Main Beach Park, Laguna Beach

Main Beach in Laguna Beach is a stunning beach with many fun spots to explore. If you park on Laguna Canyon Road, you pass beautiful eucalyptus trees, then a coffee shop called Succulent Coffee Roasters on a plain strip of road, then reach a wooden boardwalk and basketball courts with views of the sea. The beach itself is full of colorful umbrellas, happy sand castle builders, and kids dragging body boards to the water. To the north of the beach are amazing cliffs and rocky coves full of rock pools. Here you will find Bird Rock Beach where surfers zoom by and cormorants and pelicans make trouble on Bird Rock. If it's low tide, continue on to Rock Pile Beach and more coves. On the southern part of Main Beach there is a sloped lawn with joyful picnickers and kids playing on the playground. The playground is cute, with baby swings, dolphin sculptures, pale blue and sand flooring, a twisty slide, and a rope bridge.

From there you can continue to walk past more rock pools and beach houses to Cleo Street Beach. Or walk toward the town and have a gelato at Gelato Paradiso in an enchanting alleyway. If you continue exploring Laguna Beach town you will find the loveliest architecture, cafes, coffee shops, and trees of all colors and shapes. 
On the north end of the beach you will find a staircase past flowers and tropical plants to Heisler Park, one of the prettiest spots in California. Here you can watch the surfers and the waves crashing below. There is a gazebo with a roof that somehow reminds me of Indonesia. It has a twisty log railing leading up to it. Low gnarled trees on the lawn make for cute picnic spots. The water below is a stunny color on a sunny day. For more chances of sun, come in fall or early winter. If you must come in May-July, it might be foggy but the fog will clear after a while if you're lucky. My kids love the foggy mornings too- these types of days have such a California feel.
Part of the joy of going to Laguna Beach is the drive there, on Laguna Canyon Road. If you pull over at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, you can hike among the sandstone boulders!

Directions

Main Beach is located where Broadway Street (or Laguna Canyon Rd) meets Pacific Coast Highway, in Laguna Beach. There is parking on Laguna Canyon Rd if you come early enough.

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