Southern California Anaheim 411 beach tour

[zaz]

Hi,


Has anyone did the Anaheim beach tour as part of a break from Disney? We'll be staying in Huntington after Disney for a few days, but we'd love to see Newport beach, do the Stars home cruise, see the tide pools and shop on Laguna Beach.

I won't be driving and will be with my 6 yrs old and 16 yrs old.

Thank you!

 

[sunny45]

Hi,


Has anyone did the Anaheim beach tour as part of a break from Disney? We'll be staying in Huntington after Disney for a few days, but we'd love to see Newport beach, do the Stars home cruise, see the tide pools and shop on Laguna Beach.

I won't be driving and will be with my 6 yrs old and 16 yrs old.

Thank you!

We did the OC Beach Tour last month while we were at Disneyland. We went to Huntington, Newport and Laguna Beach from Anaheim. Tom was the tour guide and it was on the Red Woody Beach Bus. Took about 8 hours from pick up to drop off right your hotel. It's an on/off tour so you can stop at any of the three beaches you want and he'll circle around and get you at the designated pick up spot.

On our tour the majority of the bus (about 15 people) just got off at Huntington Beach for a quick photo at the pier which he took of us with our own cameras. Only one couple wanted to stay there while the rest of us went on to Newport Beach where most of us got off for an hour or two. Some of us did boat rides there, whale watching or the Harbour Cruise or just walked around, ate, etc. Then when he came back there we headed to Laguna Beach, which is beautiful. We stayed there for an hour or two. Sightseeing, eating, relaxing on the beach, etc.

I would highly recommend this tour.

 

[albertamom]

I have been looking at this tour, as well, and was hoping to hear some good reviews. I like that there is some flexibility involved. My mom and dad want to spend some time at Laguna Beach, but would be happy with just a quick look at the others. Sounds like this tour fits the bill.

 

[albertamom]

We did the OC Beach Tour last month while we were at Disneyland. We went to Huntington, Newport and Laguna Beach from Anaheim. Tom was the tour guide and it was on the Red Woody Beach Bus. Took about 8 hours from pick up to drop off right your hotel. It's an on/off tour so you can stop at any of the three beaches you want and he'll circle around and get you at the designated pick up spot.

On our tour the majority of the bus (about 15 people) just got off at Huntington Beach for a quick photo at the pier which he took of us with our own cameras. Only one couple wanted to stay there while the rest of us went on to Newport Beach where most of us got off for an hour or two. Some of us did boat rides there, whale watching or the Harbour Cruise or just walked around, ate, etc. Then when he came back there we headed to Laguna Beach, which is beautiful. We stayed there for an hour or two. Sightseeing, eating, relaxing on the beach, etc.

I would highly recommend this tour.

You mentioned spending an hour or two at a couple of the beaches. The website makes it sound like it will be 3 hours before the driver loops back. Was your tour more informal than that? Did the driver tell you an exact time that he would be back around? Did you spend much time waiting for him, or was he on-time? Did you book the Newport tours ahead of time, or on the spot? Sorry for all the questions, but I like to be prepared.

 

[zaz]

Thank you for your review.

 

[ksromack]

Sunny, what time did your tour start and when did you get back to your hotel? Can you message me the phone number you called to book this? I've seen many a pamphlet of beach tours and I would like to get the right one!

 

[Ware Bears]

You mentioned spending an hour or two at a couple of the beaches. The website makes it sound like it will be 3 hours before the driver loops back. Was your tour more informal than that? Did the driver tell you an exact time that he would be back around? Did you spend much time waiting for him, or was he on-time? Did you book the Newport tours ahead of time, or on the spot? Sorry for all the questions, but I like to be prepared.

We did this tour last summer and it was a great day out. When we got to Huntingdon we all got out for photos and a rest room stop and the driver (think he was called Sean, my DD thinks it was Evan but whatever, he was very nice) asked then if anyone wanted to spend time there. No one did so we went on to Newport where we had a couple of hours before he picked us up to take us to Laguna Beach where I think we had about three hours. At Newport we ate lunch at Ruby's on the pier (delicious burgers, we don't get great burgers in the UK) but I believe you can book a harbour cruise ahead of time through the website although I don't think it's necessary, there were loads of boat trips in the harbour. Each time the driver shows you exactly where he'll pick you up and at what time and yes, he was on time. He commentated the whole time too, telling us all about each neighbourhood (there were 9 of us on the bus and we were British and Australian) and playing Beach Boys music - great fun!

There's no need to know in advance where you want to spend your time - if you want to spend time at Huntingdon then you can say at the time, you'll just end up with less time elsewhere.

We really enjoyed this tour - we live by the beach in England but my DDs wanted to see the 'Hollister' beach and as luck would have it, the life guards were training in the surf whilst we were there, a very welcome sight!

We did another tour with this company, we did a day in LA including a tour of Warner Brothers Studio, couldn't fault it. Tom took us on this one and he is such a nice man and took us to places we would never have found in a guide book.

We did all our correspondence by email but his number's on his website here. I'd have no hesitation recommending him and will probably arrange something again through him when we return to Anaheim next year.

ETA: We were picked up about 8:15am and dropped about 6pm or 6:30pm - you'll be picked up from/dropped at your hotel - great service.

 

[tom-from-anaheim]

I'm really glad you enjoyed the tour and look forward to you visiting again (Sunny and Ware)! If the original poster has any questions you can follow the links provided since I don't know the rules here, yet.

We have some great new tours including a tour I am really excited about that will launch next month. It's called The Walt Tour which will visit all kinds of spots where Walt Disney lived and worked throughout Los Angeles. It will be a long day - about 10 hours but will include lunch at the Tam o' Shanter which was the restaurant where Mr Disney ate lunch every day when he was in town. They still have the table with a plaque on it.

I don't want to be too "self promoting" but I will definitely read the rules and hope to advertise on this site, soon.

Happy planning and I hope to see again Sunny45 and Ware Bears and ZAZ - your original post was so long ago... I hope you came along and that it was great.

It's 93 degrees in Anaheim right now...

Happy planning! Tom