Hidden Gems in Dana Point
6 spots in Dana Point, CA that locals know about and most visitors walk straight past.
1 depend on the tide. Check it before you drive out.
Every location below was checked against Google Maps; anything that could not be verified was left out rather than guessed. Descriptions come from the sources credited under each entry.
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Strands Beach
Beach · Moderate
Free parking off Selva Road, but every route to the sand is work: "LOTS of steps down" plus a steep hill that "can be slippery with sand on asphalt," or the Switchback and Beach Revetment trails with "steep stairs at the end" - the funicular is permanently out of service. Restrooms at the north, midpoint and south ends, mosaic sea creatures on the bluff path, and a beach that goes "SKINNY at high tide."
- Effort: Long descent and climb back from the bluff.
Described from funorangecountyparks.com, weekendsherpa.com, danapointchamber.com, danapoint.org
Hilltop Conservation Park
Viewpoint · Moderate
A roughly half-mile route from the Street of the Green Lantern trailhead, a "mix of dirt trails and concrete/outdoor staircases with railings" with benches, ending in panoramic views over Dana Point. Managed by the Center for Natural Lands Management; the city page listed it open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 6pm and closed the other days, with no dogs and no beach access.
Described from danapoint.org, weekendsherpa.com
Dana Point Tide Pools
Tide pools · Moderate · Best at low tide
Reached from the Ocean Institute lot at the end of Dana Point Harbor Drive, with benches along the jetty and weekend tidepool docents when volunteers are available; the rock scrambling makes it "not stroller-friendly." It is a State Marine Conservation Area - "Never remove animals, shells or rocks" - and the source warns to stay back from cliffs that "are not necessarily stable."
- Tide: Low tide only. State Marine Conservation Area, do not disturb the wildlife.
Described from funorangecountyparks.com
Salt Creek Beach
Beach · Moderate
A blufftop park with grassy picnic areas and walking trails above the sand, no steps but a steep pathway down, sheer cliffs, and an "offshore reef [that] creates some of the best left swells." Patch reports a poll of 3,000 families ranking it the seventh-best hidden beach in the United States, though it is also "known for its popular surf."
Described from danapointchamber.com, patch.com, ocbeachinfo.com, danapoint.org
Pines Park
Viewpoint · Easy
A bluff park in Capo Beach with street parking, built around a sunken playground below street level. The source notes no bathrooms and no swings, some fenced areas "marked as potentially unstable," and that "the ramp is steep though on the way back up" - it calls the park "ideal for hot weekends when inland areas are uncomfortably warm."
Described from funorangecountyparks.com
Watermans Plaza
Landmark · Easy
On Pacific Coast Highway across from Doheny, the plaza commemorates Dana Point's 1950s-60s surf era with statues of Hobie Alter and Bruce Brown plus "surf artist John Severson, surfing luminaries Joyce Hoffman and Phil Edwards, and tandem surfers Steve and Barrie Boehne." It also holds "a mosaic recreation of The Endless Summer's famous movie poster."
Described from atlasobscura.com
These places change and we do not get to visit them all. If something here is closed, moved, or just wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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