Getting to San Clemente from LAX

[jimontheriver]

I will be coming in LAX on the Sunset Limited on a Monday, I would like to take the train to San Clemente and spend the night on the way to San Diego.  I see the Surfliner  only has two trains that stop there a day.  They depart LAX at 8:33am and 9:55am.  What are my options if the Sunset gets in to late the make these trains?   Also, do I need to buy the Surfliner tickets ahead of time? Thanks,  Jim

 

[seat38a]

No you do not need to buy the Surfliner ticket ahead of time. If you miss the Surfliner, you can also take Metrolink which has 5 trains on weekdays. FYI, Surfliner stops at San Clemente Pier station and Metrolink stops at San Clemente Station. Two different stations.

 

[cpotisch]

But won’t it be cheaper to buy Surfliner tickets ahead of time? And coach on the Surfs is unreserved, so so long as he makes the connection to one of them, he’ll be all set.

 

[thully]

The Surfliner is always the same price, no matter when you book it - so as long as this isn't one of the times of year the Surfliner is reserved (usually holidays/Comic-Con/Del Mar races, if I remember correctly...), you should be fine waiting. And by waiting you don't have to worry about cancelling the Surfliner ticket (and incurring cancellation fees) if you end up taking Metrolink instead. Note that only coach on Surfliners is unreserved - business class is reserved.

 

[tim49424]

My one and only time I rode the Surfliner, I purchased my round trip coach ticket to San Diego from Los Angeles about 90 minutes before departure.  This was in October, so I'm assuming it was offseason.  There was plenty of room on the train and coach was better than some of the business classes I've been in, of course, without the perks of BC.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Metrolink only has a 7:58am departure from LA that stops at San Clemente. All others (4 more) through there leave in the evening after 3pm. I think these would be the only options if you miss the 9:55am Amtrak. You could theoretically catch the Metrolink Inland Empire line train #815 (operates San Bernardino to Oceanside, not from LA) or use a bus somehow, but then it becomes a bit of a pain, especially with luggage.

The Metrolink San Clemente stop and the Amtrak San Clemente Pier stop (Metrolink stops here on the weekends too) have a nice walkway between them that takes about 25 minutes. The beach is pretty there. FYI, I think the Pier area is more traveller-friendly than the other stop. There a few small lodges/inns there, and a few small cafés/shops too. Keep in mind that the whole area is a bit pricey in general.

 

[tim49424]

I really liked going past that part of the route. Just south of San Clemente a wave engulfed our train. It was like going through a car wash on a train! The looks on the other passengers faces were priceless. They seemed horrified as I wasn’t. I’d love to take that trip down to San Diego again sometime soon.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Wow, I've never had a wave crash onto the train for me before. Maybe I could time it with a really high tide some day.

 

[tim49424]

Wow, I've never had a wave crash onto the train for me before. Maybe I could time it with a really high tide some day.

My experience was the first time I’d heard of it happening, but I haven’t talked to very many people who have ridden that train.

 

[trainman74]

Metrolink only has a 7:58am departure from LA that stops at San Clemente. All others (4 more) through there leave in the evening after 3pm. I think these would be the only options if you miss the 9:55am Amtrak. You could theoretically catch the Metrolink Inland Empire line train #815 (operates San Bernardino to Oceanside, not from LA) or use a bus somehow, but then it becomes a bit of a pain, especially with luggage.

I'd suggest that the best "emergency" option is taking Amtrak or Metrolink to San Juan Capistrano, and then using taxi/Uber/Lyft to San Clemente.