Welcome to the city of Dana Point, a harbor town that is home to Doheny State Beach, Dana Point Harbor, and the namesake point. A point in geology landmass is a piece of land that sticks out into the ocean, similar to Candlestick Point, for my San Francisco readers. It was named after Richard Dana Jr., who described the area in his book, Two Years Before the Mast, in 1840. The name given to the town was taken from the point’s name, the city was just incorporated with a city government in 1989.
From the bus stop is Doheny State Beach, a state beach owned and operated by the California State Parks. It was originally owned by oil tycoon, Edward Doheny, who first drilled for oil in Los Angeles in 1892. He owned the land but then donated to the state parks in 1931. The beach was right next to the bus stop, and I took some time to take in the bliss of the empty beach.
Next, I went to the adjacent Dana Point Harbor, owned and operated by the county of Orange, which opened in 1971. It is home to many private boat slips, tour boat operators for whale watching, and regularly scheduled boats to Catalina Island. They have restroom and laundry facilities for boaters staying for a couple of days at the harbor. There is a shopping center for coastal visitors and boaters to eat at sit-down & cafe restaurants, go to yoga classes, see art galleries, buy from kitschy gift shops, and buy fishing supplies before going fishing. The shopping area was beautifully decorated for the holiday with decor and lights, I am sure it looks amazing at night.
I ate lunch at one of the cafes, Coffee Importers, getting a small Kona coffee, and the MadWich: a turkey sandwich with spinach, provolone cheese, and apples, on a pretzel bun. The sandwich and coffee were both delicious. After eating, I asked the cashier where the restroom was, the cafe did not have its own, but there was one shared with the shopping center, it is navigable by following the yellow line to the restroom.
After eating, I went further down the harbor to see if I can get to Dana Point. However, it is 190 ft. near a vertical cliff without a safe way for pedestrians to get to the point, but cars can go up the steep grade of Cove Road to the point. Since I came in on foot, I cannot get to the point, I’ll keep that in mind next time.
Towards the end of the harbor is the Ocean Insitute, a nonprofit aquatic research aquarium. The aquarium is only open on the weekend during the off-peak season, otherwise is open daily during the summer, and is open for 4th-grade marine sciences field trips, which was happening when I was there.
After that is the beach with a viewpoint of the ocean from the jetty. This is also where one of my coworkers got proposed to. It is a romantic spot and one of the best places to do so. A staircase to the beach goes to the Dana Point Marine Conservation Area beach, the stairs to the beach are steep and are the only way down. However, the view was amazing, and I took a moment to take it in. I recorded footage and then went back to the shopping center.
Going back towards the harbor, Ocean Insitute teaches a class of 4th graders about aquatic life on their excursion boat. Next was the ship Spirit Of Dana Point which students can experience what maritime life was like in the 1800s. Following that was the only beach inside the harbor, Baby Beach, given the name since it is a small beach. After that, I walked towards the harbor shopping center, passing by the boat slips.
After that, I went back to Doheny State Beach to jog the San Juan Creek trail to San Juan Capistrano, a four-mile jog, however, carrying a backpack while jogging is hard & heavy.
AntSol Travel 