This post brought to you by Newport Beach. All opinions are 100% mine.
Summer is approaching so quickly, which means it’s time to start planning for summer vacation. Ever since I was a very small child, Newport Beach, CA has always been a very special place for me and a favorite family vacation spot. I lived in southern California when I was was a little grommet and went to college in Santa Barbara where I met my husband. He grew up here, just blocks from the beach, and this is where we visit each year. It is a little bit of paradise! Whether you’ve been to Newport Beach before or are considering vacationing there for the first time, I highly recommend visiting the Newport Beach website.
You will find just about anything and everything about Newport Beach on the website. It offers city information, detailed maps, shopping information, restaurants, community events, and hotel and flight information and booking even. It’s really a one stop shopping/planning site. My hubs has used it for the daily surf report even! If you aren’t sure what you can do in Newport Beach, then look at the “To Do” tab. It lists attractions, arts & culture, boating & yacht tours, beach & parks, events, camps, TV & film locations, concerts, shopping, and so much more!
Our favorite, must see location is the tide pools. My kids have been exploring the sea life in the tide pools since they were toddlers. It is a magical place to discover and learn. Local wildlife experts are there every day to help teach how to take care of the tide pools and reef and they have a beachside tent set up to teach the kids what to look for in the tide pools. Be sure to ask for a tide calendar for the best low tide times to visit the reef. Newport also offers hundreds of camps for kids ages 3 and up, with activities from surfing to sailing and everything in between!
If you are looking for shopping then Newport Beach is THE PLACE to be! Visit the infamous Fashion Island for hundreds of boutiques and shops set along gorgeous outdoor brick pathways, lined with beautiful fountains and overflowing flower planters. Ladies, trust me, it’s a shopping paradise!
Then after an amazing day of shopping, hit Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and explore Newport’s restaurants for a special date night. If you’re a “foodie” you will love all that Newport has to offer. The picture below is of my hubs and I last summer heading out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Rusty Pelican.
Newport Beach has the freshest of seafood that enters it’s port each day! The restaurants line the harbor, so you sit deck side and watch million dollar yachts come and go. You can even charter a boat for a sunset cruise. It will make for a very memorable anniversary or romantic getaway.
We stay with my in laws when we visit, but a I recommend staying at the Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel. They are running a family special right now: Buy one room at full price and get an adjoining room for kids 18 and under for 1/2 off. For a family my size, that is exactly what we’d need! The Hyatt Regency is a resort style bayside location set on 26 acres, all with 3 pools, whirlpools, ping pong, shuffle board, a 9-hole and par-3 golf course. You can call 1-800-233-1234 and mention the Family Plan to snag the vacation deal.
Here’s a little video that shows more of what Newport Beach has to offer.
Do you see why we love Newport so much? What would you like to do if you could visit Newport Beach?
Kim
(sorry typo)
Aah… fond memories 😉 Spent a lot of Summer days there, and many nights cruising when I got older. SoCal was a great place to grow up in!!
Oh wow Shannon! I didn’t realize you were from there! Ahhh yes, cruisin’ Balboa Island on a Friday night as freshman in college… fun times. 😉
You forgot the crab cooker! YUM! I miss so cal and I love that beach but I don’t miss the walk down that hill lol oh and the terrible parking 🙂
Loved the Crab Cooker! My earliest memories of that place was when I was 3 years old. It was my parents’ favorite seafood dive! I don’t mind the walk now that all the kids are a bit grown and not in strollers!
Kim,
This looks magical! I am an East Coat girl, and I love our beaches, but I have always wanted to get out west and see yours! Now I really wanna go! I am glad you get to go bak each year, and I am sure the kids love it too. Thanks for sharing!
Oh I’m an East Coast girl too! I live in Virginia Beach. My husband grew up his whole life out there and we return to see his family each year. The west coast is beautiful but our water is sooooooo much warmer!! Thanks so much for stopping by! ~ KIM
Love Newport Beach! We have friends who own a home on the waterway where they dock their boat and duffy. So fun to cruise the waterways in the duffy, looking at all of the amazing homes, and docking for dinner at the waterside restaurants!
Now that would make for a very fun evening. I love it at Christmas time, when all the yachts are decked out with Christmas lights. It really is a beautiful place.
SO beautiful! I’ve only been to Santa Barbara once, but once is enough to get hooked. Did you go to Westmont? Or UCSB? (Hope that’s not too nosy a question!) My two older sons both seriously considered going to California to college–hard not to be attracted to such a beautiful place. As it turned out, they both stayed right here in North Carolina (one at Duke, one at UNC-Chapel Hill), which makes things much easier. . . but I was willing to travel to CA for Parents’ Weekends, I can assure you! 🙂
Gorgeous photos. You are one spectacularly lovely woman.
You just made my day (one spectacularly lovely woman)!!! Thank you! Yes I met my hubs my first week of school at Westmont. I really wish I understood and appreciated WHERE I was attending school at the time. Here I was living in the hills of Montecido, and didn’t take full advantage of it all! Crazy, dumb, youth! Westmont was an amazing school. It was ranked 2nd to Wheaton at the time. I’m not sure where it ranks today though. It was challenging for sure but I really loved it. Thank you so much Richella for stopping by!
Now if you were visiting Malibu I’d come say Hi 🙂 I have to say though, Newport Beach is MUCH prettier then Malibu & A LOT more ecletic shops & GREAT restaurants!