Balboa Island
Newport Beach, CA
Balboa Island is ringed by a pedestrian bayfront boardwalk rather than facing the open ocean, a genuine walk-the-whole-thing kind of destination with small sandy beaches along the way and shops and restaurants on Marine Avenue in the middle. Parking is very limited, which is part of why most visitors arrive on foot or by the small ferry from the peninsula.
A genuinely distinctive walk-around destination unlike anywhere else on this coast, worth it even without a swim in mind.
How we score beachesTake the small ferry over from the Balboa Peninsula side instead of trying to find parking on the island itself, it's part of the experience anyway.
Very limited on-street parking on the island itself.
Leashed dogs are allowed on the bay-front sand only before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. under Newport Beach's citywide dog curfew.
Sheltered bay water stays calmer than the open ocean year round.
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