Totuava Beach

What it’s like

Totuava is a cove on the South Laguna shore. Swim Guide describes it as a hard-to-find beach north of Thousand Steps Beach and connected to it. Table Rock Beach lies to the north, and Thousand Steps Beach lies to the south.

A 1985 Orange County environmental filing, titled Totuava Bay (5th Street) Beach Access, covered a five-foot easement from Pacific Coast Highway to a bluff stairway and the reconstruction of that stairway down to the bay. The filing does not say whether the work was done, and the Coastal Commission’s current access guide lists no stairway or access point at Totuava.

Getting there and parking

Totuava has no public access point of its own. The Coastal Commission’s file lists Table Rock Beach and Thousand Steps Beach and nothing between them. Swim Guide says you must use the Thousand Steps access point, and a 2021 Patch beach guide says there is no public access to Totuava itself.

Both guides send you through Thousand Steps Beach. Swim Guide says that once you step onto the sand from the Thousand Steps stairs, Totuava is the stretch to your right, to the north. Patch’s reporter timed a visit to a very low tide to see a sea cave at Thousand Steps and reach Totuava beyond it, and warned that you may become trapped if you do not watch the tide. Heed that warning. A cove with no public access point leaves you the same route out, and the tide decides how long that route stays open. Respect posted private property signs on the bluff and along the sand.

Parking follows Thousand Steps. The Coastal Commission lists on-street parking and restrooms there, and a 2021 Patch visit found unmetered spaces on the northbound side of Coast Highway early in the day. Thousand Steps closes between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

Rules and safety

Totuava sits near the line where two protected areas meet. California Fish and Wildlife describes the Laguna Beach State Marine Conservation Area as running from Goff Island south to Table Rock, and the Dana Point State Marine Conservation Area begins at the same latitude, 33 degrees 30.050 minutes north. OpenStreetMap places 5th Avenue, the cross street in the 1985 filing, just north of that latitude, while Swim Guide’s map point for Totuava sits south of it. These sources do not settle which area covers each rock.

The two areas differ, but both protect the pools. In the Laguna Beach area it is unlawful to injure, damage, take or possess any living, geological or cultural marine resource. The Dana Point area starts from the same rule but allows recreational take of finfish by hook-and-line or spearfishing, and lobster and urchin, which Laguna Beach does not. It also prohibits taking living marine resources from tide pools. Because the line runs close by, take nothing and check the posted signs and California Fish and Wildlife’s map before you fish.

Swim Guide notes a three-day rain advisory after each storm, because bacteria levels can rise. The Department of Marine Safety answers questions about tides and surf. Check the tide table before you start toward the cove, and leave the beach well before the tide returns.

Good to know

The 1985 filing describes a stairway, but the Coastal Commission’s file lists no access at Totuava today, so do not plan a visit around one. Our map pin for this cove is approximate.