This street was not like this before.
This is pandemic effect.
- Covid closed it. - Yes.
Let's hope it continues because it is so nice.
- Covid? - No, baby, this street closed.
- Oh, I just want to make sure. - Yeah.
[music]
Laguna Beach is a small coastal community in Southern California,
only about 23,000 people live here.
But guess how many come here every year to visit?
- I bet 6 million.
- Ah! You knew that.
Yes, 6 million people come here to visit every year.
And in this video, we're going to show you why this place is so famous.
Welcome to our road trip in Southern California.
We're driving between Los Angeles and San Diego.
In the previous video, we stopped in Newport Beach.
The entrance here is totally free.
Now let's see how similar or how different Laguna Beach really is.
One of the main features of this area here in Orange County
is the number of cliffs.
It is so beautiful.
At the same time, you're basically guaranteed the view on this side here
along the Pacific Coast Highway.
What's the name of the restaurant, baby?
- The Cliff. - Why is that?
- Because it's an overlooking cliff.
- Yeah. - It's on the cliff.
- Look at this how nice! - Looking at the ocean.
- I'm really glad that we came here for breakfast.
I think it would be very hard to find a seat here for lunch or later.
So what are you getting? - Eggs and bacon.
- Ah! - Bacon.
- As always, huh? - Wash it down with coffee.
- Yeah.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
- You're welcome. Enjoy your breakfast.
- Thank you.
I love when hot chocolates come like this.
Delicious.
I got some waffles.
Wow, these potatoes look so good, huh? - Yeah.
- Cheers!
So good.
Look at this, how cool.
They have a free trolley here, free to ride.
Breakfast was absolutely delicious.
We ate so, so much.
And it was not as expensive as I thought it would be.
$28 before tip.
Sometimes you pay that at Ihop.
We're now arriving here at the Main Beach Park.
As the name suggests,
this is the main beach here in Laguna Beach.
Why? Look at this, easy access.
This is the Pacific Coast Highway.
By the way, I love when you can drive and see the ocean.
And it is so beautiful. There's a really nice boardwalk.
It's a really nice place to hang.
This lifeguard tower here, by the way, is historical
because it was not a lifeguard.
It was not built to be a lifeguard tower.
This was part of a gas station.
When it was about to be demolished, everyone wanted to save it.
So it was moved over here.
And look at Gordon, just enjoying the sun...
- I'm at the beach. - ...the life in California.
- I'm at the beach. - Yes, you are.
[music]
Look at how great here.
Beach volleyball going on.
California vibes.
Really nice boardwalk, huh? - Uh-hmm.
- Where else can you play basketball like this with this view?
- I don't know if I'd come here to play basketball.
- What would you come here for then?
- Oh, swim, suntan. - Oh, really? Really?
When you walk all the way to the right-hand side of the beach,
you arrive at Heisler Park,
and it looks like they have a pretty nice view from up there.
Very cool. Look at how beautiful.
This might be a good place to see whales, right?
Look at the view. - Right here.
- I'm talking about real ones. - Ah, real ones, not in pictures.
- Oh, okay. - Oh, no.
- Oh! Oh, no, it's someone swimming.
- It's human. - Yeah.
This place is more than just a viewpoint.
There are some really nice restaurants over here, too.
And you can come and also enjoy a meal with this view.
During low tide, there are probably some tide pools over here,
over there as well.
We'll try to see them later on a different beach.
You could also come here to exercise,
but there are some other hiking trails in Laguna Beach
that are a little bit more challenging,
and maybe more natural, not so groomed.
A lot of artwork in this park, too.
Look at how many birds on top of that rock.
And what's the name of the rock?
Bird Rock, of course.
Oh, here is another use for this park.
Tsunami Evacuation Route.
I hope it's never necessary.
[music]
Just across the street from the beach,
look at this, how lovely.
Even blocks here to indicate that the road is closed
are pieces of art.
This street was not like this before.
This is pandemic effect.
- Oh, really? - Yes, yes.
- Covid closed it.
- Yes, let's hope it continues because it is so nice.
- Covid? - No, baby, this street closed.
- Oh, I just want to make sure. - Yeah.
All the restaurants here extended their seating areas.
So cool.
"Choose to be kind."
I have this feeling that this place is like really isolated.
- No. - No? Not for you?
- No, it's just a small beach community.
- Yeah, but it's surrounded by hills, so it's kind of hidden.
- No. You've got major freeways that come through here.
- Oh, come on, we have opposite views over here.
Are we talking about the same place?
- Are you here? - Are you at Laguna Beach?
- Are you here? - Are we in the same place?
- I don't think so. - [laughs]
Yeah, there are hills surrounding the city.
So for many years, for decades, it was not an easy place to come.
- It's a touch of calm
in the suburbs of big Los Angeles.
A relaxed community at the beach.
Fantastic!
You just want to come here and retire.
[music]
There are art galleries here everywhere.
In fact, Laguna Beach started out as an artist community
in the early 1900s.
And because of that, you see public art everywhere.
So nice how they maintain the vibe of old-style beach community
- Beach community, yeah.
- And everything is so well maintained.
- We call it laid-back.
- Laid-back, exactly that.
- Perfect definition, baby. - Yeah.
I have a few of those definitions. - Do you?
And downtown is not very big.
You can see everything, let's say, less than an hour, right?
- Well, if you don't go into stores.
- Exactly, unless you don't go shopping.
- But you want to do that.
You want to drop some money here, don't you?
- Yeah.
- Support the community.
- Look at this, right on the sidewalk.
Here in Laguna Beach, there's paid street parking everywhere,
so you can just pay here directly on the meter,
or to make your life easier, just download their app,
because you pay directly on the app,
you can see how much time you still have left,
and extend your session if you need some more.
I added more time here when we were at Heisler Park.
Here is their app. It's called Laguna Beach Parking.
Ready to see the more beaches now?
- Absolutely. - Okay.
- Treasure Island Beach? - Yes.
- Is there a treasure?
- Well, let's see.
- Do I need to dig? - [laughs]
- You may need. Let's find out.
- Nine minutos. - Nine minutes? That's it?
- Yeah. - Okay, very close.
- Yeah, Laguna Beach is a very small city.
[music]
There are a lot of nice beaches, north and south of the Main Beach Park.
Treasure Island is one of them.
And look at this view,
I guess it won't disappoint.
First impressions...
- It looks beautiful. - Yeah, that's it?
- It's beautiful. - Yeah.
[music]
Really nice five-star hotel over here.
You know that Laguna Beach has more oceanfront hotels
than any other city in California.
- Really? - Uh-hmm.
That's very interesting. - Benefit of being on the ocean.
- Oh, yes, and on a cliff.
Because, you know, from everywhere you have these views.
- Beautiful, beautiful.
From Pacific Coast Highway,
you arrive here at this beautiful bluff top sidewalk on the hills.
It's such a beautiful scenery.
You can already see the ocean from here,
take so many pictures!
And it is really easy to access the beach,
you just keep walking down.
It's all paved.
Really nice.
Look at that. The beach is right over there.
[music]
It is full of sea lions over there.
They are all sunbathing.
Laguna beach is also very famous for the tide pools,
and you can see them in a lot of beaches,
look at that, as soon as the ocean starts going down.
A lot of sea animals appear on them,
so make sure you look where you're walking,
and make sure you don't touch them.
[music]
Wow, look at these people picnicking here.
Not bad for a picnic, huh?
Did you find your treasure? - No, I didn't go looking.
- There's a folklore here that actually says
the pirates way back when came here,
and they hid some treasures somewhere.
- They are probably found by now.
- A lot of people have been searching for years, for decades.
Good luck.
- The treasure is the side of the hill.
- The treasure is the view, the treasure is the nature.
This beach right here is our next stop.
There are cliffs along this entire coast here in Southern California,
especially Laguna Beach.
And to go to some of the beaches, you need to go downstairs like this.
Some of these houses here even have their own private stairs.
Now, Gordon, there's a beach here called 1,000 Steps,
a Thousand Steps. - Yeah?
- Care to go down a thousand steps? - No.
- [laughs] - I only go to 10 steps beach.
- That's it? - 10 steps from the car.
That's it. - [laughs]
And, by the way, sorry for the noise.
Some renovation going on here in the million-dollar houses.
Now, just in case it was not clear,
Treasure Island is not an island.
This is a really beautiful beach and beach park
with easy access from the road.
It's a long walk to get here, but it is very worth it.
Next beach is very, very close.
- We'll be able to park or...
- I think we may need to park along the PCH.
- I'm going.
- Not easy to find parking, but I'm on my way now to Victoria Beach.
Look at this among the rules for Victoria Beach,
no surfing.
And they have a very unique feature on this beach.
At first, it looks like a normal beach,
beautiful like any other, right?
Until you look to the other side.
There is something like a castle over here.
This here is known as the pirate tower.
Now it has nothing to do with pirates.
These are actually stairs
that were built for whoever lived up there,
in the house up there, to reach the beach.
I read online that it was a rich senator from Los Angeles.
Just out of curiosity, let's see if the door is open.
No, it is closed. [laughs]
Wow, but the biggest attractions here are actually the waves.
A lot of natural pools here.
And the ocean is very strong over here.
I wouldn't advise going to these pools.
During high tide, we probably cannot even come over here.
We're gonna check out one more beach, this time north of downtown.
The two we saw until now are in the south.
Any plans, baby?
- Plans? - Yeah.
Sit at the beach.
- It's a sign you are in Orange County.
Yeah, they only service Mercedes, BMW, Porsche.
[music]
Look at the trolley here.
You could come all the way to this beach via trolley.
Arriving at South Crescent Bay.
Another downhill.
Look at that, no surfing over here either.
Oh, wow, but people are people, right?
Of course, there are people surfing over here.
And they have some big waves compared to other beaches.
Look at the hillside, how beautiful, too.
All these houses with their private stairs to the beach.
Crescent Bay Beach is also famous for the tide pools.
And you find them on both sides over here and over there.
Oh, and there's a viewpoint up there, too.
Ready to go for a walk?
- A short walk. - All the way up there.
[laughs]
Come on, you have no choice, baby.
- Yeah, I do. - No, you don't.
Let's go. [laughs]
By the end of the day,
you're already tired of this up and downhill.
Wow, it's more than a viewpoint. It's actually a lovely park.
What a beautiful view of Laguna Beach.
Laguna Beach is over here.
Well, in this direction is Newport Beach.
And if you haven't seen the previous video, take a look,
we got a really nice video at Newport Beach.
I like it.
From up here, you can really see the tide pools.
Look at that.
And we arrived at the right time when the tide is low.
After spending a day here in Laguna Beach,
what can you tell about the city?
- It's all beach. - All beach.
Actually, there are three things that called my attention here.
The beaches, of course. - Uh-huh.
- Right? Tide pools, you see everywhere,
and art, public art. - Yeah.
- It makes Laguna Beach very unique
compared to other coastal communities in California.
- Absolutely.
- If this is the first video you watch here on this channel, welcome,
and I hope you enjoyed.
We have an entire series in Los Angeles,
and then we move to San Diego.
So I hope to see you again.
Now, I guess we got to go
because someone is about to get married over here.
What a perfect location, huh?