The vibe at Christmas Cove beach is a mix of tourists, families and mellow beach-goers who find the public pay parking convenient. Often a hangout for the Montage Resort guests, you can tell that many are tourists by their pale white skin or red sunburns. Californians can also be pale and get burned, but with year-round exposure to the sun and warm beach days throughout the winter months, locals tend to have a forever tan from being outdoors in all seasons.

 

A quiet beach, this is a great place to go if you want to read a book, sleep and be by yourself. While there's constant traffic from hotel guests such as diners who have stopped for a bite to eat at the Montage's outdoor cafe, Mosaic Bar & Grille, the beach is still mellow and relaxing. A fun thing to do is put your name in at the restaurant for some food, and they'll tell you how long the wait is (can be up to 40-50 minutes). While in most places you'd be inclined to move on and find another restaurant with a shorter wait time, here you say, "Great!" Dress casual, wear a watch, and head for Christmas Cove to enjoy the ocean, the sand and a bit of exercise (walking back up the ramp) before your meal seating.

 

Christmas Cove Beach is the northern most beach that is easily accessible from the Montage Resort. The best access to the beach is by way of the ramp at the end of the Montage Resort park area. Goff Cove is to the left at the bottom of the ramp. The beach is a mix of sand bottom and rocky reef. The surf can become large depending on how the sand shifts and the direction of the swell. Rip currents form at the south end of the beach generally.

 

Goff Island at the south end of the beach can be dangerous and should not be climbed.

Popular activities include swimming, tide pooling, fishing and other beach activities. The beach is generally uncrowded and a good alternative to the larger crowds at Treasure Island.

 

Places to Stay: Not everyone can afford $550 -1000 per night for a hotel room at the Montage Resort, where presidents of countries, top celebrities and sheiks all arrive in their stretch limousines.  If you are one of us who generally doesn't have that kind of cash floating around (or credit), there are some nearby options that are approx. 75% less in cost. One of our new favorites since they did their renovation is Vacation Village hotel.  It shares the same sandy Laguna Beaches as the Montage, but lacks on site valet, resort spa and the trimmings that push a hotel bill up into the thousands. Another hotel we've enjoyed in Laguna that's not quite the luxury Surf & Sand, is the Aliso Creek Inn in South Laguna. The popular Aliso Beach is across and down the street a short distance, and there's a small golf course at the hotel.

 

What to do and see: Located just south of this beach in Dana Point past the teen hangout beach, Salt Creek Beach, there are boats that go on half day and day-long fishing expeditions. From December to April 30 they also take people out for whale watching migrations. The best thing about your location in addition to having the best beach hotels in Orange County, you're ideally situated equal distance between several theme parks here. Disneyland is a 40 minute drive north on the 5 Freeway and Legoland is 40 minutes south on that same freeway.