Your Ex’s Oliver Hall discovers Laguna Beach, Southern California’s boho-chic coastal escape
Leaving the sprawl and spectacle of LAX and then Anaheim behind, the highways slim, the skies clear, and the landscape softens into gorse-covered hills and coastal peaks. We make the journey with Karmel Shuttle, who can take visitors directly to Laguna Beach from the airports, the city or Anaheim, and after days of Disney queues, door-to-door ease feels like its own kind of luxury. Then, suddenly, the Pacific appears and you understand why Laguna has held onto its Beach Boys-esque mythology for so long.
No high-rises. No hard edges. Just boho beach chic, bronzed couples playing volleyball on the sand, boutique stores selling handmade jewellery and summer dresses, and in every nook, galleries tucked between restaurants and palm trees. It is, frankly, what Takapuna and Auckland’s East Coast Bays could be with a stronger commitment to good architecture.
We stay at Casa Loma Beach Hotel (@casalomabeachhotel), a super stylish, design-led boutique hotel that prioritises comfort. It doesn’t try to overwhelm you with resort grandeur. Instead, it seduces you quietly with impeccable interiors full of thoughtful details, sea views from every balcony, and the sound of waves crashing as you lie on your very comfortable bed.
Our room felt bohemian and minimalist, with a subtle Mexican–Aztec warmth to the design: all natural textures, clean lines and coastal ease. The hotel has direct beach access, a pool, and even boasts the impressive Laguna Art Museum (@lagunaartmuseum) as its next-door neighbour.
If Casa Loma is Laguna’s relaxed, stylish side, then Montage Laguna Beach (@montagelaguna) is its grand cinematic close-up. No trip here feels complete without at least visiting The Montage, and lunch at their balcony restaurant, The Loft, is the perfect excuse.
When we arrive, the lobby has been dressed for Christmas with decorations from Christian Louboutin: glossy, glamorous, red-soled luxury translated into festive form. It’s camp, polished and wildly expensive-looking, which is to say, very Laguna.
The Loft itself is all ocean air and quiet wealth. Young servers who look like tennis professionals glide around in crisp polo shirts. It has the effortless romance of fine dining on the Mediterranean coast, reimagined through a Cape Cod lens.
The food is exceptional, with smoky open flames charring fresh fish, but the setting is the star. From the balcony, waves crash beneath you while lunch stretches into the kind of afternoon you wish you could bottle.
With full tummies, we walk it off across Victoria Beach and the little bays between Montage and Casa Loma. Each cove seems to have its own personality, with glittering waves stroking golden sand.
This is where Laguna becomes almost unfairly beautiful. The coastline unfolds in small, perfect reveals: a pocket of beach here, a rocky outcrop there, families paddling, couples sunbathing, children darting between towels and tide. It feels like you could spend days exploring these coves and still not quite be finished.
Passing Laguna’s village centre, we take the town’s pulse by visiting Forest Avenue, with its endless boutique stores and galleries that are dangerously browseable. At one point, we overhear a woman exclaim to her friend, “I just love every store on this street, so let’s go into all of them!”
After a restful glass of wine on the balcony at Casa Loma, we stroll over to see the renowned sunset from Heisler Park, where couples have arrived with picnic blankets, the light turns golden, and the whole park settles into a serene hush.
Dinner at Harvest at The Ranch (@theranchlb) at Laguna Beach shows us another side of town entirely. Set away from the oceanfront glamour, The Ranch feels like California country club meets Texas ranch: rustic and charming, with touches of the Heated Rivalry cabin!
It is one of Laguna’s oldest estates, and much of the produce is grown on the property, which makes sense the moment the food arrives. Everything tastes fresh, abundant and deeply cared for. The service could not have done more for us, and the portion sizes of the sublimely cooked steaks are wonderfully American! We would return in a heartbeat.
The next morning, Rye Goods (@ryegoods) bakery and cafe gives us yet another version of Laguna. Sitting among the boutique stores, it is fabulous: all fresh juice, excellent coffee, baked goods and activewear ambition.
The room is filled with professional young women, post-run, sending emails from their iPhones while sipping something green and virtuous. It immediately reminds me of the old MTV show Laguna Beach — except now the surf-obsessed teenagers have grown up, started thinking seriously about life after college, secured ambitious internships, launched business plans and developed excellent skincare routines.
It inspires us to be virtuous and we head up to Top of the World, Laguna’s aptly named lookout, for a hike to get that post-breakfast glow.
As the shuttle arrives to pick us up, we conclude that Laguna Beach is not a place you simply tick off. It is a place that makes you imagine another version of your life — one with more beach walks, better linen, longer lunches and a suspiciously productive morning juice habit.
Come for the coastline. Stay for the coves, the food, the galleries, the golden light and the feeling that Southern California might, just for a moment, be exactly as beautiful as it promised.
For more information, check out visitlagunabeach.com and @visitlaguna. For transfers, book through karmel.com. For flights, visit United Airlines (united.com).
In a sidebar box: Time Your Visit
Laguna Beach’s creative heart beats loudest at the Sawdust Art Festival (@sawdustartfestival), the town’s iconic outdoor celebration of local art, craft and community. Set beneath the eucalyptus trees in Laguna Canyon, the festival brings together more than 180 Laguna Beach artists, with handmade work, live music, and the kind of sun-dappled, sawdust-underfoot atmosphere that feels completely unique to this town.
In June, Sawdust begins its 60th season. What began as a small creative gathering has become one of Southern California’s defining cultural experiences — and perhaps the clearest expression of Laguna’s bohemian soul.
