The Times Travel section’s favorite California beaches

Windansea Beach

La Jolla

Not a state beach, not a county park, Windansea has nevertheless been on the Big Map of California Beach Culture for years. It’s home to the Pump House, where Tom Wolfe‘s Pump House Gang used to hang out in the 1960s. And it has a wicked shore break that has slammed countless bodysurfers into involuntary headstands. It’s handy to a beloved pizza joint, Carino’s. No public restrooms, no picnic area, just 18 off-street parking spaces. The neighboring residential area is many blocks south of La Jolla’s trendy boutiques and pricey restaurants. In other words, there’s not much here for Mom, Dad and the little ones. But for those in their teens and 20s, this is where cool kids have been hanging out for about as long as there have been cool kids.

6800 Neptune Place, La Jolla; www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/windan.shtml

--Christopher Reynolds  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Aliso Beach

Laguna Beach

If you’ve moved many times, you develop touchstones; Aliso Beach is mine. Despite the Laguna Beach address, it’s hardly artsy, pretentious or self-absorbed. Instead, it’s the sort of place the Cleavers would have visited. Why? There’s parking. There are restrooms. It’s bordered by a wildlife refuge. You can have a bonfire. And best of all, it’s accessible. You don’t have to walk down 900 steps to get there. Lazy man’s beach? Perhaps. But isn’t being lazy what a day at the beach is all about?

31131 S. Pacific Coast Highway, Laguna Beach; (949) 923-2280, www.ocparks.com.

--Catharine Hamm  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Crystal Cove State Park

South Orange County

I don’t know that I’ve ever been on a bad beach in California. But I’ve never been on one with as many appealing qualities as Crystal Cove: tide pools, scenic bluffs and a family-friendly vibe. It’s roomy too, though development on this stretch of land between Laguna Beach and Newport Beach has amped up the action in recent years. Still, on weekends, you’ll have plenty of space for a blanket or a pop-up awning. No snack shops or bike rentals here, just a great rustic and pristine beach. Note that the walk from the parking lot to the beach can be long and steep. Kids have no trouble with it, but unsteady grandparents might.

Between Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar; (949) 494-3539, www.parks.ca.gov.

--Chris Erskine  (Al Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

East Beach

Santa Barbara

Creamy sand, a dozen courts for serious volleyball, arts and crafts shows on weekends, a perpetual parade of watchable people, the distant dreamy houses on the slopes above -- East Beach delivers all these things, along with a well-situated restaurant, the East Beach Grill (breakfast and lunch, starting at 7 a.m.), and adjacent sports facilities at the Cabrillo Pavilion Bathhouse (the handsome 1927 building at 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd.). For the sporty and the slothful, this is atop the Santa Barbara list.

1400 E. Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara; www.santabarbara.ca.gov/parks.

--Chris Reynolds  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Trinidad State Beach

Near Eureka

The Northern California coast, unlike its southern counterpart, is often less about sun and sand than fog and sea stacks. Yet Trinidad State Beach offers the best of both. Be prepared for a case of delayed gratification; the hiking trail leading out to the bluffs overlooking the beach is ensconced in such lush vegetation that glimpses of the water are scant. Once you’re in the wildflower-carpeted clearing, the view from above is well worth the wait: a pristine slice of coastline that looks to have never been touched by humans. It seemed almost wrong to set foot on the beach itself: Perfection like this just shouldn’t be disturbed.

4150 Patrick’s Point Drive, Trinidad; (707) 677-3570, www.parks.ca.gov.

--Tim Hubbard  (Tim Hubbard / Los Angeles Times)