If you are like me, you are watching your travel budget carefully, asking where you can go that’s interesting but affordable. A good candidate for your summer travel plans would be Southern California. There you will find theme parks, beaches, great weather and a lot more.
Hawaii would be another option. Although those warm beaches are hard to resist, there’s not as much variety in vacation options as California. There’s a friendly comparison between vacations in California vs. Hawaii at the SoCal Vacation Guru that you might find interesting. The beaches in SoCal do not have as many rock outcroppings and the sun is less intense (as is the humidity). As we noted, the Hawaiian waters are warmer, but in the middle of summer, the cooler California water can be more invigorating.
A Hawaiian vacation does offer beautiful subtropical vegetation and fascinating Polynesian cultural experiences. However, the California coastline, mountains and desert are quite beautiful as well, and the place is a melting pot of cultural diversity.
Southern California offers much more than great beaches. You could spend a week checking out the seven top-notch theme parks between San Diego and Los Angeles County. You will find world-class thrill rides at Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain; the Six Flags roller coasters are particularly plentiful. Both offer many coasters and other fun rides. You won’t find as many true thrill rides at Disneyland as at the other parks, although Space Mountain and the Matterhorn Bobsleds certainly qualify.
You won’t find many roller coasters in Hawaii, although surfing on the North Shore of Oahu in winter would qualify as a thrill ride. California is probably a more budget-friendly summer travel option, but now and then you really do need to get over to Hawaii.