Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Laguna Beach and Orange County

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Huntington Dog Beach

Open every day, all year, from 5am to 10pm, along Pacific Coast Highway between Seapoint and Goldenwest Streets. Dogs stay on a lead in the car parks, on the bluff and until they reach the sand, and the sand itself is lead optional. There's no fencing and the beach runs beside the highway, so only let a dog off if the recall is solid. The two metered car parks cost USD 2 an hour and take cards only.

Dog Beach rules

Pick up straight away. No puppies under four months, no females in heat and no aggressive or sick dogs. Your dog needs a collar with current tags, and vaccinations and licence up to date.

Laguna Beach city beaches

The hours published locally are before 9am and after 6pm only from 15 June to 10 September, and 9am to 9pm from 11 September to 14 June, on a lead of six feet or shorter at all times. That comes from the town's visitor information, not from the city's own ordinance, so check the City of Laguna Beach rule before you plan a beach day around it.

Newport Beach

The city doesn't allow dogs on the beach or on any beachfront sidewalk between 10am and 4:30pm, all year round. Outside those hours dogs are allowed on a lead of no more than six feet. Off-lead dogs aren't allowed in any public space in the city, parks and beaches included.

Crystal Cove State Park

Dogs are allowed on paved areas only. They aren't allowed on the beach, in the backcountry or in the Deer Canyon, Lower Moro and Upper Moro campgrounds. Service animals are the exception.

Weight limits

No limit at Paséa or Kimpton Shorebreak. 35 lbs (about 15.9 kg) per dog at Avenue of the Arts and under 30 lbs (about 13.6 kg) at Hotel Joaquin.

Two dogs

Avenue of the Arts takes two per room on one fee. Kimpton Shorebreak sets no limit on the number of pets. Hotel Joaquin takes one dog per room. Paséa doesn't publish a number, so ask when you book.

Catalina by ferry

Catalina Express carries pets with a paid pet ticket and a signed waiver for each departure, one animal per passenger. Every animal must be on a lead and in a full-face, commercially made muzzle or an airline-style carrier, in the boarding line and for the whole crossing. Animals stay on deck beside you, off the seats, and aren't allowed in the Commodore Lounge. Boats leave from Dana Point, Long Beach and San Pedro. We have no Catalina hotel listed yet.

Best walks

Huntington Dog Beach, on Pacific Coast Highway between Seapoint and Goldenwest Streets, is the one place on this coast where a dog can be off the lead on the sand and in the surf. Paw-Séa, the private dog park at Paséa, covers the quick outings if you're staying there, and the lake walk at Avenue of the Arts in Costa Mesa does the same job inland. In Laguna Beach and Newport Beach the sand is a walk on a six-foot lead within the permitted hours. At Crystal Cove State Park you're on the paved areas only.

When to go

Huntington Dog Beach is open every day of the year, so there's no bad month for the off-lead end of the county. Laguna is the one that changes. From 15 June to 10 September the published hours keep dogs off the city beaches between 9am and 6pm, and from 11 September to 14 June they run from 9am to 9pm, so mid-September onwards gives you the middle of the day back. Newport Beach's 10am to 4:30pm rule applies all year, which makes it an early morning or evening beach whenever you go.