Most of you know me in more of a “business way” - you might be in my coaching classes or attending my webinars … you may see me doing that marketing consulting thing … or you may just know me as the devoted Laguna Beach restaurant reviewer (it’s a VERY serious and stoic job, let me tell you) :-»
So, I thought I’d bring you along on my “other” side of life today … what I do in my downtime.
Thanks to really unusual low tides lately, we’re seeing more beach sand than we’ve seen in a long, long time here in Laguna Beach. This offers a super rare opportunity to actually walk … and walk … and walk on an exploration of our “gold coast” beaches of my vortex paradise of choice, Laguna Beach.
Here’s how my walkabout progressed, and I’ll fill you in on as much as I know about the beaches as we go … Stay with me, I have the loveliest discovery all the way at the end.
And, please feel free to …
West Street Beach
I started on my own condo’s stairs, which gives such a great sweeping view of West Street Beach. A quite famous skim beach years prior (tides change, baby), it’s actually three beaches in one - West Street on the south, Royale beach in the middle-ish just under the Laguna Royale condo complex, and then the famed Camel Point at the far north end, where there is no better scene than its 4th of July celebration. (Can I get an “amen, my West Street Insta buddies?)
Camel Point
The giant rock at the end of West Street apparently has looked like a camel for some years. On my walkabout day, the waters were so low that plein air artists had taken up shop right just in front of this camel’s front legs.
Aliso Beach Cove
Typically, this cove is a pile of craggy rocks between West Street/Camel Point and Aliso Beach Park. Today, though, it was a walk in the park. I asked Lifeguard James at the Aliso lifeguard shack if there’s a name for this particular cove connection. He says he calls it Aliso Beach Cove (shrug), and that’s good enough for me (shrug).
Aliso Beach
The only true “family friendly” beach in South Laguna, Aliso Beach offers an actual parking lot (an even bigger rarity anywhere in Laguna), an under-highway pedestrian tunnel that connects to more public parking, restrooms and fabulous beach “shack, The Lost Pier (operated by The Ranch Laguna Beach Resort directly back in the canyon). On any given day, Aliso Beach is a compilation of skim boarders, peeps camped out all day at fire pits just waiting for sunset, and plenty of family umbrellas and pop-ups.
Treasure Island Park
Yes, I’m still walking …
What used to be the beach below many lucky trailer homes, Treasure Island beach is still an impeccable beach beneath what is now The Montage Laguna Beach Resort. The story that I’ve not completely confirmed but I’m sure one of my readers will: That big, giant home you see on the sand used to be a more modest edifice belonging to Hobie Alter, our own surf pioneer behind Hobie Cat catamarans. His popular surf store resides in downtown Laguna Beach and another resides in neighboring Dana Point.
The Montage Seawall like I’ve never seen before
Typically, there’s plenty of water booming around and all the way up the Montage Seawall, but today’s jaunt allowed me to just skirt around its exposed footing.
The “Keyhole” Sea Cave, Treasure Island
After some nimble stepping on the rocks (only recommended at low tide), this famed cave provided plenty of easy footing on sand. I call it the “keyhole” … I don’t know if I heard that somewhere or if I just made it up. Readers more historically educated than me, please chime in.
Alas, where I got temporarily stopped
Had I started earlier during low tide, I probably could have found my way across this watery expanse, but without a swim suit or water shoes (and no lifeguard on duty yet which – folks – is a very big deal for Laguna’s rocks and currents), this advanced swimmer decided to still trek back to the Montage seawall and up into the Montage grounds to drop back down again on dry land.
Meanwhile, a lovely view of the Montage cliffside
The Montage grounds are always open to the public and they are absolutely spectacular. In just my short jaunt to the next beach stairs down, I came across multiple plein air painters (kind of our namesake here) and plenty of snapshot views.
In wandering the winding pathways and cliffside nooks at the Montage grounds, you can easily miss the tiny wood staircase that leads down to the next beach, Christmas Cove. In the photo, above, it’s just to my left.
Christmas Cove
Honestly, I think this is one of the most beautiful cove beaches in Laguna Beach. Lore has it that local kids began referring to this hidden surf and bodyboarding spot during the holidays in the early 1980s. Somehow, the name stuck. It’s just a small cove … much like the single day of Christmas, itself … but what an impact it makes in our world. In the off seasons, this is where I love to drop down for a sit-and-think.
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Blue Lagoon
Yes, I’m still walking …
With the spit of Christmas Cove there in the background, this south part of Victoria Beach is often referred to as Blue Lagoon as it sits directly below the rambling townhouse/condo complex of Blue Lagoon. One of the oldest neighborhoods in Laguna, it even dates back to before I was born (that’s old!), with most of it completed by 1964.
Rarely do you EVER see the sea wall below these frontmost facing condos of Blue Lagoon, let alone do you ever have the ability to traverse dry sand around this rock point to what is officially called Victoria Beach.
Victoria Beach
Now, Victoria Beach goes down in history – probably global history, actually, for three key points.
In the late 1920s, lifeguards in Laguna Beach started “skimming” the shore break to simply create efficiency of movement between lifeguard towers. Years later, skimboarding actually became an official “thing” when local resident and avid surfer Tex Haines, with his buddy Peter Prietto, decided to make a serious sport of it.
As the craze rapidly caught on, Tex rode the initial wave, so to speak, by starting Victoria Skimboards in 1976. And, yes, Victoria Beach here was, at the time, an absolute skimboarding mecca.
Victoria Beach proved a mecca to yet another gent in the 1920s, L.A. Senator William E. Brown. A creative at heart, Brown chose a cliffside parcel on the north end of Victoria Beach and built his home, calling it “La Tour.” The namesake came from one of the most compelling landmarks in Laguna Beach, what we locals call “The Pirate Tower.”
To access it, – once again – really only attempt it only during low tide when the seas are calm. As you climb up the rocky edifice on Victoria Beach’s north side and venture around the bend, you’ll easily come across my most favorite home in Laguna Beach. For reasons of privacy I won’t put it here but … trust me … you can’t miss this expansive masterpiece.
And, as you turn from gaping to your right at this massive home, you have my permission for further gaping to your left as you come across this rock-hewn swimming pool, also crafted by William Brown.
While there are many social media peeps who claim that Thousand Steps Beach has an equally accessible “manmade tide pool,” that particular pool is … from all the research I’ve done … on private property. And it’s not nearly as old anyway. This particular pool is a historical relic, for sure.
Now, I had to call my dear buddy and fount of information, Ruben Flores (owner of Laguna Nursery in north Laguna), on this story. He says that Brown probably got his idea for this pool from the original “saltwater pool” creator, Frank Miller, the owner behind the massive estate creation of Rockledge.
As our own historical books read, Miller actually wrote to the Vice President of the United States to receive permission for dynamiting. And, the lucky guy who loaded and drove all that dynamite to Rockledge did so in a Ford Model A truck that lost its brakes just as he was entering Laguna Beach. Fortunately, he managed to keep the truck aright and, eventually, the original Rockledge pool was crafted.
Brown proved such an admirer of his friend’s “tide pool,” that he followed the same route for his own pool. Of course, this isn’t the end of the story, nor the journey, as you’ll find an even more famed landmark just past the pool - our Pirate Tower.
Isn’t she a beauty? What an imaginative spirit our Senator was. We’re not sure if he, himself, called it a “Pirate Tower” but it seems the name came about from the eventual second owner, a gentleman by the name of Harold Kendrick.
Kendrick was quite an adored friend in the community; he would often invite families over for scavenger and treasure hunts for “gold.” The story goes that he would dress as a pirate and gather everyone in for stories of the sea while kids scrambled to find the coins he had hidden around the tower.
While the estate of “La Tour” includes a darling, still-original French Tudor home, the property with its pool and tower has only exchanged hands a few times. At one point, Bette Midler owned the property and she still says to this day that it’s the one property she should have never sold. Indeed, it seems a perfect abode for the Hocus Pocus witch.
And onward to Moss Street Beach?
Quite frankly, I could have scrambled over more rocks to work my way even further north to Moss Street, but flip flops didn’t seem quite the thing to do the job. From what I could see, it didn’t look like I’d get much further than Moss Street anyway, so I decided to call it a day at the end of Victoria Beach and begin the trek back.
What an amazing walk - 2.3 miles one way of endless beach!
(… minus those 20 feet or so of rather precarious water). In my almost-24 years as a resident of Laguna Beach, this was a one-of-a-kind opportunity and I’m glad you trekked right along with me. Now, perhaps you have an even better idea as to why I chose this town as my own. Isn’t she just glorious??
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