Corona del Mar State Beach

Corona del Mar State Beach is a half-mile sand cove on the south side of the Newport Harbor entrance in Orange County. The east jetty of the harbor closes off the north end of the cove, and sandstone bluffs frame the south. Locally the beach is called Big Corona, the larger counterpart to Little Corona del Mar Beach, which sits roughly 0.3 miles south and is reached by stairs at the end of Poppy Avenue. China Cove tucks in immediately to the west, with stairs descending from Way Lane. The Sherman Library and Gardens sits 0.5 miles inland on Pacific Coast Highway. The beach itself ends about 450 meters north of the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area boundary, so the SMCA take rules do not reach this spot.

The cove bottom is sand, and the surf breaks at the open mouth. The rip-rap of the east jetty at the north end holds intertidal life and small reef fish, and Little Corona del Mar Beach to the south carries rocky tidepools and submerged rocks within walking or swimming distance. That sand entry and the surf at the mouth place the cove in the surf zone biome. The jetty rocks at one end and the tidepool rocks at the other add a rocky reef biome along the same beach.

The shelter of the jetty draws most of the use into swimming and bodysurfing, since the cove sits calmer than the open coast on either side. A small, well-shaped break sets up on the south side of the jetty when the swell window lines up. Snorkelers work the jetty rocks and the south end on calm days. Hook-and-line fishing from the shore and the jetty is steady. Spearfishing is legal under standard California regulations but uncommon here, because the structure is limited and the larger reef and kelp lie inside the SMCA to the south. Scuba at the beach itself is also uncommon.

A paid municipal lot at the foot of Iris Avenue has restrooms and showers, with hourly fees during the day, and it fills by 10 a.m. on summer weekends. Free street parking opens up along Ocean Boulevard and the residential blocks above the bluff. Fishing and spearfishing at Corona del Mar State Beach are legal under standard California regulations, with SMCA rules taking effect south of the boundary roughly 450 meters down the coast.