Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach is in Orange County in Southern California. Once known as Pacific City, it started as the southern terminus of the Golden West railroad line.

Understand
Huntington Beach is world-famous as "Surf City", from the 1960s Jan and Dean surf rock song of the same name, and much of surfing culture started and continues to evolve there, from surfing styles to surfing apparel companies that started there. Huntington Beach is also mentioned by name in the Beach Boys song "Surfin' Safari", where "at Huntington and Malibu they're shooting the pier".

The year-round temperature averages, and good weather can be had every month, though the months of January to March can be rainy.

By air
As with most of Orange County, Huntington Beach is served by John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, which is 11 mi/17.5km to the northeast. SNA is served by many major carriers for flights from all regions of the U.S. and from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento in northern California.

Long Beach Airport is also within close distance (17mi/27km to the west) but is dominated by JetBlue Airways, which serves 14 destinations from Long Beach: Oakland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Chicago (O'Hare), Boston, New York (JFK), Washington (Dulles), Fort Lauderdale, Austin, Portland, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle. American (Phoenix), Delta (Salt Lake City) and Southwest(Denver & Oakland) also serve Long Beach too.

Los Angeles International Airport is the largest airport in the area with connections from more destinations in the U.S. and internationally. It is away.

By car
Huntington Beach is located at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway, just under 14 miles directly south of Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. Interstate 405, which links John Wayne, Long Beach, and Los Angeles International Airports, intersects Beach Boulevard about 6 miles north of Huntington Beach.

Parking: The best place to park is the city parking located right at the beach. The entrance is just north of Highway 1 (the PCH) and the main street. You will conveniently be able to unload watercoolers, surf boards and the kids all safely without having to cross streets. It saves on lifting and lugging as well. You can wash off and change clothes right next to the parking at the water showers and washrooms. Washrooms are adequate but small. They also get wet and sandy during the day.

If you're on a budget, you can usually find some parking in nearby neighborhoods. But watch for street signs that may indicate parking is only allowed at certain times or days. This may require a little more walking if you're headed to the beach, but it's not too much.

By train
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink's Orange County Line serve Santa Ana, Tustin, Buena Park, and Irvine.

Get around
OCTA Route 1* North and South runs along the Pacific Coast Highway, servicing all of Orange County's beaches. Routes 33 and 35 South directly run into Huntington State Beach. Routes 21** South, 70* West and 72 West end at Sunset Beach. Routes 25 South, 29 South, 172 West and 173** South all serve Huntington's downtown and its beach.
 * *For route 1 North make sure that the banner reads Cal State Long Beach and not Newport Transportation Center. For route 70 make sure it reads Sunset Beach and not Goldenwest Transportation Center.
 * **No service on weekends.

Do


Peak season is from late May to early September. The beaches on any given summer day may have as many as 500,000 visitors when it is particularly hot inland.

Sleep
There are accommodations from beach campgrounds to five-star resorts along the Pacific. The beach campgrounds are open year round and usually full.



Stay safe
Crime is very low for such a large city, and violent crime is very rare. However, the city has long had a reputation for skinheads and white supremacist activities. Like some other parts of Orange County, Huntington Beach sometimes sees confrontations between reactionaries and people of color. If you are drinking, you should be far more concerned with local police than civilians. If you are drinking, call a cab because DUIs are illegal.

Go next

 * Travel north on Beach Boulevard and you will reach Buena Park, the home of Knott's Berry Farm.
 * North on Beach Boulevard and then east on Katella Avenue or Ball Road will take you to Disneyland.
 * Take the Pacific Coast Highway to San Juan Capistrano, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and numerous other seaside communities.
 * Take a train to downtown Los Angeles or San Diego.