California Beach Museums

Left to right: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Hearst Castle, Hotel del Coronado

As the population heads to the beach for summer relaxation, travelers are focused on seeing the ocean and may not notice museums that entertain and even educate about beach life. From the National Historic Landmark Hotel del Coronado to the last surviving lumberjack camp style cookhouse in the West, the Samoa Cookhouse in Humboldt County, you can eat, sleep, or simply visit and absorb all that California's beach museums have to offer.

It is nearly impossible to list them all but here are a few that we've enjoyed during beach trips:

1. Three California surfing museums -- Oceanside, Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz. Learn about the surfing culture, see vintage surfboards and browse featured exhibits with displays ranging from shark bites to surf music. Our favorite among these is the California Surf Museum in Oceanside.

2. Beach cottage - Manhattan Beach Historical Society Museum has preserved an actual beach house and filled it with local relics relating to the beach life in this L.A. County oceanside town. Other house museums up and down the coast can be found in: San Diego, San Pedro, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Balboa Island, Long Beach, Mendocino, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Barbara and many more coastal destinations.

3. Hearst Castle - this National Historic Landmark overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Simeon offers a glimpse into a luxurious lifestyle only the wealthiest could afford during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

4. Aquariums - the most famous is the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its smaller sister is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach (designed by same architect.)  There are also beach aquariums in La Jolla, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica.