Crystal Cove State Park is located in Newport Beach, a beautiful historic district on the coast of California. This is one of my new favorite little discovered locations to enjoy with my family. The beach isn’t overcrowded, as you normally would find at Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
We fell in love with the state beach that has beautiful cottages (make reservations for weekend getaway at CrystalCove.org) with ocean-views. If you stay near the cottage general area, they have a few restaurants and my favorite one is called the Shake Shack. They serve delicious burgers, sandwiches, and malt shakes. Here are some other fun things you could do at this beautiful beach…
Hike Crystal Cove State Park
The views are breathtaking! You can enjoy a short or long hike along the Pacific Coast Highway off Newport Beach. You’ll definitely want to add this spot as one of your Must Hike locations. We were fully prepared to go hike this beautiful trail but our boys fell in love with the beach after having lunch, so our plans quickly changed, and it was worth every smile.
Eat at the Shake Shack
They serve the BEST malt shakes! Don’t let the line scare you away, they are very quick to get orders taken and served. We didn’t wait more than 5-10 mins for our dine in order. Which had amazing views. The best part of this experience, we enjoyed lunch while watching whales swim by the coast, the boys were so excited to see them.
- The Shake Beef Burger w/ Fries $7.99
- Famous Shakes or Malts $4.99
We were in heaven with the views! Definitely a #Foodie spot to hit up! Check out Yelp.com for the reviews, photos and full menu. All seating is outside, perfect for California’s sunny weather.
We ditched a cooler and went for few hours, therefore we didn’t need to pack up a full days worth of food. Which was perfect for our first experience because we had lunch then played at the beach for a few hours. Once the boys got their waterplay, we walked back to our car and headed out for a quick dinner before hitting up the Great Balloon Park in Irvine, which is just 20 minutes away.
Hang out at the Beach
Make your visit a relaxing beach day, there is a few select restaurants on the shore with plenty of public picnics for your to pack your basic essentials. No need to pack the overpacked ice coolers, you can enjoy your day with a portable small backpack cooler.
Kid Friendly Beach in Southern California
This beach has beautiful tide pools that help break the impacting waves, which in my views, is a great kid friendly beach. The small tide pools are awesome when you have little toddlers and young children who love to play in the beach water. I shared this experience on my Instagram Stories, where I got LOTS of DM’s about this location. Everyone saw the beautiful shore and got excited to take their kids to this beach.
Boating on the Coast
I would highly recommend going on a boating trip to enjoy whale watching. Groupon.com has awesome day trips for Whale Watching or Deep Sea Fishing. Whale Watching off Newport Beach is a popular location to see plenty of whales on the vessel ride. If you’re going to pack for a boating trip, you can read my boating safety kit post for tips on your next lake adventure.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse of this beautiful state park, share this little gem with your friends.
Up Next: Off Roading at Pismo Beach!
