CoastRentals Beach Vacation Blog

Orange County, the fairytale land of Southern California, has been thrust upon the American TV audience incessantly over the past 5+ years. Shows like “The O.C.”, MTV’s “Laguna Beach” and a whole host of other spinoffs on less-watched cable networks have us all wondering what the “real O.C.” truly is like.

Being a beach vacation site, we get exposed a little more to the reality of what areas like Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach have to offer the average traveler. You can believe the drama of LC and J-Wall at your own risk, but believe that this part of the country definitely has some great weather, great beaches, shopping and dining. Here are some honest, unscripted and unromanticized tidbits about the hot beaches of the O.C.:

Huntington Beach - Huntington Beach is a surfing mecca. The beach crowd revolves around the main pier in the middle of town - it’s the run that juts out a few hundred yards and has a restaurant at the end of it. You’ll be treated to a bunch of surfers out in the water and a sizeable soft sand beach. There are tons of good shopping and dining options within the main area of the pier - it looks and feels like the inside of a busy suburban mall. Of course, the weather is a bit better.

The surrounding area is stacked with Cali beach houses and some condo complexes, people riding or walking by tanned up and carrying surfboards. If by chance you are into the more healthy side of dining, Huntington Beach has a can’t-miss place called Bodhi Tree. They have faux options for every meat you have ever imagined and it all tastes superb. Try the ice cream also before grabbing your board and ripping up the waves (I estimate about 2% of CoastRentals visitors/listers will actually attempt to surf).

Newport Beach - Our description of Newport Beach on our listing page is a great example of how diverse a stop in Newport can be. There are, of course, the sand and surf options provided by Huntington mentioned above. But Newport is also home to a large harbor, so you’re more likely to catch your 120-foot yacht charter here than anywhere else in the O.C. Shopping, art, and dining are all worth mentioning as well - all in all, it’s safe to say you could live in Newport Beach and never have to leave for entertainment. Seriously. Think of your favorite things to do while on vacation, add a great beach and proximity to Disneyland (which is new and improved by the way) and you’ve got Newport. It’s much more metropolitan in its diversity than the rest of the O.C. Check it out.

Laguna Beach - A haven for artists, liberals, and the well-to-do . . . and high school kids. I hate to perpetuate the problem that many of Laguna’s residents (and those with 2nd homes there) have to deal with now that MTV has gone and made it a fairytale land of beautiful rich little kids, but perception is reality. All over the world, people’s attention has been at least momentarily directed at Laguna Beach and the TV show which sports its name. Good thing? Bad thing? I’m not exactly sure, but a wise man once said that “No publicity is bad publicity”.

With everyone in tune with where Laguna Beach is and definitely wanting to stop by to try and spot an MTV camera crew (not really), most will be glad to know that Laguna Beach has long been a superb SoCal town to visit. Founded by artists, the town still reverberates a feeling of purpose in its design and motions. Art galleries abound, dining is upscale, and the average resident is as relaxed as the sun that lightens the nooks of Laguna’s beaches. Wait, did I say perception is reality? That was way off. This place is very little like what you see on TV - it’s a gem.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Beach Vacations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.