Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove Beaches

Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove at a Glance

Corona del Mar’s beaches sit below the bluffs on Ocean Boulevard, from the harbor entrance to Little Corona, and Crystal Cove State Park picks up the coast just past Cameo Shores. The City of Newport Beach runs the Corona del Mar beaches, Corona del Mar State Beach included, and California State Parks runs Crystal Cove. Offshore, the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area protects the tide pools from Corona del Mar State Beach south. This guide follows the shore from the harbor entrance to Moro Beach, then covers the rules and the neighborhoods above each beach. For the Peninsula, The Wedge and the piers, see our Newport Beach beaches guide.

Corona del Mar Beaches

China Cove

China Cove is a harbor-side cove of sand inside the harbor entrance, reached from Cove Street and Shell Street through a residential block. Its water is calm bay water, and it has no parking lot, lifeguard or facilities. Farther up the harbor, homes along Bayside Drive line the water and Irvine Terrace sits on the bluff above them.

Pirate’s Cove and Lookout Point

Pirate’s Cove sits at the rocks beside the harbor entrance, reached by a trail from Lookout Point on Ocean Boulevard and from the state beach below. Lookout Point, at Ocean Boulevard and Heliotrope Avenue, looks over the harbor mouth, and a bluff-top walk along Ocean Boulevard leads about half a mile to Inspiration Point, with benches and ocean views along the way.

Corona del Mar State Beach

Corona del Mar State Beach, known locally as Big Corona, runs about half a mile from the east jetty of the harbor entrance, at 3001 Ocean Boulevard. The City of Newport Beach operates it, so State Parks annual passes do not apply. The beach has 24 fire rings, 16 for wood and 8 for charcoal only, first come, first served from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., along with volleyball courts, public barbecues, picnic areas, restrooms and outdoor showers. Swimmers, surfers, divers and snorkelers all use it. The city’s Main Beach Lot, at Jasmine Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, holds more than 500 spaces at rates that change by season and time of day, and it closes to new cars when full.

Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point, at Ocean Boulevard and Orchid Avenue, ends the bluff-top view park above Big Corona. A walkway drops from the point to the sand, and the city takes no reservations here from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Little Corona del Mar Beach

Little Corona, entered at Ocean Boulevard and Poppy Avenue, is a sandy cove with rocky reef platforms, a sea arch and tide pools that open at low tide. The tide pools lie inside the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area, where taking any animal from a tide pool is against the law, and volunteer docents from the city’s marine education program sometimes staff the pools. Parking is on the residential streets nearby, and the city tickets cars at the no-parking signs.

Crystal Cove State Park

Crystal Cove State Park covers 2,791 acres between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach, with 3.2 miles of beach in seven coves below bluffs about 80 feet high. The park straddles the Newport Beach city line and unincorporated Orange County, and its street address reads Laguna Beach. Parking costs $5 an hour at the Los Trancos lot and $15 a day at the other lots, $20 on holidays and summer weekends, as of October 2026. Day-use areas open from 6 a.m. to sunset, and the Historic District stays open until 10 p.m.

Pelican Point and Reef Point

Pelican Point, at the north end of the park, has four bluff-top lots, picnic areas, a boardwalk and trails down to the beach and tide pools. Reef Point has two lots above a beach and tide pool area. A bluff failure closed the Pelican Point beach trail in October 2026, so check the park’s notices before you go.

The Crystal Cove Historic District

The Historic District holds 46 cottages built as a beach colony in the 1930s and 1940s, on 12.3 acres at the mouth of Los Trancos Creek. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the year the Irvine Company sold the land to the State. Since 2006, restored cottages have opened for overnight stays booked through ReserveCalifornia, and the district has the beachfront Beachcomber restaurant, a park store and a visitor center, while the Crystal Cove Shake Shack sits on the bluff above. From the Los Trancos lot, on the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway, a half-mile trail runs through a tunnel under the highway to the cottages, and a shuttle runs as well. October 2026 storms closed parts of the Historic District beach and some cottages, so check the park’s alerts before you go.

Moro Beach and Moro Canyon

Moro Beach, at the south end of the park, sits below the Moro campground and the trailheads into Moro Canyon, the park’s backcountry. A tunnel under the highway links the day-use area to the beach. The site held the El Morro trailer park until its leases ended in 2005. A crack in the bluff closed the beach south of the Moro lifeguard headquarters in October 2026 while Caltrans repairs the slope below the highway.

Beach Rules: Dogs, Fires and Tide Pools

Dogs. On the Corona del Mar beaches, the city bars dogs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and allows them on a leash of six feet or less outside those hours. Crystal Cove allows leashed dogs on paved areas only, never on the beach or in the backcountry.

Fires and alcohol. Corona del Mar State Beach has the only fire rings on this stretch. Crystal Cove allows no fires on the sand; only gas barbecues. Glass and alcohol are banned on the city beaches, and Crystal Cove allows alcohol only at its restaurant and the Moro campsites.

Tide pools. The Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area covers 4.3 miles of shoreline from Corona del Mar State Beach south to the Laguna Beach line. State rules still allow recreational fishing for finfish by hook and line or spear, and the taking of spiny lobster and sea urchin, but nothing else may be taken, and nothing at all may be taken from a tide pool. Leave shells, rocks and animals in place.

Lifeguards. The city’s Corona del Mar lifeguard headquarters, at 3029 Ocean Boulevard, opens daily from the first Saturday of June through Labor Day. Crystal Cove has its own lifeguard headquarters at Moro.

Living Near the Beach in Corona del Mar and Newport Coast

The streets of Corona del Mar south of Coast Highway, the Flower Streets from Acacia to Poppy, run down to Ocean Boulevard and put Big Corona, the view parks and Little Corona within a walk. Shore Cliffs sits on the bluff just southeast of Little Corona, with Corona Highlands behind it, and Cameo Shores and Cameo Highlands face the ocean at the downcoast end, toward Crystal Cove. On the harbor side, Irvine Terrace overlooks the bay across Coast Highway from Newport Center.

Above Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Coast’s Pelican Point, Crystal Cove and Pelican Crest communities sit on the slopes inland of the highway; the park’s beaches and lots belong to the State, not to the communities above them. Our Corona del Mar vs Newport Coast comparison sets the two markets side by side.

Ocean-View Homes for Sale in Corona del Mar

These are the six newest Corona del Mar listings that their agents mark with an ocean view in the MLS. See every one on the Corona del Mar ocean-view homes page.

More About Corona del Mar

Our Corona del Mar real estate page covers every community and its homes for sale, living in Corona del Mar and living in Newport Coast cover daily life, and the Corona del Mar housing market page tracks prices month by month. Compare it with Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, or read selling a home in Corona del Mar. Realatrends Real Estate has sold homes on the Orange County coast since 1983; talk with us about homes near the beach.

Frequently Asked Questions About Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove Beaches

Who runs Corona del Mar State Beach?

The City of Newport Beach operates Corona del Mar State Beach, so its own parking rates and rules apply and State Parks annual passes are not accepted.

Where are the tide pools in Corona del Mar?

At Little Corona del Mar Beach, entered at Ocean Boulevard and Poppy Avenue, and along Crystal Cove State Park at Reef Point, Pelican Point and the coves south of them. They lie inside the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area, so collecting from them is against the law.

Are dogs allowed at Crystal Cove State Park?

Only on paved areas, on a leash of six feet or less. Dogs may not go on the beach or into the backcountry. On the Corona del Mar city beaches, leashed dogs are allowed before 10 a.m. and after 4:30 p.m.

Does Corona del Mar State Beach have fire rings?

Yes. It has 24 fire rings, 16 for wood and 8 for charcoal only, open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on a first-come basis.

Is Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach or Laguna Beach?

Both, in a sense. Parts of the park, including Pelican Point and Reef Point, lie inside Newport Beach city limits, and the Moro end lies in unincorporated Orange County. The park’s street address, 8471 North Coast Highway, reads Laguna Beach. Newport Coast, the community on the hills above the park, joined Newport Beach in 2002.