Best Travel Books for
California Beach Vacations

The best travel books help you do three things:

1. Choose the right beach for your vacation

2. Plan day trips to nearby attractions

3. Re-live your trip over and over through photos, recipes and novels long after you return to to "real life".

Many of my vacations last a year. Not literally, of course. But from the day I decide to plan a beach vacation, I start living at the beach ... through books.

Guidebooks, history books, novels, cookbooks. The themes run from architecture to Zagat.

Click on The Scout's California Coast Bookshelf to browse my own library -- handpicked and arranged by geographical area (for books on Santa Barbara style, look under Central California Coast), beach sports and activities (surfing, kayaking), and other themes such as entertaining kids and traveling with your pets.

It's an eclectic mix, not meant to be comprehensive. And it's evolving. But I think you will find some real gems here. I'm very picky about books, so most of my choices have earned 4 or 5 stars based on reviews of Amazon readers.

While you're browsing, keep this Before-During-After Planning Strategy in mind.

#1. Months Before Your Beach Vacation

Focus on finding the perfect beach for your groups and interests.

The best travel books for choosing your destination are guidebooks. But not all guidebooks are created equal. Here are a few gems.

For example, Exploring Southern California Beaches describes 170 separate beach descriptions into 19 regions -- from the Mexico border north to the San Luis Obispo County line. Whether you're in search of the perfect wave or a secluded tide pool, this comprehensive guidebook will help to suss out your options.

If you're hooked on scuba diving, Lonely Planet's Diving & Snorkeling Monterey Peninsula and Northern California describes 46 of the best scuba and free-diving sites throughout Central and Northern California -- including Monterey Bay, Carmel Bay, and the Big Sur, Sonoma and Mendocino coasts (complete with full-color photos).

You'll get specifics on dive site depth range and conditions, common and hazardous marine life, diving services and expert advice on underwater photography. Taking your family-legged family member (a.k.a. the dog)?

Consult the Best Hikes With Dogs series. The Southern California edition details more than 60 dog friendly trails accessible from metro areas including Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, and Santa Barbara.

More than two-thirds of the hikes are on lesser-known trails where travel is light and where you’re unlikely to meet horses, bicycles, or motorized vehicles. On nearly half of the trails, off-leash hiking is permitted.

Click here for the complete California Coast bookshelf.

#2. During Your Beach Vacation

Be well prepared with the best travel books, guides and maps.

Tuck the laminated Streetwise map (see the San Diego Map is featured above)into a pocket for your day trips to San Diego attractions. (It even has detail on trolley lines and stations.)

101 Family Vacation Games will keep the kids busy while you scribble highlights of your great time in your Moleskine notebook.

Try your hand at some of the easy-to-follow recipes from The Summertime Anytime Cookbook in the kitchen of your beach vacation rental.

Click here for the complete California Coast bookshelf

#3. After You're Back Home

Relive those special moments and learn more about where you've been. At this stage, the best travel books can range from coffee table-quality books with amazing photographs to a novel by a local author.

Hang a beautiful calendar with photos of the beaches you visited. Dig into Cannery Row by John Steinbeck for an authentic experience of The Cannery (before it was transformed into outlet shops). Send the kids off the show-and-tell with Ocean Pop & Pull (a 3-D under the sea experience).

See what I mean?

Books can extend your vacation well beyond your week at the beach. And, by they way, if you don't like my choices use to form to set me straight about areas I've missed or suggest your own finds and beach vacation "bibles".

Happy reading!

Click here for the complete California Coast bookshelf

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