>>376947nice. same dude, btw. I live in the SFV. The Santa Monica mountains are my favorite around here. Done a few trips through the San Gabriels and some camping trips in Sierra Nevada country, but never walking through the mountains. Making it a goal to do the JMT soon.
As for the beach thing, all the beaches here are relatively uncomparable to the ones up North in terms of cleanliness. Ever since I was spoiled with Rodeo Beach right above San Fran I've had trouble enjoying any sort of beach excursion since.