If you can leave time in your trip for some sightseeing, there are two stunning locatons of the Getty Museum, the modern architectural marvel in Santa Monica and the restored Villa in Malibu.  View at link:

http://www.getty.edu/museum/

There are lovely beaches in the Malibu area from Zuma beach to the small Paradise Cove.  As you drive along Pacific Coast Highway, there is also a host of restaurants from biker beach joint Joe's Crab Shack to Gladstone's 4 Fish and Charthouse.  For the beach club feel without the beach club price, if weather permits and it's open in Winter, try the newly renovated Marion Davies estate, now called the Annenberg Public Beach Club with stunning tile pool, cafe and beach with chairs and volleyballs for rent.  Further down the coast, you can enjoy the famous Santa Monica pier boardwalk now restored with Ferris Wheel, bumper cars and eateries, or go a bit further West for tchotchke shopping and wild people watching at Venice Beach, where you can also rent bicycles or surreys and ride the sidewalks.