Salt Creek Beach Park

One of the nicer beaches in the area. No rocks. Small beach area, so make sure to check the tide before you arrive

It was busy on a Tuesday afternoon. Lots of kids. Other than that it’s a nice clean beach. There’s a swimming side and a surfing side.

This might be one of the "best" beaches in Orange County. The only issue is the big hill to get to the beach. This comes into play a lot if you bring stuff for your kids or just to have at the beach. Besides that, the place is great, there is lots of beach area to hang out. The surf is nice and usually not too rough. They have lifeguards on duty too. The sand is soft and pleasant and they have a food shack at the bottom of the hill. If you just want to hang out, the hillside is great to just sit and read a book, or play with your kids or just take a cat nap enjoying the breeze of the ocean. Parking is not free, but it's inexpensive or you can buy a year pass.

Great beach and if you want to body surf this seems to be a great spot. Lifeguards are active in safety and addressing any dangers such big waves with novice swimmers. You want want get there early if you want to find parking because after 9am, good luck. Parking is about $1 an hour in the morning. The walk down to the actual beach is steep so bring wheels for everything! If you don't bring any food there is a Shack between the beech and parking area right before the sand starts and you can grab a bite there! Definitely a cool beach spot to hang out at!

Soft sand, great waves, easy parking and long stretch of beach. We showed up on a busy Saturday at 10am and we found parking right away but is was dwindling. Headed down the nice paved road, past the lush green lawns and beautiful picnic tables to this slice of heaven. There was quite a few people but we quickly found a spot and enjoyed the waves and sun. After about 1pm, it got real crowded and no one was keeping any distance so we left.

Salt Creek State Beach located in Dana point California a.k.a. Monarch Beach has everything you’d want in a southern California beach. Complete with a long sandy beach with enough room to spread out and get away from the crowds of people that go there in the summertime. Salt Creek is a popular surf spot that has a huge grass park a snack shack at the beach with burgers, hotdogs, ice cream and and other munchies. A family friendly beach with lifeguards on duty located directly below the Ritz Carlton resort and across the street from the Monarch Beach resort and golf club. Salt Creek is a good alternative from the over crowded beaches just north in Laguna Beach. Large ample parking lot and restrooms as well as a shuttle from the parking lot down to the beach for those who don’t want to walk the quarter mile down and back up the hill.

Hidden jewel. You can BBQ and hang out on the beach.

If you like a quieter beach than the other southern LA ones, this is the spot for a breather for your mind. Beautiful. A favorite.