Beach scene more than just a portrait in sand, surf and sunshine.

Everyone knows that the beach is a great place to go on the weekend. But South Bay beaches differ in many ways, and they offer more than a good view and a place to spread out a towel.

For example, the longest and most heavily used bicycle path in the world runs the 22 miles between Will Rogers State Beach near Pacific Palisades and the county beach in Torrance. The path also is popular among roller skaters, skateboarders, joggers and pedestrians.

Redondo Beach is narrower than most other South Bay beaches--especially between Topaz Street and the pier--but has lots of parking and the nearby pier offers many places to eat, said Ken Johnson, chief of community services for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. The waves inside the horseshoe-shaped pier offer a good place to use boogie boards, he added.

“To watch good volleyball action, it would be the Manhattan Beach Pier,” Johnson said. That area probably has the most courts of any of the South Bay’s beaches and they attract good players, he said. Players must bring their own nets and volleyballs at all courts along Santa Monica Bay.

For a real Southern California beach party, head to Dockweiler State Beach--at the edge of Los Angeles International Airport--or Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, because those are the only two county beaches where campfires are allowed.

(Sorry, it’ll have to be Shirley Temples instead of wine coolers; alcoholic beverages are prohibited on all county beaches. You just think you see people drinking beer.)

Restrictions on Overnight Camping

Dockweiler is the only area beach where overnight camping is allowed, and it is restricted to recreational vehicles. The fee is $17 a night with full hookups and $10 without.

Dockweiler is also the only beach in the South Bay where sailors can launch catamarans from shore and where beachfront rental space is available to store them.

For all that, there is usually a little more room to spread out a towel at Dockweiler than on neighboring beaches, and it has more parking than the others, Johnson said. Being near the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant, a Southern California Edison plant and a refinery--and under the Los Angeles International Airport flight path--makes it one of the county’s less popular beaches.

Just south of Dockweiler, at El Porto Beach, is probably the best surfing in the area, Johnson said, because of the shape of the waves. But in general, “waves should be subsiding this time of year.”

The best place to wind surf is Cabrillo Beach, he said. “They call it Hurricane Gulch--the wind whips through there pretty fast.”

Jet skis can be launched from inside the Los Angeles Harbor, but such “vessels” are not permitted within 300 yards of shore at any South Bay beach. (The only exception is catamarans at Dockweiler.)

‘Mother’s Beach’ for Small Children

For parents who want a beach with shallow water for little children, the Marina del Rey Public Beach is the place to go, Johnson said. “It’s been called Mother’s Beach for that reason.”

There’s one problem, however. The county Health Department has closed that beach temporarily while a pollutant--of undetermined origin--is being cleaned up, Johnson said. The beach is expected to reopen within a few weeks, he added.

Another family-oriented place is the Seaside Lagoon on North Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach, which will be open from May 28 through mid-September. Near the heated saltwater pool, which includes a wading section, are volleyball courts, picnic tables, barbecues and restrooms. During the summer, the lagoon will be open 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. seven days a week. Admission ranges from 50 cents to $1.75, depending on age, residency and day of the week.

Good fishing spots, according to Johnson, are Redondo Beach--because of an offshore canyon--the Cabrillo Beach breakwater and the Point Vicente Fishing Access in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Places to Find Marine Life

None of the South Bay beaches has an abundance of shells, but some can be found in tide pools, along with live animals such as starfish, clams, sea urchins and abalone. Rockier beaches--such as Abalone Cove, Cabrillo Beach, the beach next to the Redondo Beach Pier and White Point Beach in San Pedro--are the best places to find tide pools, Johnson said.

White Point, which is near the end of Western Avenue, is also a good place to see marine animals on the rocks and is a good scuba diving location, Johnson said.

Domestic animals like dogs aren’t welcome on any county beaches.

“Then there’s Hermosa,” Johnson said, laughing, “which is unique, I guess. It’s kind of a different kind of beach from the rest of the South Bay.” The young, diverse, laid-back crowd of beach-goers, volleyball players, roller skaters and skateboarders, Johnson said, makes Hermosa Beach “the closest thing to Venice (Beach) in the South Bay.”

Venice Beach occasionally has “an outbreak” of nude sunbathers, he said, but Los Angeles County has no officially designated nude, gay or singles’ beaches. Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes tends to attract more nude sunbathers than other South Bay beaches. But, Johnson insisted, “Nudity is prohibited; we’re not total libertines down here.”