Laguna Beach

Understand

Orientation

Laguna Beach lies along the coast of the Pacific Ocean with a ridge of hills bounding its eastern edge. The main road is Pacific Coast Highway, also referred to as Coast Highway, Highway 1 and PCH.

North Laguna This is the area from about High Street north to the city line at Crystal Cove State Park. This stretch of Coast Highway has a few restaurants and shops, but is main residential (large gated communities) with entry points to secluded beaches.

Main Beach / The Village This area fans out from Broadway, a street that becomes Laguna Canyon Road (CA 133, a main artery into Laguna Beach). To the north is the famous Gallery Row area and oceanfront Heisler Park. To the south is the village area with shops and restaurants. Broadway ends at Main Beach, with its boardwalk and popular sandy beach area.

South of Main Beach This is the long area from about Cleo Street south to Aliso Creek Beach. This stretch of Coast Highway contains a lot of shopping, restaurants, hotels and entry points to secluded beaches. Residential neighborhoods slope up the hills.

South Laguna This is the area from Aliso Creek Beach south to Crown Valley Parkway. It contains cliff side beaches, some restaurants and shopping, a hospital and residential properties.

Get in

By plane

Orange County's John Wayne Airport, also known as SNA is only about 15 miles from Laguna Beach. From SNA, you can get to Laguna Beach by one of several ways: rent a car and drive (most popular), take a taxi (about $50), take a door-to-door shuttle (about $30) or limo, or take the OCTA [see Orange County Transportation Authority below] bus #76 ($2.50, runs hourly) to the Newport Transportation Center and transfer there to the OCTA bus #1 that runs to Laguna Beach via the Pacific Coast Highway. All of these modes may be found at the SNA's Ground Transportation Center across the street from Terminal A and B, with the exception of the OCTA bus #76, which is boarded at the OCTA Bus Stop at the far end of Terminal B curbside.

By car

Laguna Beach stretches along the Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) at the "T" intersection of Laguna Canyon Road (CA 133), which becomes Broadway in town. When arriving on summer nights during Pageant of the Masters performances expect a lot of traffic along CA 133 and plan extra time to get into town.

From John Wayne Airport, you can take either Interstate 405 (to the north) or CA-73 (to the south and partway a toll road) to get to CA-133 and south to Laguna Beach. Alternatively, you can drive south from John Wayne Airport to Newport Beach and pick up CA-1 to Laguna Beach.

By rail

There are Amtrak and Metrolink stations in Irvine, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, and San Clemente. From there it will be necessary to take public transportation or a taxi.

Get around

Laguna Beach is a linear town stretched along the Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) punctuated by several canyons. In town, Broadway (CA 133, which becomes Laguna Canyon Road out of town) divides the Pacific Coast Highway into the North Coast Highway and the South Coast Highway; address numbers increase outward from Broadway, with odd-number Coast Highway addresses on the ocean side.

By public transit

• Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA). The OCTA Bus #1 runs up and down the Coast Hwy twice an hour. Route #89 runs up Laguna Canyon Road to Laguna Hills twice an hour.
• Laguna Beach Transit operates five trolley routes year round seven days a week (M-Th 6:30AM-6:15PM, F 6:30AM-11PM, Sa 9:30AM-11:15PM, Su 11AM-8:30PM). The routes are all named after the neighborhoods that they serve: Arch Beach Heights, Bluebird Canyon, Top of the World, North Laguna, and South Laguna. All routes loop back to the Transit Center on Broadway in downtown. In addition, all routes are free.
• The city also operates three routes during the weekend with the same hours as the neighborhood trolley (F 4:30-11PM, Sa 9:30AM-11:15PM, Su 11AM-8:30PM) The routes serve the coast as well as up the canyon. All routes are free.
• Short Coastal: Starts at North Laguna and travels along the coast to Mission Hospital in South Laguna. Frequency: 20 minutes.
• Long Coastal: Starts at the Transit Center downtown and travels to the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point. Frequency: 30 minutes.
• Limited Stop Canyon: Starts at Lot 16 (Act V) parking lot in Laguna Canyon and travels to downtown via Laguna Canyon Road.
• All routes can be lenient on schedules so do not expect your trolley to be on time. The weekend routes do not run on a schedule.
• Use the Trolley Tracker App to see a live map of where your trolley is. Available for iOS and Android.

By car

Although a car may be convenient, parking is at a premium in the summer; beware of having your car towed. You'll probably have to pay to park downtown in beach weather. The cheapest option is parking in the residential areas on the other side of Pacific Coast Highway, although you risk begrudging the residents. If you are trying to get downtown a good place to park is the district parking lot just across from Laguna Beach High School. From here you can take a short walk into town. Lot prices in the summer range from $7-15.

Go next

Laguna Beach makes an excellent launching point for other activities in the area. Disneyland is 25 miles away and Hollywood is about 60 miles away. However, there are plenty of things to do in the nearby area.

South of Laguna Beach The pleasant harbor city of Dana Point offers shopping, restaurants, great surfing beaches and a family-friendly Ocean Institute with exhibits. Farther south is San Clemente with its fine pier, famous surfing spots and more shopping and food options.

North of Laguna Beach Crystal Cove State Park offers overnight camping, gorgeous cliff side beaches and hiking. Just north of the Park is Corona Del Mar, a sleepy ocean community with good dining options. Beyond this is Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.

East of Laguna Beach The city of Irvine is vast. The Spectrum is large shopping complex near Laguna Canyon Road (CA 133) offering a wealth of shopping and dining, as well as a 21-screen theater including IMAX.