Laguna Beach: Where Art, Nature and Coastal Living Meet in Southern California\'s Most Beautiful Town
Laguna Beach has long attracted artists, celebrities, and discerning travelers to its dramatic coastline, world-class galleries, and a town character that has resisted the homogenization of most Southern California beach communities.
A Town Unlike Any Other
Laguna Beach occupies a uniquely privileged position in the Southern California landscape. Thirty miles south of Disneyland and sixty miles south of Los Angeles, it sits where the Santa Ana Mountains descend dramatically to the Pacific, creating a coastline of extraordinary variety — sea caves, tide pools, coves, bluffs, and sandy beaches in continuous succession along seven miles of Pacific frontage.
The Art Legacy
Laguna Beach's identity as an art destination predates its identity as a tourism destination. Artists began settling here in the early twentieth century, drawn by the quality of light, the dramatic scenery, and the relative affordability of land at the remote southern end of Orange County. The Laguna Art Museum, established in 1918, is one of the oldest art museums in California and maintains an important permanent collection focused on California art history alongside ambitious contemporary programming.
Pageant of the Masters
The Pageant of the Masters — a summer spectacle in which elaborately costumed performers recreate famous works of art in living tableaux — is one of the most distinctive cultural events in California. Running nightly for several weeks each summer as part of the Festival of Arts, the Pageant combines extraordinary production values with genuine artistic ambition. Tickets sell out months in advance.
Beaches and Outdoor Life
Laguna Beach's seven miles of coast are accessible via more than thirty public beach access points, ranging from large sandy beaches to intimate rocky coves accessible only at low tide. Heisler Park's coastal trail, running along the bluffs above the main beach, is one of the finest urban coastal walks in California. Crystal Cove State Park, just north of the city limits, extends the experience into a landscape of undeveloped coastline and backcountry.
