Four miles long but less than a half-mile wide, Balboa Peninsula has a white-sand beach on its ocean side and countless stylish homes, including the 1926 landmark Lovell Beach House by noted architect Rudolf Schindler. 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. The two-mile oceanfront strip between them teems with beachgoers; people-watching is great.
Near Newport Pier, several shops rent umbrellas, beach chairs, volleyballs and other necessities. For swimming, families will find a more relaxed atmosphere and calmer waves at 10th St and 18th St, known as Mothers Beach.
At the very tip of Balboa Peninsula, by the West Jetty, the Wedge is a bodysurfing, bodyboarding and knee-boarding spot for experts; newcomers should head a few blocks west. Park on Channel Rd or E Ocean Blvd and walk through West Jetty View Park.
