Beaches

In these troubled economic times, it's not hard to understand why people might want to protect their life savings by purchasing a hard asset like gold or silver. At least, that's the pitch of Monex, the big Newport Beach investment firm, which bills itself as "America's trusted name in precious metals investments" and assures clients that it's "committed to customer service. " So let's take a look at the experiences of some customers who say their trust in Monex was misplaced.

Krupali Tejura wants a frozen banana stand in Newport Beach. No, not Dad's or Sugar 'N Spice or any of the other venerable spots around town. She wants  that  banana stand. Earlier this month, it was announced that  Netflix would promote new episodes of the revived TV comedy "Arrested Development"  by touring the show's fictitious Bluth's Original Frozen Banana stand in the United States and England. Apparently, though, the promotion doesn't include a stop in Newport, where the series takes place.

The Los Angeles County coastline stretches 75 miles, but only a few blocks are for the dogs. With a three-acre "dog zone" in Long Beach the only place where canines can legally run off-leash, many local dog lovers drive outside the county to take their pets for a romp on the sand. Still others risk tickets by sneaking their pups to out-of-view beaches in Malibu, Playa del Rey or the South Bay and letting them run free. But now there's talk of change. Canine aficionados want to carve out a few more spots of L.A. County waterfront for the four-legged.

SOLANA BEACH, Calif. - As befits its name, issues of sand and surf loom large in this seaside community north of San Diego. For more than three decades, controversy has surrounded the proliferation of privately built sea walls meant to protect bluff-top homeowners along the city's approximately 1.7 miles of oceanfront. Property owners say the walls are the only way to keep the pounding waves from inexorably undercutting the tall bluffs and imperiling their pricey homes. Environmentalists view the sea walls - built on public and private property - as abominations that shrink the beach and place private interests above the right of the public to enjoy the coast.

On busy Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, some well-kept facades conceal a secret. Behind the Mediterranean with wooden doors, the white stucco two-story with a red tile roof, the long wall obscuring a three-structure compound, hides a singular, massive wealth fueled by obsession. This is Larry Ellison territory, where a Bay Area billionaire with seemingly endless patience and resources is buying up the best spots along Malibu's 21 miles of coast. PHOTOS: Expensive things Ellison has bought The Oracle Corp.

For surfers, Moroccan beaches about 100 miles southwest of Marrakech provide long, smooth breaks -- and few crowds. Access Trips , based in Oakland, mines these lesser known locations along the Atlantic Ocean with a surf vacation to locals-only spots near Agadir. Participants spend three days in morning and afternoon surf lessons during this eight-day trip. There's a cultural side to this tour as well. Sightseeing and exploring the history of Marrakech and hiking in the Atlas Mountains also are on the itinerary to create a fuller picture of life in the North African nation.

Travelers may think of Hawaii as the land of surfboards, sunsets and mai tais, but there's a lava flow of reasons to go beyond the beaches and discover why residents say they are lucky to live in Hawaii. And, yes, some of the state's best beaches are found on the Big Island. But don't get stuck there. Do what the locals do: Swim with the honu. There are five snorkeling areas along the Big Island's Kohala Coast: Puako Bay, Waialea Beach (Beach 69), Hapuna Beach, Mauna Kea and Mauume.

When she was not quite 80, Agnès Varda, one of the seminal filmmakers of the French New Wave, decided to take a look at her life, with the resulting film a lovely bit of memory and mischief. Now in contention for an Oscar, it's back for a brief run this weekend at the Laemmle Sunset 5, the Pasadena Playhouse 7 and the Town Center, Encino. "Beaches" is an extraordinary documentary and best on the big screen, so consider this an unexpected holiday gift. You can feel Varda's amusement in the way she's stitched together remnants of her life, sand and the past kicking up around her as she walks backward -- literally, at times -- then forward again, contemplating, teasing.

Jeremy and Fernando Gutierrez descended a staircase to a cove in Laguna Beach for a nighttime lobster dive and almost fell into the ocean. Even in the darkness, the brothers could see what the problem was -- the sand at Treasure Island Beach had all but disappeared, leaving a rugged landscape of rock and a sudden drop-off where the staircase once led gently to the strand. "I couldn't believe it," said Fernando Gutierrez, 26, of Costa Mesa. "There was no beach and a 20-foot drop-off."

The explosive Wedge surf break in Newport Beach has left generations of daredevils with broken bones and concussions. On Friday, with waves topping 20 feet, it killed a man -- a rare death at a place that would seem to invite it. The Orange County coroner's office has identified the man as 50-year-old Monte Kevin Valantin of Lawndale. He was thrown against the rock jetty that produces the Wedge's outsized waves about 12:30 p.m.

The Aquarium of the Pacific's newest exhibit introduces visitors to an eerie world beyond the reach of sunshine: the bottom of the ocean, a strange seascape of crushing pressure, volcanic fissures and an abundance of cryptic creatures. The Wonders of the Deep gallery, which is scheduled to open to the public May 24, will be one of the few places where visitors can marvel over bioluminescent fish and opportunistic scavengers that inhabit the biological oases created by dead marine mammals that sink to the bottom.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center improved slightly from an F to a D in a national hospital safety report released Wednesday, while Cedars-Sinai Medical Center stayed at a C grade. Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit healthcare quality organization, based the scores on an analysis of infections, injuries, medication errors and other problems that cause patient harm or death. The organization publicizes the scores in an effort to inform patients and reduce safety problems, said Leah Binder, its president and chief executive.

On busy Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, some well-kept facades conceal a secret. Behind the Mediterranean with wooden doors, the white stucco two-story with a red tile roof, the long wall obscuring a three-structure compound, hides a singular, massive wealth fueled by obsession. This is Larry Ellison territory, where a Bay Area billionaire with seemingly endless patience and resources is buying up the best spots along Malibu's 21 miles of coast. PHOTOS: Expensive things Ellison has bought The Oracle Corp.

When giant container ships sail into major ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach, it's not just clothing and cars that they deliver. They also carry critters. The specimens - microscopic algae cells or larger castaways, such as eggs of fish or crustaceans - float about in the thousands of tons of water the boats use as ballast. When the ships dump their ballast at port, the species can establish a foothold in foreign lands, often with detrimental consequences to native wildlife. But soon ports may be able to mitigate some of that harm by predicting where invasive species are likely to arrive.

You can go through life like a cool guy hitting a golf ball off a yacht, or you can go through life as a real person. Both have their rewards. Have you seen that Tommy Hilfiger ad of a young, ripped Gatsby hitting the golf ball off the deck? What you don't see is that, in the next instant, a phantom wave sends the golden boy pinwheeling into the drink, where he winds up marrying a mermaid with abandonment issues and living happily never after. Eventually, someone is going to remake the "Incredible Mister Limpet" exactly like that.

Area basketball coaches are seeing a lot of off-court action these days. Now that the Lakers are out of the playoffs, head coach Mike D'Antoni can turn his attention to moving into the house he and his wife, Laurel, just bought in Manhattan Beach for $6.9 million and working on his tan. Set on a walk street, the ocean-view home features a three-stop cherry-paneled elevator, which should come in handy for carting beverages from the...

Health officials Friday afternoon reopened beaches near Ballona Creek to swimmers and surfers, two days after they were closed because of a major sewage spill. Testing showed bacteria levels in the water within normal ranges for two days in a row, so lifeguards on Friday began removing closure signs from two miles of coastline south of the creek outlet, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The closures were ordered after a clog in a sewer main caused a manhole near Centinela Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard to overflow Wednesday, discharging an estimated 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a storm drain that leads to Ballona Creek and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean.

Several beach parks on Hawaii's Big Island will be closed beginning Sunday afternoon because of Hurricane Felicia, which is expected to increase wave heights as it approaches land, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency officials said Saturday. The National Weather Service in Honolulu, however, said Felicia would probably be downgraded to a tropical storm or tropical depression once it moves closer to Hawaii. Felicia peaked Thursday as a Category 4 storm with winds topping 140 mph. It entered the central Pacific on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. The storm was about 800 miles east of Hilo on Saturday morning.

Actress Lindsay Lohan violated her probation Thursday by leaving a Newport Beach rehabilitation facility where she was to begin 90 days of treatment in a reckless driving case, prosecutors said. Mark Heller, Lohan's attorney, told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Dabney on Thursday morning that his client had already begun her therapy at the Morningside Recovery facility after opting not to go to a Long Island recovery center. Heller told the judge the facility met all the conditions of Lohan's plea agreement in a case in which she was also convicted of lying to police.

Now that the Lakers are out of the playoffs, Coach Mike D'Antoni can turn his attention to moving into the house he and his wife, Laurel, just bought in Manhattan Beach for $6.9 million. Set on a walk street, the ocean-view home features a three-stop cherry-paneled elevator, which should come in handy for carting beverages from the 2,000-bottle basement wine cellar to the 400-glass wine bar on the top floor. The open-plan house, built in 2003, includes five bedrooms, five bathrooms and 5,000 square feet of living space.