Family Guide to Thousand Steps Beach in Laguna Beach

My family cannot get enough of the beach in the summer. We do after-all live in paradise, and I can’t help but want to soak up every ounce of the summer sun. As a native to Orange County, I grew-up in a little house on the side of the cliff, in Laguna Beach. I would run down the wooden steps every morning to start digging in the sand in search of sand crabs. Growing up on this special beach in Laguna, has made it one of my favorites to bring my children to visit in the summer so that we can share these same memories together. This is our guide to Thousand Steps Beach in Laguna Beach. (btw..that is the house I grew-up in on the side of that hill in the picture).

The entrance to this beach is somewhat hidden unless you are a local. Why? Because most want it to stay as local as possible. Even on a busy holiday, there won’t be more than a hundred people on the sands of this beach.

It is located right at the street light (9th Avenue & PCH.)

Parking is a challenge just like every other beach in Laguna. No pain..no gain..right? Beach goers can easily visit a beach with convenient parking, and end up with yucky water and an overcrowded beach. Parking for this beach can be found anywhere (where the signs permit) along PCH or on 9th Avenue. Most of the parking around this beach is not metered parking – hooray!

The beach is called thousand steps beach for a reason – there are a lot of steps. While not quite a thousand of them, your family is in for quite a hike. Pack light, and plan to spend the day – I promise that it will be worth it.

This beach is long and wide. There is plenty of places for your family to find an awesome spot without feeling crowded along the shoreline. There are rocks at each end of the beach with tidepools for the kids to explore. The waves are good for boogie boarding, and the beach has a long shoreline allowing kids to touch longer before needing to start swimming.

There is one lifeguard for this quite large beach. We recommend keeping a close eye on your kiddos while they are boogie boarding.