Three Arch Cove Beach
Laguna Beach, CA
Three Arch Cove Beach is reached by a steep stairway inside a gated residential community, a real cove beach with tidepools that's genuinely less visited simply because most people don't realize the public access exists through the gate.
A genuinely quiet cove precisely because the gated access confuses most visitors into thinking it's private.
How we score beachesThe public access point is easy to miss since it's inside a gated community, look for the marked pedestrian gate rather than assuming it's private.
A steep stairway through a gated community is the only access.
Leashed dogs are allowed on this Laguna Beach cove before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. from June 15 to September 10, and during longer hours the rest of the year, but off leash dogs are never permitted.
Orange County's water takes until late summer to really warm up, climbing into the low 70s by September.
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