SoCal Vacations - Beach Retreat!

One of the many benefits of living in Southern California is the area offers so much to do with your family! There are beach retreats, desert escapes, city adventures, and amusement parks galore! Let me share with you my top pics in each of these destinations. This week I wanted to share my recommendation for a family beach retreat!

There are endless stretches of beaches along the Southern California coastline. We chose to venture to San Diego and specifically Pacific Beach. This area is not well known for family vacations, but we are here to share that we spent an excellent time there with our children and I think it’s time to revisit this area as a family destination. We found that the beach is concentrated with college students in just a very small area, if you just go North or South of that tower you will find open beaches, wide sand, and great amenities that your families will be sure to enjoy. We made a home base at the Ocean Park Inn. Directly across the boardwalk. We were just steps away from some of the most beautiful beaches in Southern California and right next to the lifeguard tower which made us feel extremely safe.

Ocean Park Inn is a beautifully remodeled hotel and we had the opportunity to stay in the suite which offered comfortable amenities and a kitchenette with plenty of space to enjoy our trip without needing to leave the room for every small need. We made one trip to Ralph's which is just across the street and we were able to get all the items we needed for a wonderful dinner and breakfast. In addition to the grocery store there were many restaurants around the hotel - we chose to visit the Firehouse. This is located next door and the food was delicious, I could not recommend the brunch any higher! After brunch we were able to go across the street and spend the day enjoying the beautiful and very open strand.

Not only was there a gorgeous beach for us to enjoy and a lifeguard tower right next to the hotel but there were also public amenities such as showers and bathrooms. This made for a very easy and relaxing trip to the beach. The hotel also offered several beach toys and boogie boards so that the kids did not have to bring their own with them. This is always helpful when you are traveling by plane or just loading up the family car.

San Diego offers a variety of beaches and other premium family entertainment options. For a list of great beaches in San Diego I recommend checking out my article on trekaroo.com. You can also see a full review on the Ocean Park Inn here.

Next week I’ll be sharing my recommendation for Theme Park Vacations!