Pure bliss, how else could I describe the beach house we rented in Malibu with Home Away? It really was just that, I can still smell the ocean and feel that salt water on my skin when I close my eyes and think of it. That beach house is magic. Like fairy dust, unicorns & all…magic. We were so comfortable and it really felt like a home.

When we were searching through Home Away listings for properties in Malibu and I stumbled upon {this one}, I thought I was dreaming. It looked so picture perfect and SO my style, could it be real? It was as if someone pulled at my heart strings in that moment and I knew we belonged there for our family vacation. Malibu is one of our favourite places, and for good reason. The weather, the lifestyle, the surfer vibes…the ocean. It’s all wonderful. It was so easy to find exactly what we wanted through the Home Away website, we could narrow down our search for how many the property could sleep, the location, and our budget.

Our Malibu beach house that we rented for the week can be found {here}!

It slept all 4 of us + nana perfectly! The kids thought the bunk beds were the coolest thing since they were introduced to ice cream – heck we even thought they were the coolest! You guys know that nostalgia with bunk beds but these were the cutest built-in ones in the most perfect pastel, beachy hues. This property is smack dab on the coast, surfers could be seen every morning as well as wild life! The sound of the waves all night & day were the greatest thing – it calms me so much to listen to that. The kids slept amazing here too and we loved the sand area right outside our doors overlooking the water – it was a great space to play with the kids and enjoy some shade under the beautiful umbrellas. Our kiddos were always supervised by one of us as this location is right on the coast, keep that in mind when picking your rental.

This beach house is not only great for families but also great for a group of adults to plan a getaway, especially if you love to surf! Or eat. Or shop lol! Malibu is great for all 3 of those things! We got to meet the owner as well and it was so fun to learn his inspiration behind the decor and how many items were from his childhood or travels, what’s even more neat is that he renovated this place himself. You know Craig and I appreciate a good DIY! He had so many great books inside the home, we brought a lot of colouring books for the kids to keep busy inside while we cooked or tidied up and then when we wanted to play outside in the sand the rental has a bunch of buckets and sand toys for kids – phew. Those would not have fit in my luggage lol! The kitchen was also one of my favourite spaces of the house – it was the perfect size for more than one person to cook or clean and had the cutest details – and the colouring of all of the cabinetry was just like the colour of our library wall – a pastel blue/grey. We had every thing we needed for cooking & eating in the home, even a bbq outside and a fire pit! The entire beach house was super clean and we had parking for our rental vehicle too, these are things that we find important when picking a rental property on vacation.

The hardwood flooring was also one of my favourite design elements, I mean really…this house was totally an Instagrammers’ dream!

This trip was by far one of my favourites of all time, it reminded me of Hawaii. We had such solid quality time with the kids in this beautiful beach house, memories that will last forever and I am so grateful for that. The kids have grown already so much since our Malibu trip and I love being able to look back on these photos captured by the oh-so lovely photographer (and now friend)  Cori Kleckner during our visit – out of 300, I am pretty sure I still can’t narrow it down to my favourites…I may need to build a new house so I can have a 300 image gallery wall lol!! Cori was so wonderful to work with and the kids loved her, I hope you guys love the images of the beach house & our family as much as we do!

We spent a lot of time on the beach and venturing to our favourite spots, we absolutely LOVE the Malibu Farm pier. Their restaurant at the start of the pier has a beautiful view of the coast and amazing food, I suggest calling ahead for a reservation as they are always busy. They also have a cafe at the end of the pier. While you wait for your table that have a great shop with the cutest kids mini boat ride that Noah thought was so fun haha!

There is also a cute viewing area at the end of the pier, you can look out into the ocean and try to spot dolphins!

Malibu Pier: 23000 Pacific Coast Hwy – Malibu, CA 90265

Our favourite breakfast spot was Marmalade Cafe, they make a great coffee and some unique breakfasts – including vegetarian options! This place is family friendly and the service is as great as the food is, there are some great shops in the same plaza and if you are looking for the best cookies ever, hit up Malibu Kitchen & Gourmet…their peanut butter cookies are INSANE good!!!

Marmalade Cafe: 3894 Cross Creek Rd, Malibu, CA 90265

Malibu Kitchen & Gourmet: 3900 Cross Creek Rd, Malibu, CA 90265

My favourite place to shop in Malibu is M.Fredric and it’s actually in this same plaza too, it’s a cute boutique full of super cute tees for adults & kids and graphic hats. This is where I found my favourite pair of high waisted (butt cheek covering) Levi’s shorts, my pink velvet pullover you all love and Ella’s “mermaid hair, don’t care” hat!

M.Fredric: 23410 Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265

There are so many great places to go as a family in California, we loved the Santa Monica pier and enjoyed a fun ferris wheel ride during sunset. It was honestly breathtaking! They also have a trapeze school and the oh-so fun historical carousel, talk about Instagram worthy.

Santa Monica Pier: 200 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401

After that we drove to a delicious seafood restaurant along the coast called Duke’s Hawaiian restaurant. I downed their lobster mac & cheese, it was SO good and the kids loved this place. The staff was great and the atmosphere was very family friendly…the view was spectacular too!

Duke’s Hawaiian Restaurant: 21150 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265

There are some great Farmers Markets in the area and grocery shops to stock up fresh fruit, veggies and snacks…and wine,  while staying at the Beach House haha! If you plan on eating out as well as eating-in, 1 trip to the grocery store and 1 trip to the farmer’s market for the week should do you well! We didn’t find a fresh fish shop on our last trip but I plan to find one the next time we go!

Another great spot was this local pizza joint recommended to us!

D’Amore’s Pizza: 22601 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265

Thanks for reading our Malibu Beach House blog post sponsored by Home Away, as always – all opinions are my own. If you are wanting to look beyond Malibu for a rental property for your next visit to California, check out some of these listings {here}. Stay tuned, we will have another blog post soon on some of our favourite spots in LA during our trip as well as some Disneyland fun!

Photography by Cori Kleckner Photography.