If you’re planning on hitting the beach during a California vacation you may want to consider Crystal Cove.  What California vacation is complete without a day at the beach? It was our kids’ first time at the beach and seeing the ocean, they loved it! Be sure to pack sunblock!  Here’s a few more tips and tricks for your next beach trip-

Located between Laguna and Huntington beaches it’s a local’s secret beach!  We found it by accident while driving along the coast from Laguna to Huntington beach.  Parking is across the road, however there is a drop off/pick up option that is pretty close to the beach.  The beach was fairly empty and still nice.  Nothing can ruin a beach day like an overcrowded beach or rocky sand.  Crystal Cove was perfect!

With the slight exception of this couple that decided to plant themselves right in front of me for about 10 minutes until they noticed I was taking pictures to share on facebook, there was lots of room for the kids to play.

Since we were traveling we didn’t bring a large umbrella or awning for shade like most people at the beach had- so we improvised by using our two strollers to hold a sheet between them for shade for the baby and myself.  Unfortunately we did go to the beach in the afternoon so the sun was in front of us which meant this was my view for most of our beach stay- (if you follow me on instagram you may have already seen this)  If we had gone in the morning the shade would have been in a better place for me to see the water.

We did bring a second sheet to sit on to help limit the sandiness.  A tip I read online to help get rid of sand was to use baby powder.  It worked like a charm! Especially since I had to change the baby’s diaper while we were there.  Sprinkle some baby powder on the skin and sand doesn’t stick!

Be sure to use some good sun block too- nothing could spoil your vacation like a bad sunburn on beach day.

Before going we filled a small cooler with ice from the hotel ice machine and put some cans of juice in it.  It was the perfect cold drink at a warm beach.

We also took a package of cookies from costco to snack on, something about cookies and cold juice at the beach was just perfect!

We did lose both a pacifier and my oldest’s prescription glasses while there though- so somewhere there’s probably an interesting lost and found of items people lose at the beach.  So if you or your child wears glasses do not wear them into the water! (this goes for sunglasses too)

But after a few hours we couldn’t believe how quickly time had gone and everyone had fun!