Christmas Cove Beach can be accessed via the ramp just north of this grass bluff park. Goff Cove Beach can be accessed via stairs just south of the view bluff.
Treasure Island Park & Beaches
The Treasure Island park area is inclusive of a few beaches (Christmas Cove, Goff Cove, Treasure Island Beach) as well as the most beautiful park area of almost anywhere. This is due to the public path to the beaches is largely cared for and landscaped by the Montage Resort. This place has it all. Treasure Island park offers incredible sunsets and great place for long walks, while the beach is popular for swimming, sunbathing, tidepools.
Christmas Cove Beach
Christmas Cove Beach is the northern beach in the Treasurer Island Park area. The northern endpoint of the walking trail in front of te Montage Resort leads to a ramp down to the beach. Christmas Cove is generally less crowded than the other beaches in the area and makes for a good place to strech out and enjoy a day in the sun.
Goff Cove Beach
Immediately south of Christmas Cove, is Goff cove. Separating the two beaches is Goff Island. Goff Island is a rocky outcrop that can be dangerous and should not be climbed.
Goff Cove is a small little inlet popular for snorkeling and scuba diving. Goff Cove Beach can be accessed from stairs near the big grassy area in front of the Montage.
Treasure Island Beach
Treasure Island Beach is the southern most beach in the Treasure island Park area. It can be accessed via well maintained ramp and stairs toward the beginning of the paved walking path in front of the Montage.
Treasure Island Beach is a long stretch of sand beach that ends where Aliso Creek outlets to the ocean. Just south of Treasure Island Beach is Aliso Beach.
Information
Address: 30799 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Parking: small parking garage next to Montage Resort where Wesley Drive dead ends using City of Laguna Beach pay schedule (currently $2.50/hour). Street parking across PCH on Wesley. On busy days, you may have to park a few blocks up a hill on Wesley.
Hours: 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Amenities: restrooms, walking path, doggy bags, swimming, tide pooling, skimboarding, lush park area with benches, grassy knolls, and even weekend yoga classes.
Accessibility: Pathed parking in the parking garage with 2 ADA spaces, pathed path through the Montage park area, and pathed ramp to Treasure Island Beach and Christmas Beach. Treasure Island Park features the only beach ramp in all of Laguna that was built in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act’s Standards for Accessible Design.
- More Information
OC Beach Apparel and Souvenirs
Rules and Etiquette of Treasure Island
Dogs are allowed on leash and doggy bag stations along with plenty of trash cans are provided along the path.
- This park is used as a gathering place for many meetups. Parking may be tricky and you’ll want to be cautious of interfering or stepping into one of those meetups.
History of Treasure Island Park
The area first saw inhabitants when it was homesteaded by the Goff family. There were the four Goffs, all brothers. Frank Goff took his claim at Goff Island. His brother, Lee, has his claim just south at Eagle Rock. The Goffs homesteaded, farmed and planted the area with groves of eucalyptus “timber.” In 1887, the firm of Raymond Whitcomb came to Arch Beach looking for a hotel site between Santa Barbara and San Diego. For $25,000 cash they bought the Goff Island acreage and also that belonging to Lee Goff at Eagle Rock. However the panic of 1893 caused the boom to burst and this entire acreage was later sold for taxes
The construction of Pacific Coast Highway in the late 1920s and a change in land ownership led to the development of a mobile home park. Originally called Goff Island, it was renamed to Treasure Island in 1939 to pay tribute to the 1934 movie in which a portion of a movie of that title was filmed there.
The classic film isn’t the only movie filmed there. According to a locally produced brochure from the 1990s entitled “Treasure Island, Location for Hollywood Films,” among the movies filmed there, at least in part, were “False Colors” in 1914; “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” in 1920; “Bobbed Hair” in 1921; “The Life of Emile Zola” in 1922; “Evangeline” in 1929; and “Stolen Life,” which starred onetime Laguna Beach resident Bette Davis in 1946. In addition, a mobile home used by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz during the 1953 filming of “The Long, Long Trailer” stood as a long term fixture in the trailer park. Today, two palm trees named after Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, play tribute to this filming history and continue to sway just outside Montage Laguna Beach’s Studio restaurant.
In 1939, the Treasure Island trailer park expanded from 30 to 200 trailers. One hundred more sites were added in 1946. By 1947, up to 6,000 trailers per year would stop at Treasure Island. After a group called Treasure Island Associates acquired the land in 1989, the defeat of a local rent control referendum and city rezoning led to the 60-year-old mobile home park’s closure, and it was officially cleared of residents by 1997.
A broad-strokes plan to redevelop the land with a hotel and residences, a bluff-top park and public beach access was well received by the city. Before the Montage was built, there was no public access, and the fence along PCH walled off views and access to the beach. Montage Laguna Beach opened in February 2003. While Montage deeded the park and beaches to the city, effectively giving the public access to the land, it maintains the grounds in perpetuity.
The flagship property encompasses 30 acres including a 250-room hotel, 28 residences and 14 acres of common space composed of dining areas, a 20,000-square-foot spa, more than 7 acres of manicured parkland and gorgeous beaches.
