BEST CALIFORNIA BEACHES

BEST CALIFORNIA BEACHES

We asked our California travel experts to pick their 20 favorite California beaches, and now it's your turn to vote! Click to see the 20 nominees for the 10Best Readers' Choice category of Best California Beach. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Torrey Pines State Beach is a beauty of a beach. Prime swimming, walking and boogie boarding thrive here, as well as on nearby Black's Beach. (Photo: Annie Pearson)

Capitola Beach comprises colorful beach cottages, downtown surf shops, cafes and swim-friendly waters. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The uncrowded white sand beaches of Coronado Beach sparkle with bits of mica, while gentle surf rolls to shore. The family-favorite beach is home to landmark Hotel del Coronado. (Photo: Brett Shoaf, Artistic Visuals)

Popular for hiking and horseback riding when the weather is swimming-prohibitive, Crystal Cove State Park comprises more than 3 miles of beach backed by 2,400 acres of pristine woodland. (Photo: Rick Samuelson)

East Beach appears like a vision in downtown Santa Barbara - a beach bordered by palm trees that seems to spring up from the town. (Photo: Flickr/Damian Gadal)

If a beach could be named an urban supermodel of beaches, Hermosa Beach would be in the running. Notably clean sand, an abundance of volleyball courts, an absence of frivolous tourist junk - all these earn thumbs-up. (Photo: Thomas Sebourn, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“Surf City USA” is the apt nickname for Huntington Beach, home to a line-up of attractive beaches popular with surfers. (Photo: Ryan Killackey, Visit California)

The dramatic interplay of cliffs and crashing waves along Highway 1 through Big Sur make everyone want to stop. There are few beaches, but Partington Cove Trail at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park leads to a small rocky beach. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Nestled beneath low cliffs, La Jolla Cove is a pocket paradise. Calm, shallow water invites wading and swimming for early birds who nab a patch of sand. (Photo: John Hoffman, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Main Beach graces downtown Laguna Beach, but it also decorates walls around the world. The Laguna artist colony of 1903 has burgeoned to a 60-gallery town. (Photo: Visit Laguna Beach)

Manhattan Beach has been called one of the sexiest beaches in the U.S. (Photo: Stella Levi, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A city beach with a boardwalk, Mission Beach is muster point for beach parties as well as a pick-up scene. But it’s also a good beach for frisking in the waves. (Photo: John Bahu)

Moonlight State Beach is a classic “pack-up-the-cooler” beach. Good for a swim, good for a snooze. There’s a kids’ playground and beach volleyball courts where tanned muscles glow and glisten for an admiring crowd. (Photo: Flickr/Joe Wolf)

Moonstone Beach appeals to those who see drama in a single paddle boarder silhouetted against gray clouds at sunset. (Photo: Flickr/EagleCam)

Like the city it borders, San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is both alluring and elusive. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

One of the West Coast’s most famous surf beaches, Old Man’s is popular with beginners and veterans alike. (Photo: Flickr/Leon Boot)

The never-ending stream of SoCal sunny days keep ocean water at Santa Monica Beach swimmingly warm long into fall. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Sunset Beach is long, never over-crowded and invites long walks and jogging. (Photo: Santa Cruz County CVC/Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks)

A steep stairway makes Thousand Steps Beach inaccessible for some. But the nimble take on the steep stairs tangled with vegetation. Surfers, skim boarders, swimmers and sun-seekers love the solitude and natural landscape of rugged cliffs and rocky outcroppings. (Photo: Visit Laguna Beach)

Venice Beach Boardwalk is lined with circus-style acts that preempt the spandex-bike-and skate-“parade” surging along in endorphin fury. The broader Venice Beach party celebrates another sunny day of life on the twinkling Pacific. (Photo: Scott Cramer, Getty Images/iStockphoto)