A smaller, handicap-accessible county beach, Nicholas Canyon has restrooms, showers, 151 parking spaces and a food truck during the summer.

Part of the eponymous state park, Meyer Memorial includes a string of three small cove beaches, El Pescador, La Piedra and El Matador. Harder to reach but picturesque, they have picnic benches, restrooms and parking spaces on the bluffs.

A favorite with Pepperdine University students and Malibu residents, Zuma is a postcard-perfect county beach with restrooms, showers, volleyball nets, food concessions and 2,025 parking spaces.

A scenic county beach with tidal pools and rocky outcroppings suitable for winter whale-watching, Point Dume has picnic tables, restrooms, showers and 373 parking spaces.

A thin county beach adjacent to residential areas, there's no parking lot but it does have lifeguard service and portable toilets.

Malibu's main beach adjoining the town pier, it has volleyball nets, restrooms, showers and 90 parking spots.

A thin strip of highway-adjacent beach used mostly by surfers, Las Tunas also attracts swimmers and anglers.

Scenic if a little rocky, Topanga Beach has picnic areas, wheelchair-accessible restrooms, showers and 96 parking spaces.

A popular beach at the northern tip of the Marvin Braude bicycle path, Will Rogers has volleyball nets, wheelchair-accessible restrooms, showers and 1,832 parking spaces.

Santa Monica maintains its own 2-mile stretch of beach, with its famous pier and Pacific Park amusement center, plus volleyball and basketball nets, bicycle and running paths, picnic areas and plenty of nearby shops and restaurants.

A deep, expansive beach with perhaps the most colorful boardwalk on the West Coast, Venice Beach also offers volleyball, basketball and handball courts, picnic areas, wheelchair-accessible restrooms, showers, bicycle and skate rental shops servicing the winding bike path, 971 parking spaces and a pier jutting from the bar-soaked end of Washington Blvd.

An expanse stretching from Playa del Rey to El Segundo, this recently improved and rededicated county-administered state beach is situated under the path of LAX air traffic. But it's the only beach along the Santa Monica Bay to allow open fires (in fire pits). Plus, it has food concessions, volleyball nets, restrooms, showers and 2,080 parking spaces.

Encompassing the surfing hot spot of El Porto on the north to well beyond the iconic pier off its upscale shopping district to neighboring Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach has one of the best maintained beaches in the county plus well-used volleyball nets, restrooms, showers, a separate walkway and bike path and 378 parking spots.

Manhattan Beach's younger and more restive neighbor doesn't have as pretty a pier, but it has all the daytime activity and twice the night life along the water. The beach has numerous volleyball nets, showers and restrooms, and a partly separate walkway and bike path along the Strand.

With its large marina, the town is a bit more boat-and-fishing oriented than its northern neighbors, but Redondo's state beach still offers plenty of good swimming, children's swings, restrooms, showers and a municipal parking lot.

The southern end of the Marvin Braude bicycle path peters out here in this slip of sand between Redondo Beach and the cliffs of Palos Verdes, but the beach still has volleyball nets, restrooms, showers, concessions and 334 parking spaces.

With great views and tide pools, the park has the two most accessible beaches: Abalone Cove, which features lifeguards during summer, and the more remote Sacred Cove, which at one time was unofficially "clothing-optional." Parking costs $5 per car.

The first good swimming point below Palos Verdes, these twin county beaches feature a fine picnic area and promenade, tide pools, restrooms, showers, 191 parking spaces and lots of palm trees.

The boat launching ramp indicates swimming is not the first priority, but this city-managed beach is a good local hangout with a pier, picnic area, grills, restrooms, showers, swings and a bait-and-tackle shop.

Dominated by its own busy port, Long Beach has more boat traffic than beachcombers, but it does have a nice stretch of municipal sand, which encompasses Alamitos, Bayshore, Belmont Plaza and Peninsula Beach. One pedestrian and two bicycle paths line the 4-mile stretch east of Shoreline Park and west of the mouth of Alamitos Bay.