Yoga on the beach, Santa Monica.Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel

Getty Villa Family Forum.Elon Schoenholz

At the Getty Museum's Family Forum, kids can act out a scene from an ancient vase.Elon Schoenholz

Ready to show off?

If you've got any gymnastics moves, now is your chance to strut your stuff -- and it won't cost you a penny. Try the rings or climb the rope -- right on the beach in Santa Monica. Maybe you'd rather just swing or kick back in the sand while the kids show off.

On a sunny afternoon recently, kids as well as fit adults were doing that and more on Santa Monica beach's famous Muscle Beach.

"The idea of having a gymnasium right at the ocean is really cool -- the ropes and the swings and bars ... you don't have that at other beaches," said Elizabeth Gevorkian, 16, who lives nearby in Burbank.

"It is really cool to watch people who know what they are doing and then try it yourself," said a very happy 13 year old visiting with her brother from Canada.

There is even an area for the kids to climb mini ropes and other equipment. Adults -- and kids -- were doing yoga, inline-skating, riding bikes (you can rent both right here and bike along the beach on the South Bay Bicycle Trail that runs for 22 miles) and jumping in and out of the surf and squealing with laughter. They were playing beach volleyball on the many free courts and lining up for fresh lemonade and tacos, playing games in the arcade on the pier.

In case you're wondering, the original Muscle Beach -- a few miles away in Venice -- is plenty busy too and a great place to people-watch -- if you prefer characters. (I saw one guy skateboarding with a black cat on his shoulder.)

Continued here:

Cali Beaches with the Kids