I would recommend Catalina, Oceana and other places already mentioned. Avoid Torrance airport (user fees but don't know if tie downs still cheap?? ) and Hawthorne (expensive FBO for transient pilots, but fuel and airport open 24 hours.
This is a good time to see the desert stuff, before it gets hot.
That FBO (Jet Center) tried to charge me $80 to allow me to pick up a passenger that walked through their facility. Managed to talk my way out of that by promising to buy self-serve at the pump located midfield.I haven't found Hawthorne to be that expensive. My 8 year old son loves the restaurant on the field -- Eureka -- so we go there periodically, and the FBO has always treated us well. SpaceX and Tesla are right next to the airport, which is kind of cool. The area is having a bit of a resurgence as a center for rocket development.
--Ron
Most definitely. Here's a page with the box information: https://iac36.org/box/ There's a contest coming up at that airport in April, so activity will be increasing as we get closer to that date.Be aware of the aerobatic box north of Borrego Springs