Beautiful beach in Southern California. For those of you visiting from out of State, this would be one of the list visit spots and you will really enjoy it here.The cove and the rocks on the beach created a beautiful scenery for weddings and family Photoshoot. Many people come out here simply to just take a walk and enjoy the beach. Especially during this pandemic locked down, this is one of the few places you can still enjoy nature and the open air.The sunset view here is stunning. I have seen many amazing sunset photos of Crystal cove on the internet. If you want to have a mesmerized sunset photo, this is the place. To take sunset picture, you should come before 4 pm and get yourself setup and ready to take the photos.Parking here is easy. Just download the Passport parking app to pay for parking. It’s $5 an hour. There are plenty of parking spots along the beach.

I love this place. It is a great beach plus a restaurant and bar off the sand. It can be pricey but always good food, great drinks and a beautiful view. Parking validated by bar or restaurant, shuttle bus runs late. My favorite place to go.

Beautiful little secret spot. Park and enjoy a short trolley ride to the beach. Check in at The Beachcomber restaurant. If theres a wait, stroll the seashore, shop in the gift shop, visit the historical building or just enjoying one of the signature cocktails and appetizers in the bar. The food is delicious and the service accommodating and friendly.

The best beach in Orange County if you are looking for some me space and calm, and avoiding the hubbub of other popular beaches. This gorgeous and beautifully clean beach stretches for many miles, and offers great points for relaxing, sightseeing, picnics, sports, and of course, swimming. There’s something for everyone here... just remember to find some extra time to unwind and just do nothing.

My family and I moved from New York to Southern California 1 1/2 years ago. I visited most popular Southern California beaches during the time. Crystal Cove State Beach is our the favorite beach so far. I love coming here. Parking: $20/day (6:00am to 7:00pm) or $5/hr Bring your own food. Shake Shack is $12 a Burger. Follow me for more Southern California Beach reviews.

Classic socal beach. Cliffs, tide pools, sand and golden light. Popular on weekends. Sunsets are magic.

Parking is $15 for the entire day. Download the Passport Parking app to pay for parking (zone# is 205) (you can also pay at the front, but its more convenient as the only pay station is at the front entrance to the Park (and you dont want to pay unless you know there is a parking spot open. Sometimes you have to wait a bit for a spot until you see someone leave, but this is not always the case). This is a State Park, and its nice to see wildlife while still enjoying the beach! There are hiking trails on the cliffs over looking the beach. The beach is very clean, and I think its less crowded than Corona Del Mar, which is close by. There are tide pools which are fun during low tide. The path/trail from the parking lot 3 and 4 (not sure about 1 or 2, or other paths/trails) to the beach get steep at some point, so hold onto the rails (and use hand sanitizer after) or wear shoes/sandals with a grip so you dont slide and fall. If youre coming with an elderly person, keep that in mind. If youre using a wheelchair, be cautious or perhaps have someone hold onto the wheelchair in case you lose control. I think entrance to the beach from the road that leads to the Beachcomber might be easier for elderly/wheelchair folks, but Im not sure. The parts of the beach near the cottages and The Beachcomber Cafe/Shake Shack are crowded, but its more empty the more you move out to the right. For anyone near parking lot 3, note that The Beachcomber and Shake Shack are 20-25 minutes away by walk, and parking is horrible there (and the waits can be long). Unless you plan to spend the entire day at the beach, I would pack food instead of eating there.

Visited Reef Point beach at Crystal Cove yesterday. Saw a sea lion (seal?) poke its head above the water. A raptor dove into the water but missed. A beautiful, sunny day. Very few people. Only downside was lots of seaweed in the water made it unpleasant to swim. Overall one of my favorites.

This was the nicest beach! The most beautiful sunset! Very clean, and there are cute little rental cottages at the entrance, as well as the nicest little restaurant on the beach. It was not very crowded, and they even have a shuttle that takes you to the parking lot, which isnt very far anyway. The rock formations here are really nice, and its overall very aesthetic. Loved it

Very clean, great place for tide pools. Water has great visibility.

Beautiful, as always. A fog was rolling in, giving it an ethereal quality.

An amazing place for a day trip. Somewhat secluded. Not crowded at all we really enjoyed our time there. Recommend to everyone. Lots of parking and friendly park rangers.

Best beach compared to Hunnington or New Port. If you want good parking. Less people. There are no shops but theres a mall across the street. But very serene and clean. No grass area or tables or chairs.

This beach is very clean and the water is clear. Im here on a Sunday and observe mostly families with children, and couples walking the length of the beach for excercise.If you are wanting a clean beach to enjoy, I highly recommend visiting this one via the public access described above.I have attached some video of the tide pools with wildlife.

This beach is beautiful, during the week days its not to busy. It clean, everyone picks up after themselves.

Great beach to visit specially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A very large beach with so much space for everyone to keep their distance with others even inside the ocean.Beautiful view on the left and right sides. The parking is a flat rate $15 and you need to pay it using an app. You need to take around 50 steps to get to the beach. Also a great beach to run by.

I love this beach! It is my church. Always go for the low tides.

Lovely place to visit. Lots of history. Wish most of the bungalows were open. Still great place to visit

Beautiful place to see and eat there. The beach is clean and sand has so many twigs. But it is nice to relax.

Unique beach spot off the beaten path. Theres tiny crabs, sea urchins, amazing layered rocks, muscles and barnacles. The Beachcomber cafe serves seafood, cocktails and lattes.

One of my happy places.

This beach is gorgeous!!! I paid $5 for an hour or pay $15 for the day. There is a loop you can run or take the path down to the sand and enjoy a quiet beach that is clean and peaceful. Awesome place for a couple or just some alone time. Dogs are not allowed. There is a nice burger shack right down the road called the shake shack. Their food and shakes are awesome!!

Wild and natural beach. Great place to take a long walk. We did 4 miles round trip between Lifeguard staitio 6 and 10.

Nice beach with a souvenir shop, bar & restaurant, and public restrooms easily accessible.Highly recommend going to Shake Shack just up the cliff.

Great beach. Clean water. Less crowded.

I love this town and beach. Very quiet and friendly people.

What a great place. Get down here and feel like you are at a small pacific coast town between California to South America.

Great place to take the family and enjoy some time exploring the tide pools. The rock formations are absolutely amazing and over all the beaches gorgeous. If you are going to Wade into the water be sure to be careful of rip currents and underwater rocks.

I come to crystal cove state beach every time I come to southern California. It is a great experience. The views alone are worth the hike. I wish I could give it 10 stars

Nice beach, found lot of shells and not crowded with people .

Beautiful and quant. Blast to past.

Always a great time. Lifeguards helpful.

Just a beautiful place to visit off the beaten path. Restaurant near the beach and just good scenery.

Great opportunity to experience a bonfire on the beach. A great evening with family, hot dogs and somores.

This is probably one of my favorite beaches to go to. Seldomly does it get crowded mainly because of the accessibility of the beach. This is definitely not a beach where you can just park right up to the sand and unload your stuff - most ways down are steep steps or ramps that are unfortunately not very handicap accessible. This is a prime example of Southern Californias great chaparral ecosystem right up against the Pacific ocean.There are small little tide pools in which you can find some interesting little critters but please, look, but dont touch! Youll often find surfers at this location trying to catch a save or two. Dogs are allowed up in the trail area but it is not recommended to take them down to the beach area. Be wary of ticks that your pets might inadvertently pick up on the trails. Also there are many rocky areas around the beach so if you bring little ones, be mindful of where you guys settle down as you dont want them to be too close to the rocks.All day parking is $15 and allows you to go in and out of any of the State Park beaches as well so you can grab lunch and visit a different area of the beach afterwards.

Very nice place a steep hill to get to the beach but its worth it not to packed

Great parking, fun hikes, and sweet beaches. Dont miss out on this treasure

Public beach parking is $5/hr... yes.. PER HOUR ! All day parkin is $15. No parkin on da road/hiway. No parkin meters. No beach parkin at Starbux or Trader Joe as they will tow yo @$$. If u came 2do a quick runnin/walkin trail.. GOOD LUCK.. itll b $5/hr public parkin or $15 all day err day. If u came 2enjoy da beach all day, then it is worth it as da beach is very nice.

Beautiful scenery and beach

Brautiful location! We visited for a reception. The cottages are great and the beach is right there! The catering staff were awesome all around.The drawback is getting down there. There is a shuttle that is $1.50 per person, per trip. Plus you pay to park. There is a dropoff so you can unload beach/picnic stuff but the shuttle drivers have zero patience for people unloading. We were bringing a bunch of stuff for the reception and they would not make any exception for us to drive into the inner parking lot or even drive down to the cottage.

Lots of walking long down hill to beach, so really long up hill to car but very worth it! And the snack shack makes a great burger bit pricey, try $12.00 for a burger but it is really good

Love this beach, great view, parking, restaurant.

Early in the a.m., 7:30-8:00 in the morning is best. Walk the beach for at least a mile with min. people. Cool & nice. Have breakfast at the Shake Shack! Yummy!

Absolutely amazing. After dinner we walked on the beach enjoying each others company. They have these mobile fire pits that you can rent and these cottages that you can stay in. The beach is clean, people are friendly. We loved our time here

I would love to go baxk and visit the beautiful klean water and tidepools

Crystal Cove was beautiful, warm, sun glistening on the water, and not crowded.

This beautiful beach makes you feel like youre at a secluded resort. Parking is located on the east (land) side of PCH. Theres a short hike downhill and through a colorful tunnel before the landscape opens up to a cute beach village and sandy coast. If walking is a problem, you can take a shuttle from the parking lot to the beach. Theres a restaurant, snack shack, gift store and little visitors center. There are public restrooms in three areas that are fairly clean. Lifeguards are posted all along the coast. We found the tide pools on the south side of the beach to be more interesting than the famous Corona del Mar tide pools. Wear shoes when exploring the tide pools. My kids also enjoyed boogie boarding and digging up sand crabs. The only sting is the $15 parking price, but a food purchase of $20 validates you for 3 hours (and $5/hour after the first 3 hours).

It was awesome friendly staff and amazing views and food great place to be as long as its safe and not crowded which it wasnt

Far walk/hike from parking to beach. Clean, nice people, relaxing.

Nice beach, good trail with ocean view. Marine life is like an icing on cake. Had a fun time with friends and fam

Parking is quite difficult. Parking to beach is a bit, perhaps difficult if you cant deal with uphill walk for 5 minutes coming up. Fun beach with some tide pools and rocks to explore.

Great cabins that can be rented, clean beach, and tidal pools to explore.

I love this place. Not as crowded as other places.

Amazing beach! Very clean and secluded. Would definitely recommend for date day! Not for shopping, mostly for a scenic view.

Nice views. Peaceful and quiet considering youre by the Pacific Coast Highway. Expensive parking and you can only pay with an app.

It is SO GOOD to get out and walk the beach and see the ocean and waves. Cant wait for the Beachcomber to open!!

What a fantastic day!!

My family LOVED this beach. We went in early November and the weather was 75-80 degrees throughout the day. The time of year was great because it felt like we had our own beach. The tide pools are fun for everyone. Even though you cant remove anything from the tide pools, its fun to explore all the shells, crabs, rocks, and other things living in them. Overall the beach felt very clean and had nice restrooms not too far from the beach. Id love to see a place to shower off when youre done, but not a huge deal.Parking up to $15/day and its about a half mile walk to the beach (not bad at all). Hopefully word doesnt get out about how awesome this place is in November, so me and my family can continue to enjoy it by ourselves. ;)

Very long, plenty of room for the kids to play around

Beautiful beach thats not busy!

Enjoyed our walk at Crystal Cove beach ending with a glass of wine at the Beachcomber

Always worth the walk on the beach!

Crystal Cove State Beach has it all...sand, sea, majestic cliffs, and a paved hiking path that takes you from parking lot to shoreline past native vegetation and remarkable vistas. We spent the day putting in our 10,000 steps, up inclines and down slopes, always with an eye to the horizon in case a gray whale or pod of dolphins happened past on their way to fishier waters. At the Crystal Cove Resort, we treated ourselves to lunch by the sea at the Beachcomber Cafe and bought a gift at the volunteer-run gift shop. The cottages that dotted the hillside are available for vacation rentals, something I intend to do on our next trip to Southern California.

Never a disappointment. We love Crystal Cove. It is such a lovely beach.

Classic. A must see and enjoy.

Clean and not crowded

What a beutiful beach! Here is well preserved place. Whenever I visited here, I met animals like a baby seal, swimming dolphins. The Falicans flying in a row are really cool, they always keep gaurd the sky. Check the tide. The low tide makes wide beach.

So beautiful. Highly recommended.

We stayed in a resort right next to this beach. I love tide pools and they were great when the tide was low. Beach sand is very soft (not the coarse kind that is rough on your feet). Will definitely be back.

Good place to walk. Parking is far

A place at the Cottages is a perfect vacation spot, so close to home.

Really beautiful beach, stopped and got a shake at the Shack and had a great beach walk workout!

It was such a nice change of pace, but it was a little rocky!

Always nature at its best

One of the best beaches where you can enjoy with the waves!!

Beautiful beach. Walked the full length and back with my brother and it was great.

Beautiful beach, among the nicest there is in Southern California.

Not crowded always clean and respectful of others space

Favorite spot in SoCal

Peaceful place, just the way I like it.

Buy a season pass for $150 or pay $17 a day. This place used to be a gem in California no one used to go here now it’s crowded and on any major weekend or holiday in the summer forget about it no parking. As far as the sites and the scenery one the best places on earth

Crystal Cove is beautiful!! It wasnt crowded like other beaches can be and was soooo clean! Our family went to the Pelican Pier Entrance to enjoy body surfing and the tide pools. Parking was $15 for the day. The hike to the beach wasnt too bad, half a mile or so, but the final drop of on the hike was very steep. There are no bathrooms at the beach, you have to hike back to the parking area. We will be back in the near future!

Most awesome beach around.

Beautiful place to sit and relax. Bring a book and let the ocean waves help take the stress away. Oh dont forget the sunscreen and water bottle.

Great fathers day me and my girls

Great beach. The lifeguards are awesome. A shark was spotted swimming close to shore, not aggressive just swimming. Within minutes the entire Beach was notified thanks to the awesome lifeguards. I felt very safe with my kids in the water there.

This is such a special place. I love looking at all the old beach shacks.

Good beach, if you stay away from the rental area. Not as gorgeous as Newport Beach, but calm and good for a family.Which lot you use determines how to get to the beach, though. We parked in lot 4, so theres a steep paved walkway down to the beach. Be warned: dont bring tons of gear if you plan on parking at that lot. Getting down is easy, but getting back up can be trying.

One of the most beautiful and fun beaches in Newport. Walk, rest, look in the tide pools, eat at the wonderful Beachcomber restaurant. Camping in style. Several parking areas. Tram available for $2. Accommodations for handicapped drop off. This is a dont miss if in Newport area.

It was as beautiful as I hoped it would be

Great little beach

Great experience to rent a bungalow and lay out on the beach and the restaurant Food Services is wonderful there

This has been my best place for working on the mornings for almost 20 nothing better to enjoy the nature

Beautiful beaches and lots of family fun

Nice place to escape the September heat.

Great small hike to the restaurant . We had a drink at the bar. Pretty good Bloody Mary. Beautiful place to visit.

Niceee!

Not congested which is awesome. Tide pools hours are the best

Kinda cool bc it is a historic artist commune and there are bungalows to rent. However the beach is not so great. Very narrow in parts with a rocky bottom. It is also backed up to a construction site which isnt very nice. So there are other beaches that are better. Its cool to see once. Thats about it.

Little bit crowded 2 hour wait at the restaurant.