beach: Huntington Beach. It has surfing and a pier but none of the icky parts of the more touristy beaches closer to LA.
While the beach and weather was beautiful, we were a bit disappointed that the waves weren't any good for surfing and the water wasn't warm.
But we did wander the pier, watch a bunch of kids learning to ocean swim and spend time just relaxing on the beach and play in the ocean...
All that sun and sand made us super hungry. Huntington has lots of restaurants along the beach, we chose one and enjoyed some food and drinks.