Laguna Beach Tide Pools & Arts Colony

The twin coves north of Laguna Beach's main strand expose some of the richest intertidal ecosystems on the Southern California coast at low tide — purple sea urchins, bat stars, giant green anemones, and schools of surfperch visible in the pools. Shaw's Cove adds a kelp forest accessible to snorkelers in the clear water. The Laguna Beach Marine Protection Area has maintained these ecosystems without commercial fishing pressure since 2012.

A gallery-district café on Forest Avenue that has been the artists' lunch spot since 1984 — house-made vegetarian food, excellent espresso, and a market section selling local honey, preserves, and prepared foods. The shaded outdoor patio is the correct setting for a long Laguna midday.

California's oldest continuously active arts institution west of the Sierra Nevada, founded in 1918 by the painters who made Laguna Beach famous. The permanent collection of California Impressionism and Plein Air painting documents a specific coastal light that drew painters from the Midwest and East Coast starting in 1903. Edgar Payne's Sierra Nevada landscapes and William Wendt's California oak woodlands are the collection's anchors.

A 0.75-mile cliffside promenade above the Laguna Beach coves, established in 1930, with direct ocean views from a planted garden of mature Torrey pines and eucalyptus. The tide pool access stairs descend to three separate coves; the concrete benches face due west and the sunset from the park is the most-photographed moment in Laguna Beach.

A cliffside restaurant above Aliso Beach with full Pacific views and a California comfort food menu — the fish tacos, the lobster bisque, and the wood-fired flatbreads are the anchors. The bluff-edge terrace fills at sunset; arrive by 6pm for the best table.