New and Different

I'm dropping off my 19 year old this morning at an art class in Laguna Canyon so I thought I'd do something a little different and swim in Laguna Beach. I was going to do this last week too but it was so foggy that I ran through the trails in Laguna Canyon instead which was totally great. Gotta do that again.

No fog today. Like yesterday it is beautiful. The sky is clear and blue as can be. I tried to do some research on the best beaches to swim but settled on the most convenient - Main Beach - just off PCH in “downtown” Laguna.

I've walked on Main Beach several times, but I have never been in the water. In fact, with the exceptions of my Three Arch swims a few weeks ago, I'm not sure if I have ever swam in Laguna. That seems weird having actually been born in Laguna and growing up just a couple towns away. Well let's fix this and start making up for lost time.

I drop my kid off at about 8:45 and it fortuitously turns out that there is plenty of parking just off the beach at this time on a Saturday morning in mid-October.

I get my stuff in order and then I’m about to step onto the shore and realize I have my glasses on. So I return to the car and deposit my glasses and I am in the water at 8:58. I know this because I am wearing a watch today. I need to be somewhat time aware since I am in an unfamiliar place and also need to pick up my kid at noon.

The beach is lovely. I am just south of the lifeguard tower. There is basically no surf. Just some 2 feet shore break. The water looks clean and clear and I can see the sandy bottom just in front of me.

The water feels pretty great. Maybe just a touch warmer than yesterday. Surfline says 66 and I totally didn't believe it but it may be right. No colder than 65 - that’s for sure.

As I sit here in the water and take in the scene around me, I am convinced that I am in for a special treat. It is absolutely lovely here and it is all new and different. It’s a different vibe here than at the Dana Strand. There is stuff going on here. I can see PCH from where I am now and the new Rivian Theater which I remember as an old and dingy Edwards movie cinema from my childhood over 40 years ago. I can see far to the south and the hills above Three Arch Bay and Laguna Niguel. To the north I see Bird Rock and the coves below Las Brisas and Heisler Park.

I swim out to an inshore buoy. This is no lobster buoy or temporary jr. lifeguard buoy. It looks official. It’s probably here year round. I see about three or four of these buoys along my swim.

I have decided to go north today. That seems to be the more interesting route. It will take me by Bird Rock and the kelp forests known for great snorkeling in the area. From what I can tell the south route is likely just off a sandy beach and over nothing particularly noteworthy. I’m sure it’s nice and I hear the part formerly known as Treasure Island and now in front of the Montage is really worth seeing. I’ll do that on another trip. My kid has these classes for the next several weeks so this may be a regular Saturday thing for a while.

I’m totally unfamiliar with this whole stretch and I’m by myself so I’m exercising caution. Things look pretty tame - no surf and the water temperature is not even close to hyperthermic. My plan is to swim north for 40 minutes and then head back. I look north and try to plot a path. I have no idea how deep that all is and I’m guessing it is going to vary. There are several individual rocks standing above the water and some waves breaking onto one of the points. For now I aim for just in shore of Bird Rock.

The ocean floor is smooth sand until I am nearly parallel with Bird Rock. By the way, that’s the larger free standing rock with a bunch of birds on it just on the northern edge of Main Beach. On the way I see some schools of small silver fish swimming near the bottom. Then suddenly I am on top of rocks covered in sea grass and it’s only a few feet deep. It looks like I might be able to stand here but I don’t think I’m going to try because I can’t tell what is under the sea grass. There are several Garibaldi swimming about here.

I approach Bird Rock and not only do I get a good look of it but I am pretty sure I smell it too - pretty pungent stuff. After I pass Bird rock, the bottom becomes more varied. I see some sand here and there and stalks of kelp all over the place. It’s really cool. For a brief period I swim over what seems to be like a granite surface just a couple feet below me and then the floor drops off quite a bit into a kelp forest.

There are waves breaking over the rocks at the point just in front of Las Brisas, which is pretty close to me now so I veer west ward to avoid those and towards the next significant point in the northern distance. After the swim I studied the Google Maps Satellite view and discovered that is the point just north of Shaw’s Cove.

After the point with the breaking waves I swim along the beach just below Heisler Park. For the rest of the swim, the terrain under the water is pretty much the same and pretty darn awesome. It’s not a crystal clear day but it is relatively shallow here (10 to 15 feet deep) and I feel like I can see quite a bit. Lots and lots of kelp and fish. It’s not so thick that I have trouble making my way through but enough to be interesting. It really does feel like I am flying over a forest. There are clusters of several stalks all together and then large spaces that are empty.

I’m seeing mostly all of the same fish I see at the Strand, but I see a couple bass that are a lot larger than I have seen before. I know there is a ton of interesting sea life here. I have seen lots of videos that local divers take at this exact spot where they capture seals and leopard sharks and huge bat rays and other interesting stuff. If the water was more clear and I had time to just linger here I’m sure I’d see lots more cool stuff.

The shore becomes dominated by this huge condo or apartment building. It sits right in between Diver’s Cove and Fisherman’s Cove. It looks like it was built in the 60s or 70s and it is kind of ugly but who am I to judge? I spot another one of those permanent buoys just in shore to me and notice a large group of humans swimming around it. I am super close and head that way to see what they are up to but they are all heading away south by the time I get there.

According to my watch, I have about 8 minutes until I hit my 40 minute mark and so I just swim for that point past Shaw’s Cove. I make it as far as another buoy and I look to be really close to the point. I know that on the other side is Crescent Bay and then Emerald Bay. I’ll have to save those for another Saturday. Maybe I’ll start at Shaw’s and go north. It would be cool if I could get as far as Crystal Cove one day.

I turn around and try to see if I can make out the path that got me here. That’s a little tricky here in the water but there are a few good landmarks here and there. I can see that wavey point and head that direction trying to keep a safe distance from the white water.

Just before the point I see that group of humans again this time swimming right for and then past me. They have snorkels. I hear one person say, “if I am swimming too fast, just squeeze my foot.” Oh is this how other swimmers communicate with one another?

I pass a standup paddle boarder paddling right by me and we exchange hellos and comment on how spectacular it is out here. I am starting to make out Bird Rock and before I know it I can smell it. I stay withing 20 feet of the rock and then over the sea grass rocky plain. I look to shore and see the Laguna Beach Lifeguard headquarters and the public restrooms (which were surprisingly clean).

Suddenly the ocean floor shifts to a sandy bottom and I feel like I am swimming inside of a concrete pool. I see the light of the sun reflecting off of the bottom. I’m getting closer to the shore and am almost in front of the lifeguard tower.

There is a set of waves coming in just before I reach shore. I tread water here and let it pass. It is super small stuff and breaks just in front of the sand. It loses steam and then I stand myself up and walk against the water surging back out to sea until I walk past some kids building a sand castle and then reach the volleyball area. The sun feels so perfect here.

It is so great here because we are past the summer crowds but the weather today is still crowd-worthy. I walk back to my car, grab my pack and then walk back to the showers in front of the restrooms. The showers are so-so. They are clean and not gross. That’s totally good but the water pressure is anti-climactic to say the least. I eek out what I can and then change into dry clothes in the restroom.

I grab a latte and pastry at a bakery and then consume them on the boardwalk here in front of the water. I have another 45 minutes to kill before picking up my kid. I can’t think of a better place to spend it.