First-time visitor to this harbor…read more The harbor was beautiful, clean, and relaxing The walking and biking trails were well maintained, and the grassy areas were perfect for sunbathing and picnics. Free parking is available throughout the harbor, and clean restrooms are available as well

One of my favorite places to stroll. They are revitalizing dining and shopping here but I'm…read morereviewing just strolls on the harbor. I recommend this to everyone. Walk along the harbor, look at the boats, and spot birds and sea lions. You'll see them lounging on the dock or boats and hear them barking every night. Be sure to walk down to the bridge and cross over. There are nice, grass areas with benches, picnic tables, etc. It's a beautiful view. Enjoy the beauty! There is a ton of free parking, clean public bathrooms, and the beautiful coastline. Then add in the dining, shopping, whale watching tours, paddle boarding, canoeing, sailing, and wading at Baby Beach.... This is a wonderful place to visit.

Beautiful weather, nearby beach access at "Baby Beach" and a great walk score around the perimeter…read more We like that it's accessible via bike from our home. We have had a boat slip in the West Marina now for 4 years and the rates have continued to go up without the harbor looking/feeling improved. The restaurants are super dated and the shopping is touristy. Also the old sea dogs that still live in the harbor on their boats have zero incentive to live among regular people in homes because of the current housing market. So unfortunately many creepy old men who live in solitude tend to perv on families and make everyone uncomfortable. The parking lot at the harbor has had multiple car break ins this spring/summer season while people are at the beach. Dana Point has tons of homeless (as do neighboring beach cities) and the harbor is no exception. The harbor is undergoing a huge facelift and renovation but this post is as of June 2022 for current reference.

Great place for leisure time. The 4th of July weekend is very busy so arrive early for the…read morefireworks!

If you have some place else to launch your boat, DO IT! Skip this place and the rude employee! Had…read morea run in with a rude lady named Connie who advised me I could "take my business elsewhere" after I simply asked why the price of launching was going up. $18 to launch here. Ridiculous and not worth the hassle.

I am extremely disappointed with the gate experience at this location. I came specifically to the…read moreretail shop at Pure Watersports to make a payment and pick up some items. When I used the "press for assistance" button at the pay station, I spoke with a female employee with a heavy accent who was incredibly aggressive and combative. Despite explaining that I was only visiting the retail shop for a brief moment to support a small business on the property, she rudely insisted that I had to pay the $18 parking fee just to access the shop. Her hostile behavior was completely unnecessary and reflects poorly on the businesses located here. Because she refused to let me through, I was forced to park in the structure at the end of the block. This was a major inconvenience, as I then had to carry bulky retail items all the way back to the structure. I hope the management addresses this specific individual's behavior; $18 is a lot to ask of a customer who is just trying to stop in for a quick retail transaction.

Mariners was outstanding - I used them to sell my boat and to represent me buying my new boat…read moreacross the country. I almost didn't use a broker, but I am so glad that I did. Jans was absolutely great and represented me so well as things got complicated on both deals. He is a man of action and connected me with mechanics, surveyor, transporters, technicians and everything else. He was responsive, honest and I would not hesitate to use Jans, Dave & Mariners again.

I wanted to add my voice to the praise for Mariners and for agent Steve Hughson in particular. I…read morerecently completed the purchase of a beautiful boat in less than a month between my first viewing and closing the deal. Besides being knowledgeable and a genuinely nice guy, Steve was extremely responsive to my wish to have the boat by the upcoming 4th of July holiday. The deal was completely transparent and went without a hitch, and Steve even offered to accompany me out on the water after the sale to help me get familiarized with the new vessel. I'm really grateful for the attention they gave to my deal and I can't say enough positive things about this great company.

Aaron made our boat rental experience a breeze! He was very thorough in walking us through all the…read morefeatures of the boat and its controls, as well as all the safety equipment on board. The boat is fully equipped with state of the art navigation and fish finding equipment, and Aaron familiarized us with the harbor, bait shop, and fueling station. Highly recommended! We've already booked our next trip!!

Boats... clean and new and ready to fish. Aaron was super helpful. It really was a flawless…read moreexperience. BTW huge bait tank....lots of flow. Kevin Tustin

My friends and I were in the area a few weeks ago, and thought it it'd be fun to go kayaking at…read moreDana Point harbor. We found this spot on Yelp that does kayak and SUP rentals. You'll find them under a canopy by their launch area. The staff were friendly, and we were able to get same day rentals. We came on a Saturday morning around 10:30am, and it was a breeze. I do appreciate that they care about your safety. I originally wanted to try SUP, but the team recommended kayaking since the winds were really strong for first time SUP. Prices here were pretty good. We did a 1-hr rental each. There are bathrooms right in front of the rental area, and they have storage bags for you to store clothes, keys, etc. Kayaks were good quality, and life jackets felt secure.

Dana Point Harbor is always my favorite Paddle Boarding spot. I've been coming here for years…read more Peaceful, quiet and just straight up zen. Easy on and off of the board. Right at baby beach, in case you fall off returning the board (like me) you can just walk straight to shore

Small location but very close to Dana Point harbor where my boat is locked. When they have what I'm…read morelooking for it's very convenient. Stock and selection is limited by the Small store size. Prices are typical for west marine which is to say somewhat higher than average, but worth it for the convenience factor. I'll be back.

Always have a great experience here. Today was an exception. Very rude employee named Jeff. The…read morestore can reach out if they'd like details. I'd like to know if it was my business.

Absolutely amazing on how they upgraded all the surrounding areas…read more Lots of new parking with a new multilevel parking structure and new bathrooms and showers for the boaters that have a permit for boat parking to launch their Crafts from Dana Point harbor. Automatically given 4 hours of free parking with quick access to any of the numerous restaurants and gift shops right on the water. This is the spot if you want to go offshore fishing on a charter or whale watching which I did on a couple hour tour it was outstanding. Not to mention all the whales dolphins and other mammals that were seen offshore. Tuesdays they still do half off. If you have not been give it a try it's so much better now with the easy access and plenty of free 4 hour parking. Don't overlook the stunning safe day beaches without the big Surf issues

We went on a family trip together for this Independence Day weekend. My dad suffered a stroke in…read moremid-December last year, and luckily he has recovered quite a bit since then. However, since he still can't travel too far, we decided to visit somewhere close by. So, we booked a hotel in Dana Point and had a wonderful two-night trip. On Saturday, July 4th, we all booked tickets for a whale/dolphin-watching cruise. When I booked the tickets, I asked how long the tour would be, and they said it would be two hours. The ticket prices were $78 for adults and $68 for seniors. At first, my brother accidentally bought all five tickets at the adult rate when three of them should have been seniors. I noticed this on the receipt, so I managed to get a refund for the price difference for the three senior tickets. We bought five tickets for the 12:00 PM cruise and were told to wait at Dock 6 starting from 11:45 AM, but the boat arrived a bit late. Once we got on board, the wind was blowing incredibly hard, and the waves were quite high, causing the boat to rock violently. After boarding, a friendly female crew member gave us a briefing at the front. She kindly advised everyone on board not to run, and said that if anyone felt seasick, it would be better to stay towards the back of the boat rather than the front. She also mentioned that if the motion sickness got too bad, they could provide peppermint or ginger candies, and added that there was a bar and snack counter inside the boat. Come to think of it, I once went sailing on a yacht with my friends a long time ago. For the first 30 minutes, I was clapping, taking photos, and having a great time, but then I got so severely seasick that I had a truly miserable time (the same thing happened to me on a cruise trip before). Still, when I rode a boat at Lake Arrowhead last year, I didn't experience any seasickness at all, so I thought I would be fine this time too--though looking back, that was probably because the lake was so calm. But during this cruise on July 4th, I ended up getting so incredibly seasick that I felt like I was dying. About 10 minutes before we docked, the seasickness got so severe that I even started dry-heaving, and it was just awful. I was dizzy, and my stomach kept churning. Even so, it was really wonderful to see so many dolphins during the cruise, and the crew members were all so kind. When I was struggling with severe seasickness, my brother went to inform the crew. A crew member came over and asked if I wanted a peppermint, ginger, or ginger ale candy. I asked for a peppermint candy, and they handed it to me, saying it was free. When I asked, "Does it work?" she assured me it would. I sucked on the candy while sitting at the back of the boat and fell asleep, but later on, the seasickness became so overwhelmingly intense that I ended up throwing up everything and had a horrible time. Anyone who gets easily seasick should definitely take this into consideration before going on a cruise. Still, seeing so many dolphins was a huge highlight.

I've never written a review but this one got me. My boat was…read morein for regular outboard motor service and I asked them to check an inoperative fresh water pump. Jason called and said the pump was bad and needed replacement. We talked about 700$ to replace the pump. Not great but I said ok. When I got the bill the cost of replacement ended up being 1040$, almost 500$ was for diagnosis. 2 1/2 hours to find the problem. I'm pretty sure I could have put power to the pump and found the problem in 30 minutes. The part that got me is not only did Jason not offer to reduce the bill but when I asked why he didn't call me to ok the additional cost to replace it he said "If an extra 200 to 300$ is going to bother you maybe you shouldn't be in boating". That got me. Pretty condescending.

My review has to do with a business interaction with Mr. Morris, the owner of the Dana Point…read moreShipyard. He provoked a confrontation and was out of control and irrational. He is a bully that does not care how he negatively affects others with his rude, condescending and disrespectful behavior! Mr. Morris has no business dealing with the public and I will never return as long as he works at the Dana Point Shipyard. Mr. Morris will probably respond and lie about this, but I know the truth. My Yelp review is not Fake, and I noticed that when the Dana Point Shipyard receives negative reviews you dismiss them as Fake reviews. I have no intention of contacting you again based on the way you treated me! The number of negative reviews the business receives says it all.