Beaches
With 328 days of sunshine per year, Orange County is a terrific place to go to the beach, and it's got more than forty miles of them to choose from.
Balboa Beach
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach
Stretching the length of Newport Beach's Balboa Peninsula, this popular beach area includes the Wedge, one of the West Coast's best bodysurfing spots. It also boasts a scenic pier. In the summer, it's fun to watch all the local kids taking swimming and surfing lessons here.
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Pacific Coast Highway between Golden West Street and Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach
(714) 846-3460
www.parks.ca.gov
Besides the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve listed under Attractions, this beach is a popular spot for surf fishing and a good place for beginning surfboarders. It runs from Seal Beach to the Huntington Beach Pier.
Huntington City Beach and Huntington Pier
Pacific Coast Highway at Main Street, Huntington Beach
www.stockteam.com/hbpier.html
Centered on the historic Huntington Pier and right across the street from restaurants and shopping, busy Huntington Beach is a great place for making sandcastles, sunning on the sand, and watching surfers. The scenic pier juts 1,853 feet into the Pacific Ocean, making it the subject of countless photographs.
The young surfers who ride the waves here don't tolerate novices, so if you're just learning, you'll be better off to try Bolsa Chica Beach instead. Ironically, the sport that gave “Surf City USA” its name is banned south of the pier in summer.
TRAVEL TIP
If you're a fan of The O.C. television show, the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau offers a map of its locales at www.visitnewportbeach.com. It shows the location of the opening credit shots, the characters' favorite hangouts, and where to find the cast's handprints set in cement.
The pier is open from early morning until midnight, and there's a restaurant at the end. If you're here in May, you may enjoy the Duck-athon, an annual event when thousands of rubber ducks are launched from the pier, with the first ones arriving back on shore winning prizes for their sponsors.
Huntington State Beach
Enter at Magnolia Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach
(714) 536-1454
www.parks.ca.gov
This long, skinny beach wedged between the Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean is one of the area's best beaches for volleyball games. With lifeguards on duty, it's also a good place to go swimming. It also has fire rings where you can light a beach bonfire, one of the most stereotypically California things you could do.
FAST FACT
Southern California water quality varies widely depending on the season, and some Orange County beaches are subject to “red tide,” caused when algae grow very fast, or “bloom,” and their pigments give the water a red color. Although generally not harmful, the condition is unsightly. Heal the Bay (www.healthebay.org) summarizes data and grades each beach on its water quality in both wet and dry weather.
Main Beach, Laguna
Broadway and Ocean Avenues at Pacific Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
www.lblg.org/beach/main.htm
People watching is a popular pastime on this beach often seen on the television series Laguna Beach. It's also a good place for beach volleyball, swimming, and bodysurfing, but surfboarding is not permitted in summer. A pretty boardwalk paralleling the oceanfront offers a good place to watch all the fun without getting sand in your shoes, and when you're tired of the beach scene, downtown Laguna is just a few steps away.
