Disneyland & Orange County - Coastal California - page 967

DON'T MISS
BALBOA ISLAND
For a quick pleasure trip across Newport Harbor, the Balboa Island Ferry ( GOOGLE MAP ;
www.balboaislandferry.com ; 410 S Bay Front; adult/child $1/50¢, car incl driver $2; 6:30am-mid-
night Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat) leaves from the Balboa Fun Zone about every 10 minutes. It's
tiny, holding just three cars packed single file between open-air seats for the 800ft, sub-
five-minute trip.
The ferry lands a half mile west of Marine Ave, the main drag on Balboa Island ( MAP
GOOGLE MAP ; www.balboa-island.net ). It's lined with beachy boutique shops, cafes and res-
taurants, and old-fashioned ice-cream shops vending Balboa bars (vanilla ice cream
dipped in chocolate, peanuts, sprinkles and crushed Oreo cookies on a stick).
For close-ups of the island's beautiful, well-maintained homes, take a stroll along its
shoreline. It's only about 1.5 miles around. Then catch the ferry back.
You can also reach Balboa Island by driving south of Pacific Coast Hwy along Jamboree
Rd to Marine Ave. But what fun is that?
Activities
Balboa Peninsula BEACHES
Four miles long but less than a half mile wide, the Balboa Peninsula has a white-sand
beach on its ocean side, great people-watching and countless stylish homes.
Hotels, restaurants and bars cluster around the peninsula's two famous piers: Newport
Pier near the western end and Balboa Pier at the eastern end. Near Newport Pier, several
shops rent umbrellas, beach chairs, volleyballs and other necessities. For swimming, fam-
ilies will find a more relaxed atmosphere and calmer waves at 10th St and 18th St ( Moth-
ers Beach ).
Surfing
Surfers flock to the breaks at the small jetties surrounding the Newport Pier. At the tip of
Balboa Peninsula, by the West Jetty, the Wedge ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) is a bodysurfing,
bodyboarding and knee-boarding spot famous for its perfectly hollow waves that can swell