Aliso Beach — Laguna Beach: Best Beaches in California

ByLisa Dworkin Hours

Photo courtesy of Lisa Dworkin. All rights reserved.

Beach Personality: Very Clean, Enchanting, Family Friendly Beach

Aliso Beach

Aliso Beach is a very family friendly, community-oriented beach. The day I was there, there were two community events going on. One was a voter registration drive and the other a beach clean up. Many people come to Aliso Beach with their families and friends complete with shelters, chairs, and full picnic trimmings ready for a full day of fun in the sun.

Aliso Beach is a narrow, pocket beach intersected by Aliso Creek. The sand is slightly coarse and very soft. In fact, it’s so soft you even sink into it when walking along the shoreline. This makes for a great calf workout if you walk or run from one end of the beach to the other. The beach’s amenities are all at the southern end while the area north of Aliso Creek features calmer water, tide pools, and a beautiful rocky cove.

It’s also perhaps the best skim boarding beach on the southern California coast. That’s because of a very steep near shore drop off at the beach’s southern end near Sands Café. Don’t worry if you aren’t a strong swimmer. You’ll see warning signs posted along the beach where the drop off exists. As you move north the drop off evens out, the waves get smaller, and eventually at the far northern end of the beach the terrain becomes rocky with tide pools.

Beach Activities:

  • Swimming
  • Skim boarding
  • Shore fishing
  • Tide pooling
  • Lounging

Beach Amenities:

  • Public bathrooms – Yes.
  • Showers – Yes.
  • Parking – Yes, for a fee in the beach parking lot.
  • Food – Yes, take out at Sands. Seasonal hours apply.
  • Lifeguard – Yes.
  • Dogs allowed on the beach – No.

Additional amenities – drinking fountains, picnic tables, playground, and fire pits.

Beach Rentals:

None at the beach.

Directions:

Aliso Beach County Park is located at 31131 S. Pacific Coast Hwy (where it intersects with Aliso Way) in Laguna Beach, California, 92651.

To many joyful beach experiences!

— Lisa Dworkin

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