Staying in Irvine, best beach or hike to visit for the day?

[JennCa]

We have one day not planned for our trip. It is next Thursday and was thinking of going to a local beach. We are staying in Irvine. Can anyone recommend a place? I don't want to drive as far as Santa Monica and don't want to see kiddie rides like Balboa. is there anywhere that has a decent beach, place for kids to run around and get into the sand and possibly a place to walk, maybe bike trails, ledges, etc. prefer clean and not too far. Am open to piers.

Any advice?

Jenn

 

[Potterswife]

We went to Huntington beach last year, everybody had so much fun, huge stretches of sand, long sidewalks, warm water...oh and it was *clean*. We had to pay to park, but it wasn't anything outrageous.

 

[LavenderPeach]

Laguna Beach isn't too far from Irvine. I don't know about trails but I believe there is a playground either on or next to the beach. There are a lot of shops and restaurants around there. Further south is Doheny State Beach in Dana Point and the beaches in San Clemente/San Juan Capistrano area all of which I think are nice. They're popular beaches but not quite as crowded or touristy feeling as Hungtington Beach, imo.

 

[SoCalDCLfan]

We live in Irvine and Crystal Cove State Park is our favorite beach (it's inbetween Laguna and Corona Del Mar, about 15-20 min from Irvine). It's beautiful, not crowded, outstanding views, tide pools and great swimming.

From Irvine take Culver drive South (turns into Bonita Canyon near UCI). Left on Newport Coast, go up and over hill. at Pacific Coast Highway go left. There are many entrances to Crystal Cove, we prefer Reef Point a few miles down. Take a right on Reef Point into parking ($10). go to far left of parking lot, park. Take trail (steep trail) down to beach. You'll love it. here's some photos from our visit in July:

 

[SoCalDCLfan]

oh yes, and great hiking trails too...

and here's the crystal cove website for more info:

http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/beaches.htm

 

[wendyinoc]

I also live in Irvine. We go to Laguna Beach or Crystal Cove. I like the Beachcomber restaurant on Crystal Cove. It's on the beach and you can see from the distance where Beaches was filmed (The Beach House is right there!!).
Laguna is by far the closest to Irvine. It's the art festival right now which is really great.
Huntington to me is a pain due to off the freeway and its a good 30 minute to 45 drive. Huntington is nice if you were staying near Disneyland.

 

[JennCa]

Thanks! You all are quick. The pictures are adorable.

Jenn

 

[lizziegirl450]

Almost every year I visit the Irvine area before heading to Disneyland and my favorite beach to head to is Big Corona. From what I remember (haven't been in a few years) it has nice sand and waves and right next to it, over a hill is a smaller beach with caves. Those are always fun but they're gated, so you can't go far into them.
There's also Little Corona that has tide pools, but you have to walk down a long, kinda steep road and that's always hard for me in sandals. But nice, nonetheless.