Best beach for calm water in Laguna Beach (Temecula: live in, farmers)

[whitehaute]

I live in the Temecula area, do a lot of photography in the OC area. Will be shooting a couple in Laguna Beach this weekend, and part of it will be at the beach. I know a lot of the coves south of Main Beach Park, but curious if any other locals to that area know of a good beach, big or small, preferably less crowded and with some rock formations, that is fairly calm. I know most of the beaches are west facing, and a few areas like Crescent Bay have some extra protection, but if you know any reliable beaches that are somewhat protected, I'd love to know!

[meepee]

North of Crescent is Shaw's Cove and Fisherman's Cove there is Crystal Cove, Treasure Island Cove and on and on...
An uncrowded beach in California the first official weekend of summer yea right (..cough cough..) You may get lucky if you are willing to do a bit of hiking. 'Course you'll be shooting early in the am or late in the evening anyway...Right? So crowds shouldn't be a huge factor.

Check the surf report, WaveWatch | Free Live Surf Cams, Surf reports and Surf forecasts. if the report says waves, expect waves regardless.

Most of the swell comes from the south in the summertime so south facing beaches normally blocked by natural landscape are more open to get waves even when the swell is only 2-3 feet when normally it wouldn't make the wrap. Either way I don't think your going to find any 6 foot shore pound anywhere this weekend... unfortunately .

[Scott5280]

If you haven't been to Woods Cove it's small ,but fairly picturesque. There are outcroppings on the north side of the cove and several croppings that extend up from the water itself.. that might make for some interesting shots. Last time I was there I was the only one sunning except for Ed Bagely Jr. who was wearing a straw farmers hat..It's surrounded of course by large cliff mansions but remote and off the usual tourist path.