Big Bear Lake or Santa Monica?

Big Bear Lake offers a dip rather than a beach day. The lake stays cool even in high summer, most of the shore is rock and granite, and the small swim beach at Meadow Park is the only supervised spot. The water is better used for boats and paddleboards.

Santa Monica is a real beach town, with a wide stretch of pale sand, lifeguard towers all along it and quieter, more scenic coves towards Malibu and Point Dume. The Pacific is barely warmer than the lake, though, so expect to wade as often as you swim, and walk away from the pier for cleaner water.

Big Bear Lake feeds people after a day outdoors, with diner breakfasts, burgers, barbecue and brewpub pints in the Village, and many visitors cook in their cabins. Santa Monica eats far better. The Wednesday farmers market supplies its seasonal Californian kitchens, the seafood is good, and Main Street and Montana Avenue have reliable neighbourhood restaurants.

Neither town has a cuisine of its own. Santa Monica's weakness is that the cheap immigrant food Los Angeles is known for is a long drive east.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Big Bear Lake has almost nothing to offer beyond the Discovery Center, a small history museum and the gold-rush remains along the Holcomb Valley drive. Santa Monica has its pier with the carousel and the end of Route 66, the galleries of Bergamot Station and some Art Deco buildings near the ocean.

Its real advantage is location. The Getty Center and the Getty Villa are a short drive away, offering a day of serious art and antiquities that the mountain cannot match.

Big Bear Lake goes quiet after dinner. There is some après-ski in winter and a brewpub or sports bar, and then most people head back to the hot tub. Santa Monica gives you more of an evening, with rooftop and wine bars around the Third Street Promenade, pubs on Main Street and a looser crowd in Venice. It is still a place for a sunset drink rather than clubbing, and a proper night out means going to Hollywood.

Both are good outdoor bases, but Big Bear Lake is the more complete one. It has two ski areas in winter. In summer it has mountain-bike runs, the Pacific Crest Trail, short hikes such as Castle Rock and the San Gorgonio Wilderness close by, plus a whole lake for kayaking, sailing and fishing.

Santa Monica's outdoors is coastal and lasts all year. There are chaparral trails in Topanga and Temescal Canyon behind the town, the long beach path for cycling, surf lessons on the beach breaks and whale-watching boats in winter and spring. It has no snow, but it has no off-season either.

Big Bear Lake sits at the end of winding mountain roads, so outings are slow. Lake Arrowhead, the Oak Glen orchards and Riverside's Mission Inn are the realistic choices, and the big cities make for a very long day. Santa Monica has far more within reach, from Malibu and Santa Barbara's mission up the coast to Laguna Beach, Catalina by ferry and Pasadena's Huntington Library. In both places, traffic decides how far you get.

Big Bear Lake has one thing the coast cannot give children: snow, with sledding hills, snow-play areas and beginner ski lessons. In summer the alpine slide, pedal boats and the Alpine Zoo with its rescued bears and bobcats fill the days, and a roomy cabin makes an easy base. Cold nights, the altitude and slow weekend roads take some of the ease away.

Santa Monica is the better family choice for most of the year. The wide beach is lifeguarded, and the pier has a Ferris wheel, a carousel and a small aquarium. Playgrounds line the sand, and the weather stays mild in every month. Theme parks mean a long drive, though, and visible homelessness downtown bothers some parents.

Big Bear Lake needs a car from start to finish. The way up is on steep highways that may call for snow chains, and once there you drive to cabins and trailheads spread through the forest, with only the Village walkable and a local bus and seasonal trolley to help. Santa Monica's centre is walkable, its blue buses cover the town and the E Line light rail runs to downtown Los Angeles, though the Getty, Malibu and Hollywood still mean a car or ride-hailing.

Shopping in Big Bear Lake means an hour in the Village among fudge, bear souvenirs and ski and lake gear. Santa Monica can fill a whole shopping trip, with chains on the Third Street Promenade, boutiques on Montana Avenue, surf shops on Main Street and design-led stores on Abbot Kinney in Venice. Rodeo Drive is a short drive away.

Neither is cheap, but Big Bear Lake is easier on the wallet, especially midweek or outside the ski season, when a shared cabin with a kitchen keeps costs down for a group. Winter weekends, lift tickets and equipment hire quickly change that.

Santa Monica is expensive even by Californian standards, as ocean-side hotels, restaurant bills and parking all add up. The free beach and trails and the cheap buses help, and staying a little inland brings room prices down.

Big Bear Lake has little more than a community arts centre, free summer concerts by the lake and the Bavarian bands of its autumn Oktoberfest. Santa Monica has the Broad Stage for chamber music, dance and theatre, a few small playhouses and a long-standing folk scene. Beyond that, the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall are within reach across Los Angeles if the traffic allows.

In Big Bear Lake, relaxing happens at the cabin: a private hot tub, a wood stove and quiet midweek days among the pines, with a few day spas in town. Santa Monica offers more to do, with yoga on the sand, polished hotel spas and the daily ritual of sunset over the bay. Neither has thermal springs or any bathing tradition.