What a great example of a quintessential Southern California coastal town! The food, the shopping,…read morethe VIBES. All a part of what makes this city a must stop on your California road trip itinerary. I'm sure its plenty busy during "high" season, which I will take to be early Spring through late Fall, but I don't think you can go wrong visiting during "quieter" months. Aside from a reduced trolley car schedule, there isn't a deterrent to checking out the many shops and restaurants available year round. Weather is seldom a concern, since most days are beautiful, sunny and range mid 70s to mid 80s. If you want to keep it really adventuresome, arrive via the Metrolink train, jump off at the San Clemente station, wait for the RED PCH Trolley for a free ride all the way up to the Outlet mall, with some great, familiar, shops. Then, If you'd like more of the flavor of the "old town", jump back on the Red trolley and head to stop #14, El Camino Real / Ave. Del Mar to try one of the many restaurants, tasting rooms and, yes, even more shopping, in boutiques along the main streets. At night the trees are lined with thousands of little lights to give the city a magical, dreamy look. You can continue walking back down the hill towards the pier to watch the final bit of sun dip into the Pacific before catching your Metrolink to your next destination. Or stay awhile and enjoy a few days in the great city of San Clemente. Cheers! "CC"

Our group (75 to 100) of us have been going annually to the Califia State beach in San Clemente for…read moreover 20-years. It is our understanding that the beach is operated by the city of San Clemente as per its lease agreement with the state. After COVID they closed the snack bar, where a lot of the area was in need of major repairs. The stairs leading to the restrooms were crumbling, the snackbar eating area was breaking apart and the showers were not operating properly. Not to mention the restrooms were . The septic smell at times was overwhelming. It is now been 6-years and nothing has been down, no clean up or repairs. The area is totally disgusting. Check out the photos. A question to the current city council, would you take your family there in the condition it's in? The sad thing is they have handicap parking up top near the entrance. However, there is NO accessibility for handicap people to enter the beach area, such as a ramp just worn out stairs. I have even seen people being picking up in their wheelchair in order for them to get down onto the beach. How sad is that? The city council needs to address these issues if they want people to visit their city beaches.

This is a shout out to Daritza Mendoza with the City of San Clemente Building Department. She is…read moreextraordinary and demonstrates such amazing customer service, great listening skills, quick ability to assess the issues and find solutions, and outstanding same day followup like I have never experienced in my 28 years of working with various departments within the City of San Clemente. Kudos, Daritza! I very much appreciate your can-do attitude and warm personality!

Katy Crockett took care of us today at the counter. We had a set back issue with the Patio cover…read morewe were proposing. Ms. Crocket worked with us going over any code that might help our cause. At the end of it all we were unable to get past the building codes, but I have to remark on her persistence. She genuinely cared about our project and wanted to do everything she could to help. I work with a lot of Planning departments and I cannot remember someone so professional with that good energy taking care of me at the counter. I appreciate you Katie. Thank you for your kind service.

Thank you San Clemente Police for your hard work. I called for questions last night with reporting…read morea Hit and Run, one of your dispatchers gave clear instructions of how to proceed. I am appreciative of your kindness...

It's very difficult to get through the non-emergency labyrinth to report anything. Dispatch is very…read morecourteous, however, not effective. "There's nothing we can do" should become their slogan.

First time here! The people were very nice and friendly, and they helped me out, which was super…read morehelpful of them. I had such an amazing experience today.

I was honestly very surprised by how smooth and easy my experience was at the Social Security…read moreoffice. They only allowed people with appointments inside, and if you didn't have one, they simply had you take a photo of their phone number to schedule an appointment. We arrived at 8:50 a.m., received our ticket at 8:54 a.m., were called to the window by 8:58 a.m., and were completely finished by 9:15 a.m. The appointment felt a little rushed only because the representative had another appointment right at 9:15, but everything we needed was still taken care of. I went in expecting to lose my entire day and wait for hours, but it turned out to be a really efficient and positive experience.

I was working with Max at FAM and I have never been treated so rudely. I told him time and time…read moreagain that I am unable to work due to my medical issues. Everytime we spoke I would have to remind him of this. He does not answer my phone calls and only communicates through cryptic emails. Today he attempted to get me to show up at a job fair. I don't have a car, I am unable to walk large distances and again, unable to work. When I told Max this though email, he berated my motivation to help myself and cancelled my file. I hope someone above him gets in touch with me because max has been impossible to work with and very very rude.

They help people on needs always friendly and helpful and respectful I love them thank you for…read morealways helping people on needs I appreciate it a lot

Most of the time it's quick and easy on the weekends. Even when it's active, there are minor delays.read more

I visit frequently to San Clemente, driving from Escondido. On our way to South San Diego with my…read morefriends, we stumbled upon this curious check point. Our commute has stopped abruptly, as we faced on some traffic passing. A good 15 minutes went by, until we reached the end of the blockage. Was it an accident? Is it rush hour? It's a plane, it's a squirrel!! Nope. Just a very empty checkpoint with hardly anyone in sight. I was pretty bummed out that this was the result to such heavy detours, but happy to pass it. I hear that it varies, but most times it is nothing out of the normal. This checkpoint reminds me of the "Designed to keep pests out," Yermo station to be replaced agriculture checkpoints in California! Coming from Denver, CO, I'm not used to seeing these checkpoints. It's interesting seeing that from California.

Business hours posted on the door are not accurate. Says they close at 4; I stopped in at 3:40 and…read moreit was already closed. On a previous visit the staff appeared to be a mom and her kids. A young girl was sitting behind the front desk, twirling in her chair. I could hear the mom on what sounded like a personal call in the background and saw other little ones running around. I grabbed some brochures and just left, unnoticed. Strange.

The San Clemente Chamber of Commerce has ALWAYS been there for my realty broker wife, Debbie…read moreFerrari of Coastal Castles Realty. They orchestrated an awesome ribbon cutting ceremony for us with many state, county, and city dignitaries present. Weeks later, they supported us in our huge grand opening, all free because we are Chamber members. The two women, Norma and Arlan, are ALWAYS there for us and Lynn Wood leads the Chamber. Their website is a masterpiece of services and support tools for us and all the other Chamber members.

Unacceptable Bias and Lack of Action After Hit-and-Run…read more This morning in San Clemente, while my car was legally parked on Santa Barbara, it was hit by a white family driving a truck with Arizona plates. I have clear photo evidence showing them damaging my bumper, yet when I reported the incident, the response I received from police services was dismissive and completely unprofessional. The responding officer didn't take my concerns seriously. She allowed the other party to leave without gathering their information, despite the evidence I provided. As someone with brown skin, I couldn't ignore how differently I was treated. I'm convinced that if I were a white man from San Clemente, the response would have been swift and thorough. Sadly, I'm not even surprised--it's San Clemente. I work for the government and expect to be treated with the same respect and dignity as any other citizen. What I experienced was a clear example of racial bias, and I will not stay silent. Everyone deserves equal protection under the law, regardless of skin color. typical San Cemente police services ,WHY AM I NOT SUPRISED !

Even though you don't think of a community service as a site for a review, this place definitely…read moredeserves a bad review. It's my first time planning an award ceremony for work. The venue we rented out was the San Juan Capistrano Community Center. The customer service is horrible. They act all nice but when you actually ask for something, they throw out the passive aggressive act. EX: I asked for a round table for the buffet area. My contact said "no problem". I talk to the tech guy/supervisor (no idea who he is) and he said "we don't do that but OK, we'll make an exception" and he looked exasperated. I told him I told someone two days ago so it was definitely not last minute. EX: The sound system has been purchased two years ago and they still don't have a cable from the laptop or projector program to their own sound system. I ask him what it's called and the tech guy repeatedly said "I don't know". Sigh. EX. The lady in charge of the night shift kept saying "you have to stay the whole time. If the rental company stays longer than 10pm (they got there at 9:40) we'll have to overcharge you" She just made it a point to let us know she might overcharge us. ARGH! Everything else was fine but THEY made the whole experience tense.

Went to an NCL meeting here a few days ago. The location is pretty, very shaded building and…read moreparking lot with pretty trees and lots of places to sit outside. It neighbors a community soccer field, but even filled, plenty of room to park. Inside it is very clean, layout of a library with meeting and banquet rooms. Cool place, never been before this. Hope to have to come back for something, sometime. Pretty location, clean. Didn't meet any staff but the NCL ladies of Capistrano Coast were awesome.