I posted six months ago or so asking input on California trip this May.  I feel good about itinerary, but have a few final questions for you all.  This has to do with tail end of trip.  We got a City pass and want to go to Sea World and Universal.  Our flight leaves LAX on Tuesday (8:30PM) so I assume I need to be back no later than 6:30 PM (drop off rental car, security, etc).  In order to fit everything in I'd like us to do, we need to do either Universal or Sea World on that Tuesday and drive to the airport during rush hour traffic....so how long (realistically) would it take to get from Sea World or Universal to LAX?  I'm trying to judge which option gives us the best use of time considering closing times.  I'm not sure if it would make a difference, but there will be 4 in the car so we can utilize HOV lanes.

Thanks again...the more I look into the things to do, the more I'm convinced it would take 2-3 months of solid travel to see everything your state has to offer.

Sea World is in San Diego. Universal City Hollywood is in The Valley, northern LA. Sea World should not be on the menu for you, it's a minimum 2.5 hour drive from San Diego to LA if there is no trafffic. It's taken me 4+ hours before because of traffic. There is always traffic along that route during the day.

Universal to LAX should not be worse than 45 mins if you route correctly for the time of day. Definitely do Universal between those two options.

I'd plan an hour to an hour and a half for Universal to LAX, it can be less but any traffic problems and you're in trouble.  Check Sigalert.com as the day goes on to determine what traffic is like.

Seaworld is out way too far,

Thanks....I sort of figured that, but wasn't sure if I-5/405 was quicker at rush than driving inside LA.

Any suggestions on best route from Universal to LAX?

Download Waze to your smart phone, it does a great job of real-time navigation and will get you to LAX via the fastest route possible at that time under current traffic conditions. I use it religiously.

Given the prospects for missing your flight, I have to make you aware of this.  

There have been times when driving south bound on Interstate 405 (driving southbound towards LAX airport), it has taken me four hours to get from the Sepulveda Pass to LAX (5 mph).  Admittedly, this was a no good, very bad day but it does happen.  

You have to think about the consequences of being 5 minutes late as opposed to being an hour or two early (because you planned for a worst-case trip).

Assuming no traffic and no construction, get on the 101 right at Universal, west on the 101 to the 405, south on the 405 to LAX.

Universal is for all intents and purposes on the north side of the Hollywood Hills,   it's on the 101 (Hollywood Freeway) which runs from downtown to the northwest (at Universal City) and then west along the south side of the San Fernando Valley.  It then merges with the 134 and the runs due west eventually out of the valley down to the coast on it's way to Oregon.  The next freeway west of the 101 is the 405 San Diego Freeway, which runs south via Sepulveda Pass down by the airport.  There are several canyon roads which cross the hills.  Any and all of which jam up quick if the freeways foul.  You need to talk to a real Hollywood regular to get real valid information on any of those.

Taking the 101 southeast from Universal is not a particularly good alternate because if you don't jump off the 101 to surface streets you need to go in to downtown pick up the 110 south to the 10 and then turn west back out to the 405 traveling on the south side of the Hollywood Hills.  If you don't know the surface streets you can get your Slauson Cut-Off.

I've got no input on traffic, but definitely do Universal on the day you are talking about.  Universal is small, small.  It can be mostly done in half a day.  Sea world is a full day, and Disney is multiple days.

Need some advice.  Planning one day to drive from Monterey to Oxnard on the Pacific coast highway.  I'd like to see as much of that stretch of highway as possible (drive during daylight hours).  Based on timing, I'm tempted to stop at Morrow Bay for sunset kayaking.  If we do this, that means I'd have to drive the rest of the way in the dark.  Is there much on the stretch of highway between Prismo Beach and Oxnard that we'd miss?  Planning Sea World the following day, so I want to make it a do-able drive the next morning, which is why I'm not as inclined to spend the night in Santa Maria, or somewhere near there.

Thanks!

There isn't much to see after that.  Monterey to the SLO area is probably the best stretch in my opinion.  Check out the hours for the Point Sur Light Station and see if you can get on one of the tours.  I've been meaning to do that for a while.  

About the first half of the trip from Morro Bay to Oxnard is off the coast, and while somewhat scenic in a few areas, rolling hills, oak trees, vineyards, nothing to worry about missing.  Take 101.  Along that route is quaint and farm lands but not freeway speed.  101 comes back on to the coast at Gaviota.  Interesting but nothing spectacular like between Moro Bay and Carmel.  You will likely see ships in the channel and squid fisherman (lights in the darkness).  While there are some interesting sights, in that stretch, nothing to be distressed about missing.  

Downtown Ventura has several really nice places to eat on Main St. (much improved since the, appears to be very early, Google street view shots) and we really like Andrias http://andriasseafood.com/, Brophy's on the other side of the parking lot is said to be could by family members who have eaten there.

No recommendations in Oxnard, we haven't been to any of the places near the marina/harbor.  We have a little hole in the wall tacqueria on Saviers we go to.  I hesitate to recommend it to someone that isn't a little willing to be daring.    It's on the west side of the street, about the 3000 or 3100 block, in a strip mall next to a tortilleria.  We've stopped at both when we were "camping" at NAS Pt. Mugu, the first time to get fresh tortillas at the tortilleria and cheap tacos next door.  The tacos were as close as I've ever found to the ones they made at my favorite place when growing up, and about $1.25 a great deal.  To say they are not fancy, is a gross overstatement.  I expect that if you want cheap and authentic Mexican food, almost any of the hole in the wall places in the strip malls will do.  Although regretting it the next day, may be a result.  Oxnard is primarily agricultural hub and the economy is biased heavily to the local hispanic population except in the beach areas.

Check Sigalert.com for current traffic issues when planning your route from Oxnard to San Diego.  They are working on the 5 in the Norwalk area., and the 405 near Seal Beach  So I might suggest that you take the 101 to the 134 to the 210 (basically the same freeway, just changes numbers as it goes along)  to the 57 to the 5 to get around it, or 101 to 110 or 710 to the 91 or the 405 to get around it  You will be staring to the northwest of the "Greater" Los Angeles area and going to the southeast side of it.  During rush hour.  Some GPS systems get updates for conditions and adjust to them

Nothing terribly exciting between Morro Bay and Oxnard - I went to Cal Poly SLO many years ago and did the SLO> Thousand Oaks drive more times than I care to remember.

Oxnard to Sea World/San Diego is thru some shitty traffic areas - basically the worst LA has to offer except for 91 east..............

Do yourself a favor and get a Fasttrak transponder so you can use the toll roads &/or free car pool lanes as necessary.

That’s a hell of a drive to get up then do Sea World in SD. Sea World is kinda lame. You’ll be over it in 2 hours.

You should do Moro Bay sunset. Drive to Slo and stay the night. Have breakfast in Slo or Pismo. Drive to Solvang for lunch and plan another sunset at Rincon Beach.

Got back from trip a week ago.  Family had a blast.  Random thoughts...I enjoyed SF more than I thought I would.  Much colder than I expected it to be, but between the Lands End Trail, Golden Gate park, Alcatraz, Academy of Science, the Exploratorium and Chef Hungs in ChinaTown my family had a great time.  If anyone is in town visiting I HIGHLY recommend the SF CityPass  http://www.citypass.com/san-francisco/alcatraz worth every penny.

Drive down PCH was beyond words...seriously, I don't think my eyes have ever seen scenery so beautiful.  If it weren't for the political idiocy in the state, I would retire somewhere in Big Sur without a second thought.  While I'm on Big Sur, Point Sur light station tour was also worth every penny.  3 hour tour, adults $12, kids $5.  Amazing views...we saw several grey whales coming around the point during our walk to the top.

Monterey Bay aquarium was great, Cannery Row was an over priced tourist trap.  Didn't care for town of Monterey.

The family liked seeing the elephant seals south of San Simeon.  

Kids enjoyed Universal far more than SeaWorld (would NOT recommend Southern California CityPass).

Overall, an amazing state.  I'm already starting to think about the next trip to cover the Sierra and Northern California.

Make sure to put Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe and the Mendocino coast on that list.