Beautiful place went for a tall ships festival. Took a cool school bus to our location for free. It was a great time but, they had the time schedule all messed up. Clean park area great things for the kids some food vendor selectiions a good time. But, I got bored after an hour of climbing those rocks to see the boats sail. Took amazing pictures which was lots of fun with the ships behind me. Classy people showed for this event too many dogs though it was almost a dog park..not so nice sorry read more

One of my favorite places. I take a walk here practically every day. I will never get bored and get tired of the area.

Beautiful harbor! It was great seeing the people fishing, we took a whale watching tour, and had a great time. Thanks!!!

Been coming here for 30 years, but mostly Capo. Doheni is a crap hole beach. The harbor is nice but crowded and jam packed with eastern tourists from June to August. Fall through winter it's pleasant but still OC yuppyish. read more

was determined to find the water cave what a mission it was. the hike took around thirty minutes had to walk awkwardly past a wedding but made it was more than worth the walk. read more

Dana Point Harbor - camera flare but still priceless - Marinas Near Me - Dana Point, California

Love this place! Great spot to walk your dog. Have been here many times and it was always a good experience, the last time though, to my surprise, there were these people, who looked like Chinese tourists smoking on the benches on the cliff by the tide pools next to the Ocean Institute. There are no signs against smoking and while people around gave them unpleased looks, there is not too much you can do as there are no signs and nobody to stop them around. It looks like it is usually visitors or immigrants who do not know smoking is not allowed in public parks and beaches in California and as there are no signs to state that, they do not seem to believe they are doing anything wrong. I usually enjoy spending a half an hour on the benches relaxing in the breeze and enjoying the beautiful view, it was quite stressing this time as I had to inhale their smoke. An old Chinese lady who was taking pictures with a professional camera, told them something in Chinese, but they were not really impressed. She moved away moving her head disapprovingly, but they continue to smoke, one of them turned the cigarette inside his palm like hiding it. read more

We were staying at the Blue Lantern Inn at the top of the cliff, and the harbor was our view below. It was gorgeous! Located right next to Doheny state beach/park, Dana point harbor is a small but very pretty and well kept harbor with a small pier and rocks to prevent the waves from reaching the boats on the coast. There were places to rent bikes and boards for those who wanted to participate in non motorized water sports, places to BBQ, have a picnic, ample parking, and even a museum. It was surprisingly not very crowded for a warm Saturday, which originally led us to believe it was a private beach, but when we drove down from our hotel we realized it was free and open to the public. Didn't really see any place to grab a bite, but there were plenty of restaurants along PCH where one could enjoy lunch before hitting the water. Although because the water is very rocky one side and very small and calm on the other, I think the most one can to is paddle around in the water on their boogie board. I believe its a great little place for kids and families, and again, very pretty! read more

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Nice calm little harbor.. Very nice gate person who monitors the gated entrance for the boat dock parking.. Beautiful area with a lot of great restaurants. Very fun harbor to take the boat out on not as hectic as other harbors. Don't forget get to say Hi to the harbor seals. read more

I love the harbor. It is such a nice place to walk around, people watch or just chill out. I have fond memories of coming here as a kid with my grandparents and cousins. We used to get bubble gum ice cream from the ice cream shoppe and whoever got the most gum balls won. We would climb around on the rocks and look at the crabs and other creatures. I still love to go down there and walk around great atmosphere. read more

For dog walking places five stars. For parking on a weekend not so good. The harbor with all the boats, paddle boards and kayaks reminds me of good times back in the good old days in so cal when there was nothing to worry about. 50s-70s eta read more

Always a great spot for a workout, wide sidewalks and flat course along the water with plenty of nice spots to relax and refuel after you real a sweat read more

Great for walks. Some decent places to eat, but not enough shops.

Had a blast with my family when we went to go see Illuminocean. I'm a fan of holiday lights and was excited upon arriving. The music, the ocean and animal sounds, and beautiful displays were all worth it. I went again with my boyfriend, and i enjoyed it just as much. read more

The light show is incredible and is bringing out a lot of people and I feel they should do this every year because it was so much fun with the music and all the lights read more

Just went out sailing again, becoming a usual routine for me. Great location for spotting dolphins & whales! We happened upon a large group of birds-thousands-at the surface and magically many dolphins and two gray whales appeared. The two gray whales surfaced about 50-80 feet from our sailboat, Seasters. The dolphins were literally everywhere, surrounding Seasters and swimming with their baby dolphins right next to Seasters...incredible is the best word I can come up with...after viewing the action we had from about 1-2 miles away, both Dolphin Safari and I believe the Dana Pride whale watching boats headed our way. It did take a while to find all this, but worth the effort! read more

Enjoyed nice walk viewing the holiday lights and displays using the free 3D glasses. Tasty chocalate treats fron the chocolate shop and saw lots of interesting things for a future visit as it was late when we went there after dinner at the Chart House. Treacherous walk down the road from Chart House! read more

This area is a nice place to come to especially when its a nice sunny day. The harbor is beautiful and has some really nice boats parked out. Definitely worth taking a look at. read more

Dana Point Harbor and Marina is a hidden secret, with easy breezy access from the 5 freeway. Never crowded, lots of restaurants.

I spend every day at the harbor. It's a great place to exercise and ride bikes and walk your Dogs. Friendly people everyday. The restaurants are awesome too 5 star allll the way read more

My cousin had his wedding reception here and it was BEAUTIFUL. There are large double doors that slide open so it was an indoor/outdoor event. Spacious (our irish family and her greek family made it a large wedding) enough for all of us, and great service. The scenery was also just so great. I wish I lived in CA so I could go again!! read more

Omg amazing freaking view from the ocean institute. The rocks were amazing and the ocean was so cool. The waves omg!! And the wind was amazing as well. It felt very nice. read more

I'm surprised at all the rave reviews! Never cared much for Dana Point Harbor. The worst parking possible, nothing special stores, average scenery, okay restaurants. Just okay in general. I prefer San Clemente and Laguna Beach. read more

Beautiful beach, wonderful people, great food. I take a walk there at least once a week! a place you must go!!!!!! read more

This place is awesome. Best jet skis for the best price!!! They have brand new, fast jet skis. Very nice kayaks and paddle boards as well. If your looking for a place look no further cause this spot is where it is at!!!!!! Note to all, ask for michelle cause she knows how to make things happen. read more

Come one come all! Beautiful, lots of reasonable parking, good to wallet. Much better than Laguna Beach

Came here to explore the infamous sea cave. Per a detailed blog I read we came very early to catch low tide and simply entered near the green gate next to the Ocean institute and followed the rocky path all the way to the cave. It took us about 75 to get there and back. It isn't far but you can only go so fast as you transverse all those slippery rocks. The only bummer were all the bugs :( Just know that you will hit swarms of them around the kelp and just close your mouth and I recommend sunglasses. Other than the yucky bugs it really is a quick and neat adventure. Also, just for safety reasons do not attempt this if the water seems a bit to high in the rocks, truly follow the tide chart (many online) and adhere to it because it can get dangerous if you do not time it properly. Also, I recommend bringing some water. We started at 6am and it was a lovely way to start our Saturday. One of the many perqs of living in Orange County. read more

Beautiful harbor. Not as touristy like Newport Beach. I went super early on Monday, as i didn't know how the parking situation was. Since i got there so early, the lot was abundant with available spots. I asked one of the local gentleman there who walks regularly with his friends if it would get crowded in the late afternoon/evening but he said no. The lot doesn't seem that big, considering there are a few restaurants/eateries there, stores, whale watching outfitter. But, maybe they don't draw that many tourists, which is nice, since i don't like it too crowded. read more

We have gone on the rock and roll cruise which is Saturday nights in the summer. $15 and you cruise around the harbor for 1 1/2 hours on the dana pride with a live band. South OC is pretty weak in fun things to do on the weekends, but this is great , try it. read more

been coming here since I was a baby... i love grabbing a coffee at coffee importers and walking my dogs around the harbor to eating and enjoying all the amazing restaurants located there. read more

This is a great place for the whole family. We go here a few times a month and it is always beautiful. I enjoy the shops and the views. The beach is perfect for my toddler. Soft sand and plenty of black rocks to collect. My daughter loves this beach. I run around the marina and it is quite serene. Great place to take photos, relax, exercise or attend a festival...they have lots of these! read more

These guys do a great job. Easy to sail in and out; really beautiful setting and clean facilities. Minor complaint about preponderance and placement of crab pots. It would be good to have longer/wider off limits areas to avoid buoy entanglements. read more

I use the state parks frequently when I surf or I'm driving up north with my friends. I've noticed in the last year, Doheny Beach park started shutting down the showers making it a hassle for the surfers to shower after surfing. The water there is known to have a high bacteria content and trying to find a working shower makes it hard. It's a great place for long board surfing and is relatively clean but lacks SHOWERS! read more

Always a great place to take out the jet skis with my family! convenient and easy to launch boats

I didnt want to give any Stars but yelp wouldn't let me post with out giving a star! So I selected one star but they don't even deserve that!!! Our Whale Watching experience was horrible, I couldn't wait to get off that boat, when I called they said that we would be going out on the Dana Pride and because they didn't sale enough tickets they sent us out on the SUM FUN fishing boat!! There was 4 seats in the galley to sit for all the people they had on that fishing boat!! The boat was so small no matter where you stood you got wet!! We were soaked by the time we got off that boat!! It ruined our evening!! So if you want a horrible ride and ruin your day, go with Dana Wharf /SUM FUN!! We didn't see any Whales only Dolphins and they told us that the Dolphins were baby Whales! This was my 4th time going Whale Watching and when we went on the Dana Pride and didn't see any Whales they gave us a voucher so we could come back for free! These people gave us a 50% discount to come back!! I won't be back!!! read more