Beach Cities
Orange County residents have always known that their home has some of the most beautiful beach communities anywhere. Any of these beach towns would make a great place to spend a day or two, and if you're ready to get away from the Disney madness, you may enjoy moving to a hotel nearer the sand. Hotels in this upscale resort area tend to be more expensive than near the Disneyland Resort. Key to rates for hotels listed here (double occupancy):
$: $90 to $129 per night |
$$: $130 to $199 per night |
$$$: $200 to $299 per night |
$$$$: Over $300 per night |
Huntington Beach
Known as “Surf City USA,” Huntington Beach is the center of Orange County surf culture. With public beaches lining its entire western boundary, Huntington is a great place for a day at the beach that could be the stuff of anyone's California beach fantasy. Add an evening bonfire with roasted hot dogs and marshmallows if you like, and if you're here around Christmas, don't miss a chance to see the over-the-top lighted displays around Huntington Harbor.
FAST FACT
Huntington Beach holds the official trademark “Surf City USA,” according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but that doesn't keep rival Santa Cruz (south of San Francisco) from disputing their claim, while applying for their own trademark as “Original Surf City, USA.” Coincidentally, Surf City (without the USA) is also the name of communities in New Jersey and North Carolina.
A few of the best places to stay in Huntington Beach include:
Best Western Regency Inn, www.bestwestern.com, $
Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, www.hilton.com, $$$
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, www.huntington beach.hyatt.com, $$$
Newport Beach
The city of Newport Beach covers twenty-five square miles and has only six miles of oceanfront, but all its best tourist spots center on the beach and the islands of Newport Harbor. The best place to start exploring is on the Balboa Peninsula just off Pacific Coast Highway.
From the Balboa Fun Zone, a harbor cruise on the Pavilion Paddy or the Pavilion Queen (www.catalinainfo.com) is the best way to get acquainted with Newport Harbor and to slow down to its unhurried pace. You'll pass cottages so small you'd have to go outside just to change your mind and million-dollar mansions divided by sibling squabbles. If you suddenly get a feeling of déjà vu, never fear. You're not hallucinating, just remembering a movie or television program — perhaps the original Treasure Island or an episode of Gilligan's Island?
A few minutes on the four-car ferry from the Balboa Peninsula takes you to Balboa Island, one of seven artificial islands cradled between the mainland and the peninsula. In the beginning, these islands seemed like just another real estate scam, as watery, lots-to-be: waterfront $15, inland $10, and only $5 down. James Cagney won one of them in a poker game. An eccentric countess bought another, and only those with her permission could be her neighbors. One has streets named for jewels. Yet another was designed to be a racetrack.
Today, the seven islands of Newport Harbor are real. Cradled inside Balboa Peninsula, they are some of the most expensive real estate in Southern California. Those $10 and $15 lots now cost $1.5 million and up, and they are surrounded by one of the world's largest small yacht harbors. It's a quiet, relaxed place where you're more likely to meet the harbor patrol than the highway patrol, and sun-blond kids zip around on bicycles like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting.
Once planned to be a racetrack, Balboa Island now teems with cottages arranged in neat rows, American flags flying outside. It's a short walk from the ferry landing to Marine Avenue, the island's only shopping area, where you'll find a variety of goods, from handmade kites to resort wear. Along this homey main drag, you can buy one of Newport Beach's most famous culinary treats, the Balboa Bar, a block of ice cream on a stick, coated to order with chocolate and rolled in the topping of your choice.
RAINY DAY FUN
If you're stuck in the rain, a visit to the toy store may be the answer. The local chain named Toy Boat * Toy Boat * Toy Boat (which is its official name and also a tongue-twister — try saying it three times fast) carries classic toys and beach gear. You'll find them in Newport Beach at 21111 Newport Coast Drive, and at Fashion Island shopping center.
If you want to stay in Newport Beach, these are a few of the nicest spots:
Balboa Bay Club & Resort, www.balboabayclub.com, $$$
Bay Shores Peninsula, www.thebestinn.com, $$
Fairmont Newport Beach, www.fairmont.com/newportbeach, $$$
Holiday Inn Express Newport Beach, 2300 West Coast Highway, www.ichotelsgroup.com, $$
Newport Dunes RV Park, www.newportdunes.com is sometimes called the “Ritz of RV Parks” for its luxurious amenities, but you don't have to drive a Winnebago or an Airstream to stay there. Just book one of their twenty-four cottages and you can enjoy the same ambiance as the folks in the $2.5-million Featherlite Vantare Platinum Plus super-RV down the way.
Laguna Beach
The coastline grows irregular in Laguna Beach, and the mountains edge closer to the sea, creating a dramatic landscape that has attracted tourists since the late nineteenth century. Artists first discovered this scenic spot in the early 1900s, and by the 1920s, it had become an artist's colony.
FAST FACT
The beautiful, life-size mural of a gray whale and her calf on the wall of the Hotel Laguna at 509 South Coast Highway.
Today, Laguna is still one of Orange County's art centers, hosting the annual Festival of Arts, Pageant of the Masters, and Sawdust Art Festival.
Laguna Beach is also a good place for shopping and fine dining, and a late-afternoon walk along the beachside boardwalk is a popular activity.
Casa Laguna Inn, www.casalaguna.com, $$$
Holiday Inn Laguna Beach, www.ichotelsgroup.com, $$
Laguna Riviera Beach Resort, www.lagunariviera.com, $
Montage Resort and Spa Laguna Beach, www.montagelaguna beach.com, $$$$
Dana Point
Nineteenth-century explorer and author Richard Henry Dana called this spot one of the most romantic in California when he sailed here in his ship The Pilgrim, and little has changed in that regard during the ensuing two hundred years. Dana Point is focused on the sea, with a large artificial harbor. Fishing excursions and winter whale-watching trips are among the most popular activities.
FAST FACT
Richard Henry Dana, for whom Dana Point is named, is the author of Two Years Before the Mast, a book recounting his time spent at sea, exploring the California coast almost a decade before the 1849 Gold Rush brought the world to California's doorstep.
Dana Point is also home to some of the county's most luxurious accommodations, as well as some more affordable spots:
Holiday Inn Express Dana Point, www.ichotelsgroup.com, $
Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, www.ritzcarlton.com, $$$$
St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa, www.stregismonarch beach.com, $$$$
San Clemente
One of Orange County's oldest and southernmost towns, San Clemente gained instant fame when former U. S. president Richard M. Nixon made his home, Casa Pacifica, the “Western White House.”
Created by developer Ole Hanson in 1929, San Clemente was envisioned as a Spanish village by the sea, filled with red-tile-roofed white stucco homes that still contribute to its charming appearance.
FAST FACT
Visitor's Bureau representatives like to quote the county's 312 days of sunshine, but June gloom is something they'd rather not talk about. This weather phenomenon is characterized by cloudy skies, created when an ocean cloud layer hangs onshore all day long. On the average, about half the days in May and June are affected, and the closer you stay to the beach, the more likely you are to experience it.
Located at the southern end of the Los Angeles megalopolis, San Clemente is lightly visited, but well worth a day's excursion for shopping on Avenida del Mar, strolling on the pier, or building a sandcastle. You can also visit Hanson's home, Casa Romantica, which is now open to the public. The beach here is popular with surfers and scuba divers.
San Clemente is also one of the most affordable places to stay in Orange County:
Best Western Casablanca Inn, www.bwcasablanca.com, $
Hampton Inn & Suites, San Clemente, www.hamptoninnsanclemente.com, $$
San Clemente Inn, www.sanclementeinn.com, $
