Once known as the "Tin Can Beach", Bolsa Chica State Beach is now a popular beach which attracts visitors all year-round. It is an ideal place to go sunbathing, play volleyball, have a family day out and try other water sports. Surf fishing of fishes like croaker and corbina are among the other activities you can partake in here. Also, on this three-mile long sandy stretch is a designated place where you can camp in your RV vans. Bolsa Chica is a great spot to sit back and enjoy everything that the beach has to offer.
The center, funded largely by a mega-million dollar endowment from Renée and Henry Segerstrom, was originally inaugurated in 1986, with the first venue Sergestrom Hall as part of what was then the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The latest addition, a community plaza uniting the newer and older venues was built in 2006, and the center renamed the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The complex has drawn huge audiences for symphony, ballet, and Broadway events. The Segerstrom Center for the Arts, featuring the 2000-seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 500-seat Samueli Theater, Founders Hall and Segerstrom Hall as well as a variety of educational exhibits and recreation services, continues this tradition of artistic expansion. The halls are well suited to hold symphony performances, as they features state of the art acoustics that can be adjusted for large as well as intimate events. Tours are available on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:30a, and offer a great glimpse into the backstage area, as well as notes about the architecture and design.
If you are driving south along the coast for the day from L.A., this gallery is ideally situated near the popular Fashion Island shopping center, not even a mile from the Pacific Coast Highway. The subject of much controversy among Orange County's art crowd over the past few years, the museum expanded to almost double its original size when the Newport Harbor Art Museum (same location) and the Laguna Art Museum consolidated to form this larger complex, scandalizing the art-loving Laguna Beach community. The permanent collection focuses on late 20th-century and California art, but the museum enjoys exhibitions that have included works from artists such as Rico Lebrun and Pablo Picasso. The Plein Air Café serves lunch, and a meal will earn you free admission to the museum.
A paradise for surfers, the Wedge is the name given to a particular location off the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. The spot is called so owing to the huge wedge-like waves that occur here due to the outstretched Newport Beach Jetty that lies in the path of the incoming tides from the North Pacific Ocean. With waves reaching as high as 30 feet (nine meters) at times, the Wedge occupies a very special place on the bucket list of most surfers and adventure seekers.
The heart of the Balboa Peninsula, the Balboa Village is one of the most visited attractions of Newport Beach. A perfect place for a day out with family and friends, the village has a plethora of activities on offer. It’s lined with some of the best restaurants in the city, to get you fueled up for the day. There are attractions like the Fun Zone for children, while adults can indulge in one of the many boat tours that are organized here. The village also hosts several events every year.
For those who can make only one stop in Corona del Mar, make it the Corona del Mar State Beach. This area alone can make everyone fall in love with CdM, a laid-back multi-million-dollar neighborhood accented by the Pacific, with streets lined by palm trees and flower beds. On the bluff, three signs mark beach access: Lookout Point, Main Beach, and Inspiration Point. Each point has a different view, but all share Catalina Island in the background, with Newport Bay and Balboa Island in the foreground. A few steps towards the south end of Ocean Boulevard is a secluded cove near the Robert E. Badham Marine Life Refuge, and some of the most extravagant mansions follow.
Downey History Center is an educational center that provides a wealth of historical information, preservation, education and research. Whether you are just curious about Downey's history or are a serious scholar, you will find everything you need. Resources include Downey newspapers dating from 1888, photographs dating from 1870, books and periodicals about Downey, Los Angeles County, California and more. There is also a lot of information on Downey's namesake, Governor John Gately Downey. Call ahead for varying days.
The West Coast Theatre is one of the oldest theaters of the city. It's a part of the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the must-visit places in the city.
Howe-Waffle House and Medical Museum is named so because it belonged to Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle, who was one of the first female physicians in the entire county till she died in 1924. Built by Stoughton and George in 1889, the Late Victorian Queen Anne style house now operates as Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle House and Medical Museum by the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society in honor of the original owner. It open for tours on the first Saturday of every other month, starting from February.
La Tour (French for "the tower") is what locals love to call the mysterious tower jutting next to the cliffs at Victoria Beach. This quaint and browning tower, with rugged stones at its base, seems almost as though it has grown naturally out of the cliffs. For decades locals have wondered about the tower's origin; was it perhaps a lighthouse to guide sailors or really a pirate's haunt? Most people now seem to agree that the tower is nothing but an extension of a former home that perched on the clifftop. It was built in 1926 as a stairway for Senator William E. Brown and his family to access the beach from their home. The single metal staircase found inside the tower seems to confirm this theory. You can only visit La Tour during low tide and that too with permission from the owners, as it stands on private property. However, if you do get a chance to visit, the beach surrounding the tower is one of the most picturesque and secluded spots in the city.