A couple's getaway in Laguna Beach

A day for two, in order

This is one way to line up the day, with each piece linked to its own page or business.

1. Morning at a cove. Pick a small beach below Cliff Drive and check the tide first. Details are in the cove section below.
2. Afternoon at a spa or a gallery. Spa Montage and Aquaterra Spa each list a room for two, and the Laguna Art Museum is on Cliff Drive.
3. Early evening on the bluff. Heisler Park and the other sunset spots face the Pacific.
4. Dinner with a view. Four restaurants below state an ocean view on their own sites.

Coves for a quiet hour

The city describes a few of the north-end coves in terms of crowds. Shaw’s Cove is about 500 feet long at the base of Fairview Street, and the city calls it secluded, with mostly local visitors. Fisherman’s Cove, which the city lists as Boat Canyon Beach, is a small cove that is rarely crowded on weekdays. The city adds that it washes out at moderate high tides, so check a tide table. Crescent Bay goes the other way: the city says crowds of 2,000 to 4,000 are not uncommon. Further south, Treasure Island is reached by a ramp at the southwest corner of the Montage resort and can crowd on weekends and hot days, per the city.

These are rocky coves. The city warns of rip currents, dangerous rocks and strong shorebreak at several of them, and not every beach has a lifeguard at all times. The city lists these coves as marine protected areas, where it bars taking rocks, shells or marine life, so look and leave everything in place.

Sunset

The bluff parks and coves look out over the Pacific. The sunset spots page gives each park’s closing time, which matters more than the sunset time. Heisler Park sits on the bluff above Picnic Beach, per the city.

The Art Walk and the museum

On the first Thursday of each month, the First Thursdays Art Walk runs from 6 to 9 p.m. along Coast Highway between Diamond Street and Myrtle Street. It is free, and the organizer adds extended free trolley rides. The Laguna Art Museum lists free admission on first Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. For November 5, 2026, it posts special hours: free entry from 5 to 6 p.m. to one exhibition only, with the museum open after 6 p.m. only to people registered for an artist talk. See the Art Walk page for the gallery stops. On other days the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., per its site.

A spa for two

Spa Montage lists a signature couple’s suite among its facilities, and Aquaterra Spa lists an ocean-view couple’s treatment room. Aquaterra also lists a weekday midday package that pairs a treatment with a two-course lunch at Splashes. The spas and wellness page covers both, plus day spas and yoga studios. Neither spa posts a price for a couple’s treatment on the pages read for this guide.

Dinner with an ocean view

These four places advertise ocean views on their own sites. They appear in no particular order, and their listings on lagunabeachhappyhour.com, a sister site to this guide, give addresses and the date each was last verified.

• Las Brisas, 361 Cliff Drive, above Main Beach. Its site describes a panoramic dining room and a seaside patio, with dinner served daily from 3 p.m. The sister-site listing says the bar patio is reservation-only on Saturdays from May through September.
• The Cliff Restaurant, 577 South Coast Highway. Its site advertises 180-degree whitewater views from a multi-level patio and lists lunch and dinner seven days a week, except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Mozambique, 1740 South Coast Highway. Its site describes open-air dining on a rooftop veranda with panoramic ocean views, and it takes reservations through OpenTable or by phone.
• The Rooftop Lounge, 1289 South Coast Highway, on the top floor of La Casa del Camino hotel. Its site lists hours from 11 a.m. on weekdays, with last seating an hour before closing.

More choices are on the oceanfront restaurants page.

Where to stay

The stay section lists each hotel’s own site. Start with the oceanfront hotels, the boutique hotels and inns or the resorts, which includes the properties with spas. Rates and availability are on each hotel’s site.

Getting around

The free Coastal Route trolley runs on Coast Highway between North Laguna, downtown and South Laguna. In the non-summer season, which runs to June 25, 2027, it runs until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The parking guide and the getting around guide cover the rest. For a longer plan, see the one day in Laguna page.