Shaw's Cove
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
33.545° N · 117.798° W
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
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Open in Apple MapsAbout Shaw's Cove
Shaw's Cove is a small sand beach in north Laguna Beach, Orange County, reached by a concrete stairway at the ocean end of Fairview Street, off Cliff Drive. Rocky points close off both sides of the cove, and Crescent Bay lies just to the west. The cove has no restrooms or showers, and the nearest are in Heisler Park, a walk of about 5 to 10 minutes.
Sand bottom covers the shallows off the beach and makes up the sandy flats biome. Past the sand, the bottom turns to rocky reef cut by small canyons and crevices, and that structure forms the rocky reef biome. Depths run about 15 to 25 feet near shore and reach 40 to 50 feet farther out.
The cove is sheltered, so surf and surge are usually mild, and the soft sand entry makes it one of the easier shore dives in Laguna Beach. Snorkelers tend to stay over the inside reef in about 5 to 15 feet of water.
There is no parking lot, so visitors park on the residential streets nearby, with Cliff Drive, Fairview Street, and La Brea Street the closest. 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 Shaw's Cove.
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 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 GlossarySnorkel Species Report
The fish found at Shaw's Cove are being researched for the Ichthyopedia. This section fills in as species are mapped to this beach.
Browse the Ichthyopedia →Nearby beaches
Kelp Forest
Surf Zone
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