Skimboarding in Laguna Beach

Where skimboarding happens

Laguna Beach does not set aside one skimboarding beach. The city’s beach directory tags some beaches with a skimboarding area, names skim boarding as a popular activity at others, and says skimboarding is not allowed at two. Read the beach rules before you carry a board down the stairs, and check the flags when you reach the sand.

Aliso Beach

The city says the popular activities at Aliso Beach are skimboarding and other sand activities. The beach is mostly sand with very strong shorebreak-type surf, which the city calls large and dangerous, with numerous rip currents and heavy shore break waves year round. Two lots, Aliso West and Aliso East, serve the beach, and a tunnel walkway connects it to the lot on the inland side of Coast Highway. The Vic, Victoria Skimboards’ annual contest, is held here; its site is titled “The Vic | Aliso Beach, CA.” The events page has its dates.

Victoria Beach

The city lists skimboarding among the popular activities at Victoria Beach, and places it to the south at Lagunita Beach. Waves tend to break on shore, and the city says rip currents set up in various places along the beach. The rocks at the north end can become unsafe in surf or at high tide, according to the city, and there is no public restroom. Despite the name, Victoria Beach does not host The Vic.

Treasure Island and Crescent Bay

The city marks a skimboarding area at Treasure Island and says skimboarding is allowed at the southern end of the beach. The sand bottom meets very strong shorebreak-type surf, and rip currents form at the north end along the rocks and at the south end. Crescent Bay also carries a skimboarding area, and the city names skim boarding among its popular activities.

Thalia, Oak and Brooks Street

These three beaches sit over rock reef and work as surf beaches too. The city lists skimboarding and surfing areas at Thalia Street and Brooks Street. At Oak Street, it says surfing and skim boarding are the popular activities and calls the beach a surfing-only beach in summer. Brooks Street is also surfing-only in summer. The city asks for extreme caution entering and leaving the water at Brooks, and says the sandy section at Thalia becomes the strongest rip in town in large surf.

Where it is not allowed

The city says skimboarding is not allowed at Shaw’s Cove or Picnic Beach. At Anita Street, the city describes a swimming-only beach during the summer that is not for surfers or skimboarders.

Rules that decide who shares the water

The city’s code on surfing and swimming (chapter 18.20) sets the frame. All water within 200 yards of the shore is a swimming and surfing area. From June 15 to September 15, the named surfing areas are for surfing to the exclusion of swimming. The code names four surfing areas: at Brooks Street, between St. Ann’s Drive and Thalia Street, between Victor Hugo’s Point and Jasmine Street, and at Agate Street. A fifth area allows both surfing and swimming, with an exception for Aliso Beach.

At Aliso Beach, Marine Safety sets a surfing zone from noon to 6 p.m. each day with signs and flags, and the code says the zone can run longer when conditions call for it. If staff post no zone, the code puts it at the south end of the beach from noon to 6 p.m. between June 15 and September 15.

A yellow flag with a black ball goes up at or near an area where surfing is prohibited. The code regulates surfing and names skim-boards in its hazard clause, which bars using a board in a way that endangers another person. The city’s beach pages also say swimmers cannot enter surfing areas because of hazards from skim and surf boards. If you are unsure how a zone applies to a skimboard, ask Marine Safety at (949) 497-0310 before you go in. Violations of the chapter are misdemeanors, and Marine Safety can order people out of the water when conditions turn hazardous.

Other city rules apply on the sand. Beaches north of Aliso Creek close from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., most beaches south of it from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the city allows no alcohol and no fires. The city also warns that not every beach has a lifeguard at all times and that the rocks are dangerous. Most of these beaches lie in the marine protected area, where the city bars taking rocks, shells or marine life. The marine reserves page explains the line.

Camps and Victoria Skimboards

Victoria Skimboards, which says it was founded in Laguna Beach in 1976, lists its address as 2955 Laguna Canyon Road. Its company page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Its 2026 camp page describes a camp that roams from Thalia to Bluebird. Sessions run 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, for ages six and up, with a maximum of five campers per instructor and loaner boards on request. Campers meet at the top of the stairs at Brooks Street Beach. As of October 2026, the page lists $350 for a weekly session and $75 for a drop-in. It posts no session dates, and sign-ups go through the city’s website, so confirm dates with the company.

Getting there

Thalia, Oak and Brooks Street are street-end stairways without beach lots. The surfing page covers meters and neighborhood parking on that stretch. Aliso Beach has its own lots, and the parking guide covers permits and metered lots across town. The Brooks Street Surfing Classic, a surf contest the city administers, has its own page.