Community Corner
White Sand, Turquoise Water and a Campsite at $50 per Night
The newest state park offers a little piece of affordable paradise in Orange County.
A new California state campground opened up in Laguna Beach this month. It’s part of the Crystal Cove State Park and down the beach about a mile from the Crystal Cove cottages. The campsites sit on a bluff overlooking PCH and the beautiful white-sand beaches at El Moro.
The campground opened July 1, and we were lucky enough to spend the Fourth of July holiday at this fabulous beach. Our $50-per-night campsite was small, compared with the many other state parks and state beaches I have been to, but it was large enough for the two families that called site 40 home for the weekend.
The views are breathtaking. From our campsite, we could see dolphins on numerous occasions feeding in the surf. At sunset, all the campers seemed to stop and take notice every night.
Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The beach is one of the best I have ever visited. The sand is clean, white and soft. The water was clear and turquoise. At least three times, sea lions came within 10 yards of the shore to play in the waves, and dolphins appeared before us more times than I could count. There are also tide pools to explore down the beach.
The facilities are nice simply because they are new. There is nothing fancy about a state park bathroom. The bathrooms were thoroughly cleaned every morning. The showers are 75 cents for three minutes, and there were no hooks on the wall to hang your clothes or towel on.
Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The picnic tables are nice, but there are no shade structures in the campground. The day-use area is filled with many nice covered picnic pavilions that we never saw or used over the Fourth of July weekend. I still don’t understand the point of putting picnic areas more than 100 yards from the beach.
There are no fires or charcoal grills permitted at the campground. (There used to be a trailer park at this location, and a wildfire destroyed it back in 1993.) We brought a propane fire pit purchased at Costco for $100, and it was perfect.
You can make reservations for Crystal Cove El Moro campground at reserveamerica.com
