- A travel guide for visiting the California beach town
of San Clemente located halfway
between San Diego and Los Angeles.
San Clemente is often known as
the little Spanish village by the sea.
San Clemente has done a great job of retaining
its historic small town charm
and in this video,
I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know
if you're planning a visit to San Clemente.
By the way, if this is your first time here,
my name is Chris this is Yellow Productions.
I do travel guides that are fun, informative, entertaining.
This video it's part of my series of California beach towns.
So if you're visiting other California beaches,
well you'll wanna check out some of my other videos
after this you'll find a link to them
in the description below,
but without further ado, let's take a look at San Clemente.
Before we start exploring,
I wanna give you a little bit of history of San Clemente
so you have some background.
San Clemente was founded in 1925 by Ole Hanson.
He was the former mayor of Seattle
and when he founded this town,
he named it after a Spanish town, San Clemente,
he wanted all the architecture and all of the buildings
in San Clemente to have a Spanish vibe.
As you'll notice the buildings behind me,
they have red roof tiles
in fact, that was a requirement for a long time,
that new buildings had red roof tiles.
The city today still retains building requirements
that buildings have a Spanish influence
although they've expanded that definition
to more of a Mediterranean perspective.
San Clemente is the Southern most city in Orange County.
It's nestled in just north
of Marine Corps base camp, Pendleton
and San Clemente today has a population of 66,000 residents.
The beach is the most popular attraction San Clemente
so that's where we're gonna start
then we'll take a look at the downtown area
at some of the shops
and some of my favorite restaurants here.
San Clemente is blessed with 4.7 miles of Pacific Ocean
facing beaches with surfical waves
nearly every day of the year.
One of the best places to start your visit to San Clemente
is with a stroll down San Clemente pier.
This is located roughly in the middle
of those four miles of beach.
The pier itself is 1,296 feet long,
it dates back to the 1920s.
It still has this old wooden construction
this is a great spot
to check out the surfers from the top
and take a look at that Spanish architecture
of San Clemente,
the Hills that slope behind the pier.
As you're strolling along the pier,
check out the signs that tell you more about
what you see, just off this part of the pier
you see West Reef and the Dana Point Headlands
that's that big landmass off in the distance.
The pier is one of the best places to get a bird's eye view
of the surfers down below.
If you are gonna try your hand at surfing,
make sure to pay attention to the surf and swim zone
at the beach, different activities have different areas.
Once you reach the end of the pier,
it's a great place to turn back
and admire the view of the hills of San Clemente.
Another popular activity on the pier is fishing.
Here we have Max and Andrew,
couple local boys that live in Dana Point
and today they've caught some Benita.
And if you need to buy bait,
there's a bait shark conveniently located
at the end of the pier
or you can get your bait from the liquor store,
right at the base of the pier.
If you're not interested in bait,
but you wanna rent a surfboard or a bodyboard,
this liquor store is awesome spot.
At the base of the pier,
you'll find The Fishermans Restaurant
and Oyster Bar serving up all the tasty seafood
you would expect on a pier with some amazing views.
Just beyond the restaurant,
you'll find the beginning of the San Clemente trail,
their version of a boardwalk more about this later
and then The Fisherman's Galley
if you want some fast food
with your standard beach fast food fair,
hamburger, pizza, hot dogs and fish and chips.
(train whistles)
The other big defining characteristic of San Clemente
are the train tracks that run right along the beach
in fact it's one of the few Southern California beaches
that you can take a train to the Amtrak
and the Metro link boat service San Clemente,
but only with a few trains a day
many of them just pass on through
so if you do want to take the train to San Clemente
pay particular attention to the time
so you actually get the correct train
that stops and picks up here.
Just across the train tracks from the pier
there's a small collection of restaurants, bars
and boutique hotels.
Some of those popular spots here are La Galette Creperie
specializing in crepes and Bear Coast Coffee
if you need a coffee fix.
You'll find plenty of parking in San Clemente
around the beach areas
though most of it is pay parking
typically a $1.50 an hour
from about 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Some of the lots and streets start as early as nine
and go as late till seven.
So pay attention to the actual signs
in the area that you park.
And also if you're parking in the residential areas,
pay attention to the parking striction over there
sometimes it's for residents only,
sometimes it's a two hour time limit,
sometimes there's no parking on odd days
due to street sweeping.
Okay that's enough of the pier area, let's move on.
I said we would get back to the San Clemente beach trail
that's what I'm walking on right now.
It runs a mile north the pier
and about another mile south of the pier.
The most interesting way though
if you have to pick one spot to go
is north of the pier and let me show you why.
So heading north along this trail
that goes on the inland side of the train tracks,
it's mostly unpaved
but then after about a half mile on the trail,
that goes from an unpaved trail in the ground
to a really neat, elevated bridge.
This bridge is elevated about 10 feet
above the sensitive habitat.
It's a really great bird's eye view
and on a hot day there's a really cool place to hike
'cause it's nice and breezy.
In addition to walking and jogging,
this path is pretty popular with bicycles
though if you're gonna ride it on a bike,
make sure you bring one with chubby tires
since much of the path is dirt.
So if you're coming here just to hike this trail,
I'd recommend you park at North Beach.
That's the northern most point of San Clemente's beach
it's also the home to the second train station.
Now I will point out that in 2021,
San Clemente is planning to do repairs to this beach bridge.
So do check the openings of the trail
if you're coming in 2021.
Along this trail,
there's a bunch of different parking areas
and accesses some of them are great
some of them up a pretty steep hill,
some ramps, some stairs.
Now, while some of the beach accesses
in San Clemente across train tracks are great,
many of them actually go underneath tunnels like this.
So if you're trying to find a way to get to the beach
and you can't figure it out,
look down and look for a tunnel.
Okay, well I finished that hike.
I've come back to the pier to use the restroom
'cause that's where most of the public restrooms are
if you're looking for them.
And now I wanna show you San Clemente's
charming historic village.
It's just up this Avenida Del Mar
the street right in front of the pier.
You go to the left from the pier
and it's about a half mile up the street.
I'll see you in the village.
Now I will point out to get to the shopping district
it is a little bit of an uphill walk
but you know you're there
when the sidewalk turns into this little brick thing.
The shops are filled with lots of little gifts shops,
you'll find surf shops, restaurants and bars.
In the daytime on weekdays,
it's usually not that busy here.
It's most hopping on weekends. And in the evenings.
Walking down the street feels like a little bit
of time walk.
This shoe store has been in business this for 67 years.
How often do you see shoe stores like this anymore
that have the glass cases out in front
to let you know what they sell, shoes.
If you've got kiddos with you
they're sure to enjoy
the Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop
with all sorts of old school and new school,
soda and candy.
I will point out
if you're seeing a lot of people wearing masks,
I'm shooting this during the COVID-19 pandemic time
so there's extra outdoor seating on the street
that there isn't typically during normal business times.
So now you might be thinking, Chris, where's your mask?
It's right here, I'm Winnie-the-Pooh.
Now, if you're thinking this business district
looks a little sleepy you're right.
And actually the other nickname San Clemente has
for people who live in and around Orange County
is sleepy San Clemente.
Hustling and bustling this is not,
but that's why you come here
to get away from the hustle and bustle.
Avenida Del Mar comes to an end at El Camino Real
which is also known as Pacific coast highway,
right at San Clemente's historic city hall.
If you didn't find any tasty eating options
on Avenida Del Mar you'll find a lot more restaurants
on El Camino Real, including my favorite place
to eat in San Clemente, Pedro's tacos
a classic California taco shop.
My favorite is the combo number one,
carney asada guacamole served with a side of rice and beans.
Now, if you're looking to do some more significant shopping,
San Clemente is home to a fairly new outlet mall
it retains that Spanish vibe in San Clemente,
my favorite shop here is the Nike store.
I also like to stop into the Columbia store,
lots of travel appropriate attire.
My favorite place to eat at the outlet mall
is at Slapfish they call themselves a modern seafood shark.
My favorite things to eat there are the fish and chips,
the clam chowder,
but my double favorite is the lobster grilled cheese
it's crab and lobster in a grilled cheese sandwich,
really good.
San Clemente is home to two famous residences.
The first one is Ole Hanson's house
the founder of San Clemente,
it's now called Casa Romantica admission is a $5 donation.
You can go inside tour the house and a garden,
really neat ocean views from the property.
Now San Clemente's most famous beach is actually
it's most difficult to access.
It's called Trestles Beach
and it's just at the south end of San Clemente
to get to Trestles beach, I'm on the path to it right now.
This path, the beginning of the path
is at the intersection of El Camino Real
and Cristianitos Road.
It's just basically the opening in a fence
there's no sign to tell you that that it's here,
but it's basically right off
the Interstate 5 Cristianitos Road exit.
The closest landmark is a Carl's Jr Restaurant
and it's just street parking
and then you get on this path and you go down,
you can see Interstate 5 there in the distance
to the left is Camp Pendleton
that's the big Marine Corps base in the area,
this path goes underneath the Interstate 5.
And then we'll be at Trestles Beach
one of the most famous surf spots in all the world
after crossing underneath the Interstate 5,
you'll know you're on the right track
'cause you'll see signs that say Trestles Wetlands Preserve.
There's also a map here that talks about
all the different breaks at Trestles.
It's actually part of the San Onofre State Beach
so technically not a part of San Clemente
but most people consider San Clemente.
And the reason why it's called Trestles
is because back in the day,
you used to actually have to cross a trail trestle
to come here because the property that you walk on
is actually Marine Corps property.
And so you'll see a little sign here at the entrance
that says "your enjoyment of this State Park,
courtesy of the U. S. Marine Corps"
because they agreed to open up their land
for people to walk on this path to get to the beach.
After about a 20 minute walk
you'll cross this train track or trestle,
which is what this beach is known for
and you'll get to the section of pristine California beach,
far away from hustle and bustle, the noise of civilization.
Those surf breaks out there,
those are the famous trestle surf breaks.
There's often surfing contests here.
Oh, and I said that San Clemente
was home to a second famous house.
Well it's Richard Nixon's house and Richard Nixon's house
you can't actually really see it from here,
but former president Richard Nixon,
used to live in the hills right up above Trestles beach.
And there's a complete side note about Trestles
right underneath that train trestle
where the lagoon meets the sand here,
I don't love seagulls
but it is kinda neat
to watch the seagulls take a bath wash themselves.
It's kinda funny, not a sight that you see everyday.
Now, speaking of taking a bath,
I do wanna point out that Trestles has no facilities.
There's no bathrooms, there's no showers,
there's no running water.
The closest you're gonna get are the three porta potties
that are right next to the train trestle.
Now, if you're looking to camp in San Clemente,
you've got two main options.
You can camp on San Onofre Beach
they've got a couple of campgrounds,
San Mateo campground is right next to Trestles.
And then just on the other side of Trestles beach
is the San Clemente State Park.
There's campgrounds and RV hookups there as well.
Though my favorite beach access in San Clemente
is at Calafia Beach.
This beach access has a big parking lot,
there's bathrooms and a cafe in the middle,
it's a short walk from the parking to the beach.
Parking is a $1.50 here.
Now, if you don't mind a short walk down a hill
right up the hill at this Calafia Beach Park
there's parking in the residential neighborhood up here,
though it is limited to two hours on these streets.
No video about a California beach city with a pier
would be complete without a shot underneath the pier
so here we are.
I made this video because many of you have been requesting
more Southern California local content from where I live.
And so if you're one of those people
and you enjoyed this video,
please give it a thumbs up to let me know you like it,
to let me know to make more videos like this.
And if you wanna dive deeper
into my California Coastal Series click here,
here Oceanside California just to the south.
Ohio one of my favorite cities in San Diego
where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration
for The Lorax treat.
As usual, I won't say goodbye
because I'll see you in one of these videos.