Newport/Laguna Beach
 

Wife and I are flying in to LAX and have 2 days over Labor day before traveling to Santa Barbara on Sept. 5th. We had wanted to stay in Laguna Beach, but availability is lacking. It looks like we can get nicer accommodations for a better price in Newport Beach. We still want to experience Laguna Beach and are wondering what the driving time between NB and LB will be on a holiday week-end. For example, if we want to drive from NB to LB for dinner on either Friday or Sat evening, how much time should we allow and how difficult will it be to find parking? Thanks

Under normal circumstances, depending where you are in Newport, driving times are 15-20 minutes tops. Labor day weekend, at 10 AM or 4 PM could add another 15 minutes. Parking in Laguna can be tight. There is mostly metered steet parking, a few garages and some places have valet.

Your plan will work just fine, but Labor Day traffic will be congested. So leave at least 45 minutes before you plan to eat dinner. I would recommend calling the restaurant well in advance for reservations, as this is one of the most crowded weekends of the year in that area.

It looks like we can get nicer accommodations for a better price in Newport Beach.
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Correct, but part of the Laguna Beach 'experience' is being on foot in the village. If the weather is nice, it will not be fun trying to find parking. Weekends are bad enough, let alone a holiday weekend. If you do decide to stay in Newport Beach, I'd go to Laguna Beach early and spend the entire day there.

As others have said expect lots of traffic and going early and walking around before dinner is a great idea. Don't know what hotels you are looking at in Newport Beach but none of them are actually on the beach or really even across from the beach. Also many hotels say the address is Newport Beach but they are right next to OC Airport. If you have any questions about the hotel locations, let us know.

It isn't far but it may be bumper to bumper traffic. If you are staying more inland you can also take Laguna Canyon Road, but it will still be bad. Parking I usually find on one of the residential streets up hill from PCH. If you decide to brave it and the weather is good, I would head over as early as possible in the day, or after it gets dark.

If you have free time you may want to look into going on a whale watch trip. The big blue whales are still hanging around off of the OC coast. We went on Saturday (out of Newport Landing) and in 2.5 hours saw 5 blues including a mother and calf, as well as a very big pod of dolphin. You can also go out of Dana Point.

There are lots of operators, if it's something you might do then do make a reservation for that weekend. Prices can be as low as $14.50 to $15 if you find the right coupon. (Just Google Blue Whale Watching and one of the above prices and you will find the coupons).

mlgb-Wow that's great about the whales. I am heading off to Laguna Beach today to see some clients. Wish I could go whale watching. Didn't know they were out there this time of year.

The blues are in late summer, most years, following the krill. Everyone knows about the gray whale migrations in winter but for some reason the blue whale action doesn't seem to be as well known.