Sunday Best: soCal day 3:: the beaches

We ate the best hotel buffet breakfast we've had and then checked out to hit up the beach. Day 3 was a day for the beaches, and we are talking ALL day until we flew home. I'm going to include extra details because I want to remember the pros and cons so when we take our family back there sometime, we'll remember where to go. All 3 of the beaches we went to were geographically close to each other, but they were all so different and were good for different reasons. We're glad we got to experience all of them.

Newport Beach at Balboa

:: Pros- didn't seem super crowded, clean sand, a pier to walk out on, boardwalk to ride bikes, etc, lots of space, shops and restaurants nearby, saw dolphins here, good place for family photos, good sand for sandcastles, bathroom and showers
:: Cons- can't think of any. This was overall our favorite beach of the trip.
:: Parking- large parking lot right on beach, but it's pricey. We parked on Balboa Island and then took the ferry and short walk to the beach. Well worth the adventure of a ferry ride and walking through the charming streets of Balboa.

Little Corona

::Pros- not commercial, bathroom and showers, tide pools with crabs and starfish, large rocks to climb on, beautiful rocky landscape, not crowded
::Cons- rocky, sand not as soft and clean, water not as good for swimming, no shops, small, but 2nd favorite beach of the trip.
::Parking - We randomly selected Poppy Street to turn down off the Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. We couldn't have planned it better. We found a street parking spot (free) and had only about 2 blocks to walk to Little Corona. And parking was close enough to go to Big Corona from there as well.