Huntington Beach is an Orange
County, California beach community
located in sunny, Southern
California just 125 miles or so from
the Mexican border. Next to The OC
(Newport Beach) and Long Beach with
its convention services along the
coast, Huntington's bedroom
community has always been a
destination, but has transformed
into a modern destination now with
more things for tourists to see and
do, and more places to stay at the
beach. From
grunion runs to fireworks
displays, to camping and hotels,
visitors have all kinds of
questions, and we strive to answer
them to your satisfaction. Activities include
enjoyment of the ocean, beach and
Huntington Beach Pier shown in
photos on this page.
There are so many resources on
Huntington Beach, you can do a quick
google search of our site to look
for something specific, if you like.
Dining: Possibly the outdoor
capital of dining in Orange County,
you'll enjoy the countless options
for a la carte and al fresco, and
discover that sunshine or clouds
never dampen the spirits of those
sipping on cocktails and eating
foods in this mellow beach town.
Take a look at some of the
great HB restaurants so you can
plan your trip now.
Hotels: With
3 new hotels (all
at the beach), the city is sure to
become one of the premier vacation
getaways for local residents and
world travelers. Our favorites
include the Hyatt Resort, which is
smoke-free and pet-free for no
fleas. Many rooms and suites
overlook the Pacific Ocean, but
you'll pay a bit more for those view
rooms.
There are two small
museums, a quaint Main Street
shopping and dining region with
youthful apparel and surfing items,
lots of sandy beaches, a long
pleasure pier to stroll on and watch
surfers and sunsets from and several
great resort hotels such as the 100%
non-smoking Hilton Waterfront Beach
Resort and Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa across the street
from the beach. Have you been to
Surf City as some of the HB locals
call it. Old-timers who remember the
Golden Bear, surfers' wetsuits
drying in the second story windows
of their budget apartments above
Jack's Surfboards, and oil pumps
lining Pacific Coast Highway next to
the beach, are quite surprised at
the transformation of the funky
town.
Today Huntington Beach is one of the
favorite beach destinations for
visitors traveling to Anaheim's
Disneyland. Though Newport Beach is
slightly closer in travel time to
Disneyland, any of the Orange County
beach cities make for a great beach
vacation getaway for added night
stays to your Disneyland vacation.
HB's major attraction is its
beaches, while places such as
Newport Beach also offer boat trips
to Catalina Island, a harbor filled
with pleasure craft you can rent,
Hornblower Dinner Cruises, plus a
beautiful outdoor shopping center,
Fashion Island fountains for the
kids, and with stores such as
Bloomingdales. But something
romantic and new is the Sunset
Gondola Ride in Huntington Beach
offered from expert gondoliers with
a track record of marriage and
proposal successes for their
customers that makes this a romantic
"sure bet." In fact, we used to ride
the gondolas Tyson and Tim artfully
steered in the Alamitos Bay in the
canals of Naples, and we followed
them to Huntington Beach to ride
their gondolas in new territory.
That's just how good these guys are
and how we'd like to see them make
it in Huntington Harbour. Huntington Beach maintains a small town
atmosphere as a friendly place where
you get to know your neighbors.
Another such business we frequent
for that reason is Zack's Pier Plaza
beach concessions.
Sitting on the land where Huntington Beach Inn (a hotel that was the
shining glory of the city until it
entered receivership in the late
1970's) is Hyatt Regency Resort.
While the price for a room has more
than quadrupled, the new hotel
retains similar beach vibes that
once attracted kindred souls to the
previous hotel, once enjoyed by
business travelers, tourists,
surfers and local residents. Sharing
hot breakfast and swooping views of
the same beach and waves that are
there today, the O'Neill boys,
Robert August and a cadre of
successful surf pioneers once sat in
green vinyl booths discussing wave
conditions over scrambled eggs and
Farmer Brothers coffee at a coffee
shop that offered a hot, affordable
meal and stunning views of the
ocean.
BB King, Randy California & Spirit,
John Mayall, Robin Williams and a
"who's who" of the rock movement and
comedy stayed in Huntington Beach,
performing at the Golden Bear just
down the street from the affordable
beach hotels such as the Huntington
Shores affordable with Grinder
restaurant.
Those days are long gone. Today's
attractions include shopping centers
such as 5 Points Plaza, Bella Terra
Huntington Beach Mall and
traditional Downtown Huntington Beach that's changed in some
respects, but retains its charm in
buildings such as Perq's Nite Club.
Once operating as a brothel and now
as a nightclub featuring great rock
& roll bands, the world's premier
blues artist, Walter Trout,
considers Perqs his home base on the
rare instances when he's not on the
road performing around the globe.
Today you'll find new names such as
Korn at Main Street's Tuna Town
restaurant, owned by one band member
who's hung copies of their platinum
records on the walls.
Huntington Beach site map offers
over 100 pages of information about
Huntington Beach.
