Best beach near Disneyland/Anaheim? Suggestions?

[DOLEWHlP]

Hi! So, my Mom has planned a trip to Disneyland with my sister and I in mid July and we’re going to be there for a week. We’ve only been once before, 6 years ago (we’re usually a WDW fam), and we’re super excited!
We also figured we’d head down to one of the beaches for a day since we’ve never been to a California beach but we have no idea which one to pick! I’ve looked around online and Laguna and Huntington Beach seem great to me but I just want to pick the best one possible since we’ll only be there for a day. We’d have to Uber down to one so we don’t want to travel to a beach too far away from Anaheim and my Mom is crazy about souvenir shops (lol ) so I want to make sure there will be at least a few good ones to pick from wherever we decide to go.

If anyone has any suggestions I’d really appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[Kickinwing820]

Huntington beach is my go to beach. Probably favorite beach in California actually. Got the beach, the pier and all the shops on main street. And if youre lucky they will have some stuff set up in the parking lot next to the pier.

 

[DLgal]

We live here and our go to is Newport. I find Huntington to be dirty and crowded, personally.

 

[GoingSince1990]

We always go to Laguna. Nice little town, plenty of restaurants, shopping and beach rentals. Nice scenic drive to get there, too.

 

[tarheelalum]

It really depends on what you want at the beach. Do you want secluded with few businesses around or lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. The city of Laguna Beach has both. The downtown area has a great beach with tons of shopping and restaurants all within walking distance. Very safe community to walk around. Home to some of the richest people on the planet. Also within Laguna Beach is Crystal Cove State Park which has very few businesses but has a gorgeous beach. They also have a cheap but fantastic burger stand on a cliff overlooking the ocean. If you go there get the pineapple shake. Its amazing.

 

[PHXscuba]

As long as it is mid-July Huntington should be great. Surfing's US Open starts July 27 so the last week of July will bring a lot of crowds and chaos you'd probably prefer to avoid.

Both areas have souvenir shops and shopping. I think HB has a wider beach area and a more "surf city vibe." Laguna has a more artsy and funky vibe. You might also consider Balboa that has shops and a nice beach.

PHXscuba

 

[Barnabus Collins]

I used to live in Huntington Beach, and I always liked that beach. If you are looking for a "surf city" type vibe, it is a must.

 

[abnihon]

Is it easy to Uber to the beaches? That’s my plan too.
How much is it usually?
We may do Newport for a whale watching trip and then also hop over to Huntington.

 

[loloandstitch]

Is it easy to Uber to the beaches? That’s my plan too.
How much is it usually?
We may do Newport for a whale watching trip and then also hop over to Huntington.

It depends when you are going. Weekday vs weekend for example. To Huntington, it's about 15-20 miles either by streets or by freeway. You can put in a fare estimate on Uber to see what an approximate price might be: https://www.uber.com/us/en/price-estimate/

 

[DeniseJH]

We're going in September and have the same question, but we really just want to be able to stick our feet in the water. We don't care about restaurants, or shops. Would Huntington still be the best for us?

 

[kristenabelle]

We're going in September and have the same question, but we really just want to be able to stick our feet in the water. We don't care about restaurants, or shops. Would Huntington still be the best for us?

We went to Huntington during one of our DL trips. Really fast & direct to get to from property, and we stopped at an In N Out on the way. It was perfect for dipping our toes in the Pacific

 

[DOLEWHlP]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Haven’t made a final decision yet, but I think my Mom and I are leaning towards Huntington right now.
About how close to each other are all these beaches anyways? When I’ve looked them up they all seem to be in the same area? Would it be possible to check out more than one beach around there in one day?

 

[DLgal]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Haven’t made a final decision yet, but I think my Mom and I are leaning towards Huntington right now.
About how close to each other are all these beaches anyways? When I’ve looked them up they all seem to be in the same area? Would it be possible to check out more than one beach around there in one day?

They are all basically touching each other, so yeah you could, but not if you don't have your own car. Why not rent a car for the day and drive down the PCH from Huntington to Laguna? Its beautiful. Using Uber to do this will end up costing you over $100.

 

[DeniseJH]

We went to Huntington during one of our DL trips. Really fast & direct to get to from property, and we stopped at an In N Out on the way. It was perfect for dipping our toes in the Pacific

Thank you! That is really all we want to do.

 

[abnihon]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Haven’t made a final decision yet, but I think my Mom and I are leaning towards Huntington right now.
About how close to each other are all these beaches anyways? When I’ve looked them up they all seem to be in the same area? Would it be possible to check out more than one beach around there in one day?

We’re doing a tour through Anaheim tour company that will take us to Laguna, Newport, and Huntington. At Newport we’re doing a whale watching cruise.
More expensive than Uber but I like being able to see 3 beaches and not worry about Ubers.

 

[pixarmom]

Newport! Here's a thread I created a very long time ago, so some of the information is outdated. https://www.disboards.com/threads/newport-beach-california.2895078/

Both the Crab Cooker and Stuft Surfer are currently closed (Crab Cooker is scheduled to reopen and we never seem to get a solid story regarding Stuft Surfer) and the Bay Arcade in the Fun Zone and Martha's Bookstore on the island are also closed. But some of the other information might be helpful! I'll add that Royal Hen on Balboa Island is a great dinner spot! I'll be back next month and plan to update the thread then for anyone who is interested!

 

[lindyv321]

I’m following along. We will be driving in from Phoenix on a Saturday and want to hit the beach that afternoon/evening and then possibly again Sunday morning before the Oogie Boogie Bash. Maybe we can actually hit up two spots since they are so close to each other!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

We’re doing a tour through Anaheim tour company that will take us to Laguna, Newport, and Huntington. At Newport we’re doing a whale watching cruise.

We did this beach tour last summer and I loved it. They’re a great company to work with. Laguna is just a quick photo stop though with the main time spent at the other two. Amazing customer service- we used them again in December for our transportation to and from universal.

Newport is my favorite- we always pick that beach. I found Huntington to be overwhelming to navigate with kids that want to swim- no clean bathrooms by the beach and it was difficult to deal with without knowing the area.