Laguna Beach vs Dana Point

Dana Point lies just south of Laguna Beach. The two cities share Pacific Coast Highway, a trolley route and the line between two state marine protected areas. What differs is size, the school district, how the council is elected and how each city handles rentals. The facts below come from the Census Bureau, the state, NOAA and each city’s own pages; road miles come from a routing engine.

At a glance

	Laguna Beach	Dana Point
Residents, July 2025 estimate	22,391	32,232
Land area, 2020 Census	8.89 sq mi	6.49 sq mi
Coast, as each city describes it	7.5 miles of coastline	Five beaches on the city’s list, including Doheny State Beach
State marine protected areas named for the city	Reserve plus no-take area	One conservation area, from South Laguna to Dana Point
Public school district	Laguna Beach USD	Capistrano USD
Council	Five members, elected at large	Five members, each from a district
Short-term rentals	Not allowed in R-1, R-2, R-3	City permit, capped, waitlist
Road miles to John Wayne Airport (OSRM)	13.5 miles	20.2 miles
Road miles to Los Angeles City Hall (OSRM)	50.3 miles	58.3 miles

Road miles run from each City Hall on the OSRM routing engine with OpenStreetMap data; they are not official figures. Land area is the Census measure for both cities; Laguna Beach’s own About page lists 8.84 square miles.

Smaller land, bigger population

Dana Point has less land than Laguna Beach, 6.49 square miles against 8.89, and about 10,000 more residents. By the Census figures that works out to roughly 5,000 residents per square mile of land in Dana Point and 2,500 in Laguna Beach. Those densities are calculated from the Census files, not published by either city.

Beaches and the shared reserve line

The Laguna Beach Marine Safety department counts seven and a half miles of city coastline. Dana Point’s Beaches page names five: Baby Beach inside the harbor, Capistrano Beach, Doheny State Beach, Salt Creek Beach and Strands Beach. The city says Doheny has more than one mile of sandy coast. One city counts shoreline and the other lists beaches, so read each as that city’s own description.

The state boundary is more precise. The Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve runs from Abalone Point to Goff Island, and a no-take conservation area continues south to Table Rock. The Dana Point State Marine Conservation Area, 3.47 square miles, starts at that border, and the state places it between South Laguna and Dana Point. In the Laguna Beach areas the state makes it unlawful to take any marine resource, apart from take incidental to certain permitted activities in the no-take area. In Dana Point’s area the state allows recreational take of finfish by hook-and-line or spearfishing and of lobster and urchin, and it prohibits taking anything from tidepools.

School districts and taxes

Dana Point sits in the Capistrano Unified School District, which lists 64 schools on its own site, Dana Hills High among them. Laguna Beach Unified has four: two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Look at the Laguna Beach schools guide for names and addresses. No ratings appear on this site.

County rules apply to both. Under Proposition 13 the tax is based on 1 percent of the purchase price, and the county Treasurer-Tax Collector notes that special assessments in a parcel’s taxing district can push a bill higher. School districts, college districts and other local agencies with voter-approved debt each levy a rate, which the Auditor-Controller calculates every year, so the add-on depends on which agencies cover the parcel. Look up a bill by parcel number at taxbill.octreasurer.gov.

Renting a home short term

Dana Point adopted its permit rules in 2023. The city lists a cap of 115 permits in the Coastal Zone and 115 outside it, with a sub-cap of 60 for non-primary rentals outside the zone. When a cap fills, applicants go on a waitlist. Inside the Coastal Zone, an application must show that the homeowners’ association rules do not prohibit the rental.

Laguna Beach works differently. It bars the use in its three residential districts and permits it in some commercial and downtown districts. The short-term rentals guide has the details and the phone numbers.

Climate data

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals list no station inside Dana Point. The closest one with temperature normals is the Laguna Beach station, 7.0 miles in a straight line from the Census point for Dana Point. That station shows a January average low of 44.2 F, an August average high of 81.2 F and 12.68 inches of rain a year. Because both cities share one station here, this guide cannot separate them by weather.

Roads and trolleys

On the OSRM routes, Dana Point is farther from both John Wayne Airport and Los Angeles City Hall. Laguna Beach’s free Coastal Route trolley runs south as far as the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point in the 2026 to 2027 off-season schedule. Dana Point’s city transportation page says its free trolley runs daily from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, every 15 minutes, and connects with Laguna Beach and San Clemente. The city also points riders to OCTA buses and to Metrolink at the San Juan Capistrano station. The getting around guide covers Laguna Beach’s routes.

Council and spring events

Both cities run on a council-manager form of government with five council members who serve four-year terms. Laguna Beach elects its members at large. Dana Point elects each member from a district, and the council picks its mayor each year.

Two events fall in March. The Dana Point Festival of Whales lists its 56th edition for March 5 to 7, 2027. The Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade lists its 60th for Saturday, March 13, 2027, at 11 a.m. downtown.

How to choose

Questions only you can answer:

1. Which airport or freeway do you use most, and does the extra distance to Dana Point or the shorter drive from Laguna Beach change a typical week?
2. Which beaches would you visit weekly, and how do you reach them?
3. Does the address you are considering sit in the Laguna Beach or Capistrano district? Ask each district to confirm.
4. If you might rent the home out, do the permit rules and caps above fit your plan?
5. Do you prefer to vote for council members citywide or by district?
6. Does the difference in residents per square mile of land matter to you?

Then read the neighborhoods guide, the cost of living guide and the moving guide.

The same comparison for other nearby cities: Laguna Beach vs Newport Beach, San Clemente, Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel and La Jolla.