Beyond the Theme Parks: An Orange County Itinerary for Beaches, Food, and Sunsets

This is a guest post by Maya Ellington, a SoCal wanderer who prefers tide pools and taco stands to theme parks. She explores Orange County one beach, one bite, and one sunset at a time.

When most people hear “Orange County,” they immediately think theme parks and traffic. But I’m here to tell you there’s this whole other side of OC that exists between the highways—miles of gorgeous coastline where each beach has its own vibe, neighborhoods with real personality, and food that’ll completely shift whatever assumptions you walked in with. The secret? Timing everything perfectly so you end up exactly where you need to be when the sun starts painting the Pacific in those unreal colors that make you reach for your camera even though you know the photo won’t do it justice.

Morning: Coffee That Actually Matters

I always say the morning sets your entire day’s rhythm, which is why starting at some random chain, grabbing whatever’s fastest, is a mistake. Kéan Coffee in Newport Beach takes their beans seriously, but they haven’t forgotten that coffee shops should feel welcoming rather than intimidating. Grab a table outside with your drink of choice and just watch the neighborhood wake up. There’s something about Southern California mornings—that particular quality of light before the day heats up—that makes even scrolling through your phone feel somehow more pleasant.

Here’s where having a Newport Beach car service completely changes your day. You’re not doing mental calculations about parking or drink limits or who’s stuck being designated navigator. Someone else takes care of all that while you focus on actually experiencing things rather than managing logistics.

Mid-Morning: Crystal Cove Before the Crowds

Get to Crystal Cove State Park by mid-morning and you’ll see why locals treat this place like their secret even though it’s technically public. The water does this thing where it shifts between turquoise and deep blue depending on the light, and the beach is backed by these dramatic bluffs that make you feel like you’ve driven way further than you actually have.

What to look for here:

Tide pools at low tide – sea anemones, tiny crabs, the occasional starfish clinging to rocks (bring water shoes, trust me)
Historic cottages from the 1930s and 40s that you can actually walk through—it’s like stepping into old California beach culture
Relatively uncrowded shores compared to the more famous Orange County beaches

If you time the tide right, you could easily spend twenty minutes crouched over a single tide pool watching this whole miniature ecosystem do its thing.

Lunch on the Peninsula

By now you’ve definitely worked up an appetite, which works out perfectly because the Balboa Peninsula is where Orange County’s food scene really shows what it can do. Bear Flag Fish Co. is my go-to if you want tacos made with fish that was literally swimming that morning. There’s a reason locals still line up here even with dozens of other options nearby.

Or try Habana if you’re craving Cuban food that tastes like someone’s grandmother is actually back there in the kitchen making everything the way it should be made. The kind of flavors that are assertive enough that you know exactly what you’re eating, but balanced enough that you keep going back for another bite.

After lunch, walk it off by heading to the Balboa Island Ferry. It’s been running since 1919, takes maybe three minutes to cross, and costs less than your morning coffee. Yes, it seems slightly absurd in an age of bridges, but that’s exactly why it’s perfect. Some experiences don’t need to be optimized. 

Afternoon: Pick Your Beach and Just Be There

This is the part where I’m going to encourage you to resist the urge to fill every single moment with an activity. Choose your beach based on your mood and then just exist there for a while:

Corona del Mar State Beach – dramatic rock formations, tide pools, fewer crowds
15th Street Beach in Newport – more energetic scene, perfect for people-watching and surfer-watching

Bring a book you probably won’t actually read. Get in the water even though the Pacific is cold (your body adjusts, I promise). Watch the surfers negotiate waves. This unscheduled time is when trips actually feel meaningful instead of just checking boxes off a list.

And here’s what I love about having transportation sorted—you’re not constantly checking the time, calculating drive times back to your car, or worrying about parking meters expiring. You stay until you’re genuinely ready to move on.

The Main Event: Sunset Strategy

Everything until now has been building toward this. Orange County sunsets are legitimately spectacular, and I’m not just saying that as a California cliché. Something about how the light bounces off the water and filters through the marine layer creates these colors that seem almost artificial—pinks and oranges and purples that make everyone on the beach stop talking and just stare.

Best sunset viewing spots:

The Wedge at Balboa Peninsula – massive waves, bodyboarders doing things that look like certain injury, draws crowds but totally worth it
Little Corona Beach – more intimate setting where the rock formations and tide pools create perfect silhouettes against the fading light

The key is positioning yourself about twenty minutes before actual sunset time because the best light happens in that lead-up and immediate aftermath. Your chauffeur will know the traffic patterns and can get you there at the perfect moment without any rushing. 

Evening: However You Want It

After the sun disappears, your evening can go in any direction. Maybe you’re ready for an upscale dinner at Arc or Maestro’s Ocean Club, where the food matches the ocean views and you can replay the day’s highlights over wine and perfectly prepared seafood. Or keep it casual with rooftop cocktails at The Rooftop Lounge, watching the city lights gradually take over from the sunset.

Since you’re not driving, you can actually sample a few spots if the mood strikes—start with drinks somewhere, move to dinner elsewhere, maybe end with dessert at a completely different location. That spontaneity makes evenings feel less planned and more like they’re unfolding naturally.

One Last Thought

Orange County stretches across a lot of coastline, and the good stuff isn’t all clustered together. I’ve done the rental car thing here, and honestly, the parking situations at popular beaches can eat up half your afternoon. Not to mention constantly checking Google Maps or deciding who’s limiting their wine at lunch.

If you want to skip that part and just focus on the actual experiences, having someone else navigate makes sense. Companies like Modern Elite know the area well enough that you’re not the one figuring out which route avoids the 5pm backup or which beach parking lot fills up by noon.

Orange County beyond the theme parks is really about those small moments—the fish taco that’s actually as good as everyone says, the quirky three-minute ferry that’s been running since 1919, the way everything looks different in that pre-sunset light. It’s all there, you just need to give yourself permission to find it without worrying about the logistics.