Crescent Bay
Laguna Beach · Orange County · California
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading
Inside the Cove: The sheltered water inside the cove. Waves are small here, but sediment that washes in tends to stay, so it often reads murkier than the water outside.
Outside the Cove: The water just past the mouth of the cove, along the reef and kelp. Most of the diving happens here, and it is the number the page headlines.
Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.
Through the day
Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.
Every bar is a reading for the Outside the Cove zone.
First cam reading around 7 AM.
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Today's forecast
As of Oct 12, 8:02 PM PT · latest available7-Day Forecast
Map · getting there
33.546° N · 117.802° W
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Open in Google Maps
Open in Apple MapsAbout Crescent Bay
Crescent Bay is a sand beach in north Laguna Beach, Orange County, set in a curved cove between two rocky points. A public stairway with a handrail leads down to the sand from the street above. Crescent Bay Point Park sits on the bluff above the northwest end of the cove. Seal Rock, a small rock island, lies just offshore to the west, and Deadman's Reef sits about 50 yards beyond it. Shaw's Cove lies just to the east along the same stretch of coast.
The center of the cove is open sand, and a swim of 2 to 3 minutes across the sandy flats biome reaches the reef. Rock runs out along both sides, one reef winding east toward Shaw's Cove and the other heading out to Seal Rock, and those reefs make up the rocky reef biome. Outside the cove, kelp anchors to large boulders at about 25 to 30 feet, which places Crescent Bay in the kelp forest biome. Deadman's Reef rises from about 50 feet to within 10 to 15 feet of the surface.
Snorkelers and scuba divers use the all-sand entry, one of the easiest in Laguna Beach, and most of the features they visit sit between 15 and 35 feet. Waves and surge run strong during a south swell, and the cove is calmest on a small north swell near high tide. Lifeguards here ticket divers who go in alone or without a float and flag.
Free street parking lines the residential blocks above the cove and fills early on weekends, and metered spaces sit closer to Pacific Coast Highway. Under California Code of Regulations Title 14, all take of living, geological, and cultural marine resources is prohibited in the Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve, which covers Crescent Bay.
Kelp Forest
The kelp forest biome is giant kelp anchored to rocky bottom and growing up through the water column. The canopy and stipes form a three-dimensional habitat that shelters fish, invertebrates, and the predators that hunt them. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome Glossary
Sandy Flats
The sandy flats biome is open sand bottom past the breaking waves, from the sand slope off a beach to the sand channels and plains between reefs. Worms, clams, and other small animals live buried in the sand, and halibut and rays bury themselves in it to hide and hunt. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome Glossary
Rocky Reef
The rocky reef biome is bare rock, boulder, and cobble structure without a kelp canopy above it. The hard relief and its crevices shelter invertebrates and reef fish, and the structure concentrates life that the surrounding sand cannot hold. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome GlossarySnorkel Species Report
The fish found at Crescent Bay are being researched for the Ichthyopedia. This section fills in as species are mapped to this beach.
Browse the Ichthyopedia →Nearby beaches
Surf Zone
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