Southern California beach guide
A sunset on the water in Newport Beach, California. Kaiya Biller | Lariat
The beach is one of the most popular places in the spring and summer when it gets hot. But which one should one go to? Many people have different opinions of which beach they go to. Some people like lots of parking, others like different beaches for the water or less of a walk.
One beach that is great to go to that is close to Saddleback is Salt Creek. Salt Creek is a big beach, so when going there one doesn’t have to worry about being on top of other people. There’s plenty of room to spread out and play games or just lay on the sand and tan. There is also plenty of parking. When parking, one must pay for a pass, but the parking lot is so big, it is almost guaranteed that parking can be found.
One downside to Salt Creek is the walk from the parking lot to the beach. When walking, one will go down a huge hill which means on the way back one must hike back up the big hill. One positive to this is most of the hill is grass. So if one just wants to sit and watch the sunset and not get sandy, the grass hill is a great place to go because it is big and like the beach, there’s no need to worry about being on top of other people.
“I love Salt Creek because you go there to body surf and you wipe out and it’s so fun,” said Armon Izadiyar, nursing major.
Another great beach to go to is T Street. T Street is about 15 minutes from Saddleback. The beach is pretty big and has fire pits, so if looking for a beach to do a bonfire, T Street is a great place to go. There is a limited amount of pits, so it’s best to get to the beach earlier if one wants to get one.
When parking, there are some close spots that one can pay for, or another option is walking further and parking in the neighborhood above the beach for free. There is also the pier which isn’t too far from T Street, so if one wants a break from the water, the pier is a great place to go. Across the street from the pier, there are also some shops to look at.
“I love T Street because I love to surf there. There is also a nice pier to walk on,” said Fahed Hayak, kinesiology major.
If looking for more of a beach day, Newport beach is a great place to go. It is further away, but one can make the most of their day there. All of the number streets lead to the beach, so there are many different streets to park on. There are also a couple parking lots to park in as well. Depending on where one finds parking depends on how far the walk is, there is also a pier in Newport that one can walk on if sick of the beach.
There are many different restaurants all throughout Newport so there are plenty of options for lunch and dinner. There are also some shops close to the pier to walk through. Another great part of Newport beach is the Balboa Fun Zone. The Fun Zone has a small ferris wheel and there’s an arcade to play games in AC.
“I love Newport. I love the houses because my family used to stay there in the summer and it’s nostalgic, there’s so much to do down there,” Katie Butler, nursing major stated.
While all of these beaches have different unique traits, there’s not one that’s better than another to go to. So when trying to pick a beach to go to this summer, remember to think about the pros and cons of them to decide which beach to go to.
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