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MALIBU |
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Malibu , at the top of the bay twenty miles north of Santa Monica,
is a whole other world, its beach-colony houses owned by those famous
enough to need privacy and rich enough to afford it. It's not all that
impressive on arrival, however, with ramshackle surf shops, fast-food
stands and real-estate agents scattered along PCH around the graceful
Malibu Pier , 23000 PCH. Surfrider Beach here was the surfing capital of
the world in the 1950s and early 1960s, as seen in the Beach Blanket
Bingo movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon (the surf is at its
best in late summer). Just beyond is Malibu Lagoon State Park (daily
9am-7pm; parking $6), a nature reserve and bird refuge, and nearby is
the Adamson House (daily 8am-sunset; $3), a stunning Spanish Colonial
home, mixed with Moorish and Mission Revival elements, featuring opulent
decor and colorful tilework.
Most Malibu residences are tucked away in an insular community in the
narrow canyons on the fringes of town. There's very little to see,
despite tourists' futile attempts to peek into the exclusive Malibu
Colony celebrity retreat, located along an unmarked stretch near PCH.
You'd do better to visit Malibu Creek State Park , on Las Virgenes Road
to the north near Mulholland Drive, once used by 20th Century-Fox, which
filmed many Tarzan pictures here, as well as the TV show M.A.S.H. The
4000-acre park includes a large lake, some waterfalls and nearly fifteen
miles of hiking trails. Another park further west, the Paramount Ranch ,
2813 Cornell Rd, provided that movie studio's exterior sets, and still
features a faux-Western town that may be familiar to viewers of TV's Dr
Quinn Medicine Woman .
Five miles along the coast from Malibu Pier, Zuma Beach is the largest
and most crowded of the Los Angeles County beaches. Adjacent Point Dume
State Beach , below the imposing promontory of Point Dume, is a lot more
relaxed, and the rocks at its southern tip, Pirate's Cove , are a good
place to view seals and migrating gray whales in winter.
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from $540.00
USD