Ah! I understand, then. The thing that's special about the beaches in Santa Monica/Manhattan Beach are who's at them, not so much the beach itself. There are much nicer beaches around. If you get a chance to come back, I'd suggest heading South to Laguna or North to Santa Barbra county. The former is warm, lazy, and more artistic, while the latter is cool, with sweeping vistas. Catalina's really nice too, but I've got a childhood bias for it.