Written by Cory Lee for Curb Free with Cory Lee, November 2, 2022
Southern California is full of beautiful, and accessible, beach destinations. I’ve been able to explore some of them in the past, including Santa Monica, but I recently had the opportunity to spend a couple days in Long Beach, California and I think that I can confidently say that it is my new favorite California beach destination!
Long Beach has an average of 345 days of sunshine per year and it’s only about 25 miles south of Los Angeles, so it’s super easy to get to. In addition to the incredible beaches, which I’ll tell you all about in just a bit, Long Beach also has some great attractions that are worth checking out as a wheelchair user. I only spent a couple days in Long Beach, but I quickly fell in love with the area and already can’t wait to return and experience more.
From relaxing on accessible beaches to visiting a world-class aquarium and more, there are a variety of wheelchair accessible Long Beach attractions and things to do. Here are some of my favorites that I was able to enjoy during my recent trip, and some information about where I stayed while in Long Beach is included at the end of this blog post.
Unwind and relax on accessible beaches
After arriving in Long Beach, my first stop was Granada Beach. Of course, I had to immediately hit up the beach and soak up some rays. There’s nothing I love more than accessible beaches, after all.
Granada Beach is one of the best accessible beach options in all of Southern California. It has everything that I love in a beach destination, including a beach access mat. The mat was smooth and went pretty close to the water, so I was able to stay in my own wheelchair and still have a terrific view and feel the ocean breeze.
Accessible companion-care restrooms were available at Granada Beach and you can request a complimentary beach wheelchair to use during your visit by calling 562-570-1360 in advance of your visit. I chose to just use the beach access mat and stay in my own wheelchair, but I love that beach wheelchairs are an option.
Aside from accessibility, one of my favorite things about Granada Beach was the fact that it had a dog beach known as Rosie’s Dog Beach. Dogs can be off-leash at this four-acre beach and I loved watching all of the dogs playing on the beach. There were dozens of them there when I visited and it was certainly entertaining.
READ MORE Alamitos Beach is next