Tag: beach

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Muscle (Venice) Beach

muscle-beach.jpgJoggers, runners, walkers, swimmers and dogs all go to the beach to work out, but none exercise quite like the guys and gals at Muscle Beach. With their comic book bodies, weightlifters come to Venice to perfect their ripped abs, swollen pecs, tree trunk sized legs.

Muscle Beach is part of Venice, although the original location was a few miles north in Santa Monica. The beach side weight room has been home to many famous bodybuilders including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Gold, who founded Gold’s Gym, and a long list of world bodybuilding champions.

Weightlifting at Muscle Beach used to be restricted to the feeble equipment built in 1952 and placed right on the sand by the parks and recreation district. Now that the beach has gotten some notoriety, however, it has undergone a massive renovation and now features bleachers for spectators, a massive arch displaying a barbell over the entrance, and padded weightlifting, tumbling and jump-rope areas.

The original muscle beach held tumbling and gymnastics performances and competitions and most have now been moved to the Venice location. Each year, a bodybuilding championship is held at Venice Beach with the winner appearing in Iron Man Magazine. The contest is open to anyone for the $75 entry fee and attracts some of the top bodybuilding talent in Los Angeles, which can stack up with most places around the world.

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Los Angeles

Malibu

malibu.jpgMalibu may have recently been threatened by the raging wildfires that ate up much of the southern California hillsides, but you’ll soon find that the city has retained the qualities that make it a desirable place to visit while touring through LA on your next vacation.

There is a quality to Malibu that makes it mysterious and appealing. Most people call it the beach, but there’s more than that. This is the home of Malibu Barbie, the Chevy Malibu, and the Go Karts of Malibu Grand Prix. This is the land of celebrities and movie stars. So much has been made of Malibu as a world class destination on so little evidence that most travelers feel the need to check it out for themselves to see what all the fuss is about.

It turns out that all the fuss is about the beach. Malibu is one endless stretch of sand next to the water and the beach has a different feel to it here than on the LA and Orange County beaches where the houses come right down to the water and the streets run right into the sand.

In Malibu you feel separated from the city on the beach. Instead of a grid of houses behind you, there are a few dozen mansions tucked neatly into the best viewpoints on the hills. Instead of a steady parade of people descending on the sand there are a few dozen surfers in the water (on most days), a few volleyball games going on and some families walking by near the water.

Granted, there is more to Malibu than the surf culture, although not a lot more. The most popular roadside business on the Pacific Coast Highway that runs through town is a surfboard rental palace and even the restaurants share parking lots with public beaches.

But enough about the beach. Malibu is also home to a great number of natural disasters. For such a desirable place to live, Malibu is awfully treacherous. The recent wildfires notwithstanding, there are mudslides whenever it rains for a few weeks in a row and houses go slip-sliding down the hill into the ocean. Luckily for the celebrities, entertainment moguls and TV producers who live in this 27 mile long narrow strip of ideal real-estate, most can afford to rebuild.

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Articles Croatia

Random Croatia Photo of the Moment

Here’s a random photo from our Boats and Beaches page of our Croatia photo album:

Zlatni Rat Beach

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Los Angeles

Newport Beach

lagunanewport.jpgNewport Beach is a city at the heart of Orange County with much more personality than the narrow focus of reality shows or teen soap operas have given it in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The main attraction in Newport Beach, as the name suggests, is the beach. The picturesque coast brings tourists in from around the city and the beach is one of the most popular with body boarders and surfers as well. The famous Wedge, a challenging set of waves that break right off the Balboa peninsula, attract surfers and athletes to play in the curling waves.

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Articles Los Angeles

Manhattan Beach

volleyball_beach_blue_268276_l.jpgThe city of Manhattan Beach is a beach community close to the downtown area of Los Angeles and LAX. Named for New York’s Manhattan island, the city is one of the most desirable places to live in the city and home to many notable residents. Athletes especially seem to gravitate toward Manhattan Beach. The point guards for several NBA teams have houses in Manhattan Beach, as well as Michael Olowokandi, the Boston Celtics center, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, soccer player Landon Donovan and baseball player Nomar Garciaparra.

Manhattan Beach began in the late 19th century when several ranches were purchased and combined into one mega-sized plot of land that is now the 10.2 square mile city.

Beach Sports

It is not terribly surprising that so many athletes would gravitate toward the city. The beach attracts athletes of all levels to roller blade or bike along the paved path that runs up and down the entire length of Los Angeles’ beaches as well as a large number of surfers, beach volleyball players and joggers who want to exercise on the sand itself.

Manhattan Beach is actually the de facto home of beach volleyball and the epicenter of the pro beach volleyball circuit. Although the sport was technically invented in nearby Santa Monica, the scene volleyball scene is nowhere better than Manhattan Beach. Numerous nets and courts are set up each day for public use and pick up games are easy to come by.

Pros describe the Beach volleyball tournament at Manhattan Beach as the best that the circuit has to offer and because many grew up playing on the sandy courts at Huntington and Manhattan Beach, they games are often the most competitive at this tournament. The national television audience and high prize money probably doesn’t hurt either.

Manhattan Beach can fill up on the weekends and parking can be hard to find. There are a few parking garages sprinkled throughout the city, but be sure to bring quarters to feed the meter and be sure to head back to your car promptly. Parking enforcement comes through swiftly and writes hefty tickets if they get to your car.

Real Estate

Money Magazine ranked Manhattan Beach the fourth most expensive city to live in in America in 2005 and Forbes ranked the Manhattan Beach ZIP code 90266 the 29th most expensive in the nation that same year. Houses typically sell for millions of dollars depending on the proximity to the beach and as sets of family size houses are torn down and replaced by beachfront mansions, the prices have continued to climb.

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Articles Croatia

Brela Beach

sand-waves.jpgBrela Beach is on Croatia’s mainland, only a few kilometers from Split and Makarska on the other side and one of Croatia’s most popular and highest rated beaches. It’s an easy day trip to Brela from either city and you’ll find that many people make the drive down the coast to enjoy the fine pebbles that look like sand from a distance.

One of the best features of Brela is the series of secluded coves that add a bit of privacy to your visit. Each cove becomes your own little swimming hole and you may find yourself growing attached to one in particular if you go to Brela’s shores multiple times.

Brela is consistently ranked at the top of the best beaches in Europe and the attention has attracted many hotels to the area. Hotel Marina and Hotel Soline are your best bets for three star hotels, but a number of apartments and rooms for rent can also be found easily in the surrounding area for significantly less than the hotels, in most cases.

There are almost limitless recreation options around Brela. Brela is one of those destination beaches where the facilities come to you and you’re more likely to have to fight the guy offering to take you parasailing off with a stick than you are of getting bored while you’re there. Parasailing, scuba diving, gondolas, table tennis, even bowling is available near the beach.

Because it’s just south of Split, Brela’s weather is predictable and fairly similar to Croatia’s overall weather patterns. The weather will be sunny and hot in the summer, cooler and rainy in the winter. Although the crowds increase in the summer, the beach at Brela is seemingly never “full.” There is no such thing as a bad time to visit Brela.

Like almost all beaches in Croatia, topless sunbathing is acceptable by both women and men. Full nudity is officially discouraged, but with the coves at Brela offering something of a shield between the sections of beach, there will most likely be few complaints. Beaches generally separate themselves somewhat by age in Croatia, so that there is a family section and a place for adults. Mostly though, everyone at the beach is there to have a good time and enjoy the sun.

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Articles Los Angeles

Costa Mesa

costamesapic.jpgCosta Mesa is a suburban city in Orange County located halfway between several popular beaches and Disneyland. The middle class community has been settled throughout most of American history but exploded in population after local families training for deployment in World War II lived in Costa Mesa while they trained at the Santa Ana Army Air Base.

South Coast Plaza Shopping Center generates almost 1 billion dollars at its 322 stores each year. Although not the largest mall in the U.S. the stores generate more money than any other shopping center in the country. Stores draw clientele from all over Orange County to shop at its upscale and ultra-luxury boutiques and many stores report that their South Coast Plaza locations make more money than any other location around the world.

In addition to the mall, the Orange County fairgrounds are located in Costa Mesa, which hosts the Orange County fair, one of the largest fairs in California. The fairgrounds host music and comedy acts during the fair, which receives more than one million visitors each year.

The city of Costa Mesa literally makes up the middle area between Disneyland and the beach. Like the rest of Orange County, it consists lots of shopping centers and chain restaurants but it is also the best place to find cheap accommodation away from the inflated prices of the beach and out of the Disneyland bubble that fills Anaheim with theme park addled families recovering from their adrenaline rushes.

Costa Mesa is a perfect place to stay if you’re looking for more variety out of your Los Angeles vacation than spending all of your time just at the beach or Disneyland. Costa Mesa is not oriented just for tourists or streamlined so that you spend all of your time spending money in an amusement park. It’s a place to stay for those who want to see a little more of Los Angeles and spend some time taking in the sights around the rest of the city after they can no longer handle the roller coasters or the waves for the fourth day in a row.

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