<p>Crystal Cove is lovely but you have to book way ahead. I’m never able to book them in the summer despite book one year ahead.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In February in Santa Barbara? You have about a 50-50 chance of the daily high being over 65. The average temperature is in the 50s, and on the beach, very likely the sun isn’t shining. The low for the month should be somewhere in the mid 30s.</p>
<p>My memories of February living in southern Northern California (Santa Cruz County) are of daffodils blooming, periods of relentless rain, but also glorious beach days. It can really vary. I agree with all the suggestions to go south. You are more likely to get less rain the further south you go. (How about La Paz or Cabo in BAJA California? Wait. Wasn’t Cabo hit by a hurricane recently?)</p>
<p>Regarding Santa Barbara weather. Although the mornings can be cool and foggy, it usually burns off by mid morning and gives one a pleasant day until the fog comes back later in the evening. I looked at this chart <a href=“http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/93106”>Ashburn, VA Monthly Weather Forecast - weather.com; and have to say it doesn’t correspond to my experience.</p>
<p>Son has been in SB for a year now. Actually, he is in Goleta - which is a few miles north of SB proper and foggier since it juts out into the bay. He reports warm, comfortable days as the norm. One of the local hotels where we have stayed shows the average year round temp to be in the 70’s. So, not sure what this particular chart is averaging.</p>
<p>During his first ‘winter’ last year I asked him how the weather was doing. We live further north in a comparatively frigid area ;). His answer to my question…‘it’s sunny, and warm, it’s always &^%ing sunny and warm, it’s SB for goodness sake’. (He misses the coastal coolness from back home).</p>
<p>Re post 42…didn’t the OP say they needed to be within a short driving distance to LA? Two hours or less? I don’t think Cabo would work!</p>
<p>Dana Point - “the only romantic spot on the coast”</p>
<p>You can go anywhere from here. 1 hour to LA. 30 minutes to Carlsbad Village. 1 hour to San Diego.</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Point,_California[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Point,_California</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g32279-Activities-Dana_Point_California.html[/url]”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g32279-Activities-Dana_Point_California.html</a></p>
<p>Biking:
<a href=“MapMyRide”>MapMyRide;
<a href=“http://wheelfunrentals.com/Locations/Dana-Point[/url]”>http://wheelfunrentals.com/Locations/Dana-Point</a></p>
<p>Balboa Island, Newport Beach area would be a nice choice. It’s closer to LA than others suggested (50 minutes) and weather would probably still be fair. Balboa Island is fun and very walkable although short-term winter rentals might be tougher to find than something on the Peninsula, which is also lovely. It’s not “remote,” however. There are people. And dogs. :)</p>
<p><a href=“Vrbo | Book your vacation rentals: beach houses, cabins, condos & more”>Vrbo | Book your vacation rentals: beach houses, cabins, condos & more;
<p>Corona Del Mar is really cute, too, but I don’t think it has a big rental market. But it’s a short drive from Newport.
Laguna Beach is also very accessible from Newport Beach, if you wanted an artsy day-trip.</p>
<p>We love San Diego. There’s the beach, hiking, sea kayaking,great shops and restaurants, Balboa Park, plays, music, etc. Found this: <a href=“https://www.flipkey.com/san-diego-vacation-rentals/p543403/?utm_source=bringfido&utm_medium=csynd&utm_campaign=xml”>https://www.flipkey.com/san-diego-vacation-rentals/p543403/?utm_source=bringfido&utm_medium=csynd&utm_campaign=xml</a> This website lists dog friendly rentals.</p>
<p>ECmotherx2 - yes, this property is more in lines with what I was thinking as far as location, and has a patio that looks out on the ocean However, it does not have any availability for a stretch of a week in Feb.</p>
<p>All these links you are providing are giving me more options as far as websites to look at, which has been helpful. Until last night, I was only looking at VRBO properties. </p>
<p>I have spent 50 plus years living within 10 miles of some area of the Ca coast. Plus have family living near the coast from Sonoma, Marin down to northern San Diego. If I was coming from a landlocked state I would chose a beach area over desert. That is just me. I love seeing water.
I agree with Dietz that those Santa Barbara numbers seem off. If it gets that low it is in the middle of the night. I have lived most of my adult life in Santa Barb and Santa Monica. I don’t find the weather between the 2 all that different. My D worked in Laguna Beach for awhile and I didn’t find it significantly warmer in the winter. For the most part the cost to SB is temperate. If it rains in SB it will probably be raining in Malibu. My H wears shorts everyday and plays beach volleyball year round unless it is raining. The only months I would avoid Santa Barbara area would be June and even July due to the fog.
What I like about SB over some of the other areas is the walk ability. Also the lack of traffic. If you want to have pure vacation mode avoid the southern Ca airports and fly in and out of SB. You will feel like you are on vacation.
Carpinteria- look for rentals on Sandyland beach if you can. For Carp Stay on the ocean side of 101. Another beach area to do a search would be Rincon Beach.
In the Oxnard / Ventura area there are two beach areas. Hollywood Beach and Oxnard Shores that might have something. Otherwise I don’t recommend those cities.
A couple of other options for SB aside from VrBo are Paradise Retreats and Coastal Getaways. Mostly higher end properties.
Another interesting low key idea would be Ojai. Inland from the coast but a cute little town and you could be at a beach in 20 minutes. We have friends who stay often at the Green Iguana. The units are dog friendly and some even have a yard. They have kitchens as well. </p>
<p>Correction- in ojai it is the Emerald Iguana not green. They also have the Blue Iguana.</p>
<p>Hmmm, teriwtt, can you tell we’re vicariously living through your vacation planning? :)</p>
<p>@mom60 - thanks so much for your observations! Yes, we love seeing water, too, but D1 lives in Boston, less than a mile from the water, so she sees it a lot! And of course, Chicago is on Lake Michigan, and the campus that H works at abuts Lake Michigan. For some reason, when I think Santa Barbara, I think touristy traffic area. But maybe that’s just in the summer. I was drawn to your comment that it has a lack of traffic, and it puts SB high on my list now. And thanks for your take on the weather situation.</p>
<p>I looked at Paradise Retreats website, and those rentals pretty much sum up what I’m looking for - large enough that five adults won’t get in each other’s way, but with plenty of opportunities to do stuff together when we want to. However, every house I looked at on their website, that is ocean side, doesn’t allow pets. But it’s such a neat area that I might be willing to consider within walking distance to beach if it has ocean views, and it allows pets.</p>
<p>I also looked at Coastal Getaways - they list quite a few hotels, as opposed to individual properties, and I’m set on having an individual property that has a nice, preferably gourmet kitchen. </p>
<p>@arabrab - please, feel free! It’s much cheaper, right?</p>
<p>It was a rough year for me, and most of my spring/summer was taken up recovering from some serious health issues. After our dreaded winter last year, I had really, really been looking forward to summer weather and doing outdoors things, and that kind of got sidetracked with my recovery from surgery, etc. So I guess I feel like I’m going into this winter already at a deficit, and think it would be in my (and my family’s) best interest to try to plan something for a relaxing winter getaway. H and I did do the Oregon Coast and a couple of days in Washington in August, but my stamina was still not great at that point, although we did see some amazing places. The northern Oregon coast is probably now my favorite destination, but doing it in Feb. would not fit the bill of what I’m looking for. If I could take an area like Cannon Beach and place it in southern CA, that’s what I’d be looking for in this trip!</p>
<p>I was going to post a list but would have come up with the same suggestions that mom60 gave. We live near Ventura and I would say the weather from Santa Barbara down v to Malibu is similar also. Hollywood Beach in Oxnard has amazing homes but I would stay away from that area in general. For a more isolated area the beach rentals along the Rincon north of Ventura are fun, but you would have to drive to do anything else. Ventura an Ojai are not too far and have amazing hiking. I love Carpinteria-great beaches, neat little beach town. Santa Barbara is bigger with more to do, but pricier and more crowded. La Jolla is gorgeous with a LOT to do and great beaches. My son goes to school there and says he will never leave. Another option,but more isolated, is Catalina Island. You have to take a ferry to get there but it has that quaint island atmosphere, biking, kayaking, restaurants, etc. </p>
<p>The weather on So . Calif. Beaches in Feb. is beautiful. It can be breezy and a bit chilly, but we also wear shorts here year round. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This!!!</p>
<p>This probably was already mentioned - Coronado near San Diego. Not as secluded as some other places, but it could be good for the younger crowd to be closer to “civilization.”
<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g32250-d2463276-Fabulous_Family_Pet_Friendly_5_Bedroom_Beach_Home_OPEN_TO_LONG_TERM_AT_HUGE_DISCOUNT-Co.html”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g32250-d2463276-Fabulous_Family_Pet_Friendly_5_Bedroom_Beach_Home_OPEN_TO_LONG_TERM_AT_HUGE_DISCOUNT-Co.html</a></p>
<p>I second the recommendations of Ojai and the Blue and Emerald Iguanas. These are definitely not cookie cutter places. Ojai is a really cute little town. There are local easy hikes around for those that are interested, plus beaches are not far away. </p>
<p>Regarding traffic central coast. In SB I know I can get anywhere in 15-20 minutes or less from Goleta to Montecito. The one exception is Sunday afternoon in summer. I know the drive to Ventura will take me 30-45 minutes. In Southern Ca you just never know. Granted I don’t go walking on lower state st or along Cabrillo drive on the weekends. Those areas will be full of tourist but nothing like Laguna Beach on a weekend. If I want to go out to dinner or shopping I don’t have to fight for parking.
Coronado and La Jolla are beautiful too.
I</p>
<p>If it were just H and I, I would consider a place like Ojai - it seems like the kind of thing we’d really enjoy, and maybe on another trip to LA, we could do Ojai for a few days. But with five adults and three dogs, we really need to stick to a house. </p>
<p>There are places in Laguna Beach that’s not so busy. I too live less than 5 miles from the beach, sometimes within walling distance to the beach for 40 years. Extreme example to mention parking on weekend, there is a little shuttle to take you places even on weekend. But if you rent one of these beach front properties you don’t have to drive and that’s the beauty of it.</p>