Where to avoid marine layer on coast in OC? (San Francisco: fit in, apartment)

[traveller11]

I'm planning a move to OC and want to be close to ocean (viewing distance) but not swallowed by the marine layer months at a time. I've been to Santa Barbara during Febuary and am familiar with marine layers. I'm from Seattle so you can imagine one of the biggest appeals about OC is the weather. I plan to buy a condo (max around $400k) so getting an ocean view (over rooftops more likely) is a feasible thing (based on my research with zillow). Are there any coastal OC areas that don't experience lots of marine layer?

I'm looking for some place that isn't high crime or jam packed with people/traffic. I imagine the people/traffic part will be close to impossible. I was surprised to read LB does have a crime problem (//www.city-data.com/forum/orang...lace-live.html). Are there areas where people don't have issues with there homes getting broken into or bars on the windows? Basically I'd like a nice area that is possibly quiet, has a beach town feel and without metro hustle and bustle. Are Laguna Niguel or San Clemente possibly closer to what I'm looking for?

[EscapeCalifornia]

First, nowhere in OC has a marine layer for months at a time. This isn't Seattle or even Santa Barbara. Do you consider the whole day destroyed if the sun doesn't come out until noon most days in May and June? The farther inland you go, the sooner any marine layer burns off, but the farther you are from the coast. Of course if you're high and dry on an inland hilltop, you're not going to see the ocean when there's a marine layer even if you have line of sight to it.

[1958Native]

From a Hunt Bch viewpoint...I'd have to say the marine layer does not last months at a time but certianly to be blanketed for 7-10 days at a time is not uncommon, and sometimes the sun breaks thru around noon to only disappear around 3 pm with the clouds rolling in off the ocean. Most days the sun will peak out say noonish....

I remember back in 1993, I was living in west Garden Grove (springdale/chapman) and I was so insensed about the june gloom I kept an informal record. I remember the final outcome too, from May 1st to Labor day I woke up to only 4 mornings of clear sunlight. And that's not even at the beach, had to be completely socked in the neighborhood where I live now.

But you still can't complain about the weather in comparison to the rest of the country.

[Coldjensens]

I think that what is called "June Gloom" is a marine layer. Often in June, you have cloud cover resulting in bright but grey skies. This generally burns off by about 11 a.m. (varies by one to two hours from day to day). "June Gloom" actually occurs at various times from May until well into July. It does nto occur every days, but sometimes it appears daily for weeks on end.

A news cast last year said that it is expected to extend through most of the summer in the coming years because of some change in weather patterns. It can be annoying at times, but who goes to the beach before noon anyway? Often if you are riding your bike to the beach, or in a convertable, you are happy to have a little cloud cover in the morning. It is gloomy at times though.

The gloom does apparently trap in some smog at times. (or something holds the smog in over the beach communities), but again, that is not all the time. It is hit and miss.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by traveller11

I've been to Santa Barbara during Febuary and am familiar with marine layers.

February is probably one of the least prone months for marine layers. Storms yes, marine layers, not as much. June is a marine layer month. In fact, it sometimes feels warmer in winter along the coast than it does in summer (June for example). In winter, if it isn't raining and not windy, it's usually sunny so you feel warm (and if Santa Ana conditions, it can be hot). June can be damp and cold. What was it Mark Twain said about San Francisco, the coldest winter he ever felt was summer in San Francisco. Sort of the same for the coast.

[dantheman420]

Yep that darn "June Gloom", June is the only month of the year where my new home (Portland Oregon) has more sunny days than the paradise known as OC. Info from weather.com.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by traveller11

I'm planning a move to OC and want to be close to ocean (viewing distance) but not swallowed by the marine layer months at a time. I've been to Santa Barbara during Febuary and am familiar with marine layers. I'm from Seattle so you can imagine one of the biggest appeals about OC is the weather. I plan to buy a condo (max around $400k) so getting an ocean view (over rooftops more likely) is a feasible thing (based on my research with zillow). Are there any coastal OC areas that don't experience lots of marine layer?

I'm looking for some place that isn't high crime or jam packed with people/traffic. I imagine the people/traffic part will be close to impossible. I was surprised to read LB does have a crime problem (//www.city-data.com/forum/orang...lace-live.html). Are there areas where people don't have issues with there homes getting broken into or bars on the windows? Basically I'd like a nice area that is possibly quiet, has a beach town feel and without metro hustle and bustle. Are Laguna Niguel or San Clemente possibly closer to what I'm looking for?

And I would like to live close to the sun in a wood-frame split colonial but want to be able to keep my otter pops from melting while I am baking in the warmth and the light.

Ocean = marine layer, at least at some times. You're better off focusing on the "not high-crime, no hustle/bustle." I would go for Seal Beach or Sunset Beach. Far less crowded and trendy than any other coastal zone in Orange County.

Laguna Niguel is near, but not on, the coast, FYI.

[traveller11]

I would go for Seal Beach or Sunset Beach.

Thanks. Does that basically mean I'd be away from the hills and general beauty of southern OC?If I throw out "no hustle/bustle", marine layer (since it is only one month or so) and focus on "not high-crime", what might fit in southern OC? I'm just not too sure how bad crime is around the different areas.

[UrsusMinor]

There's actually not much serious crime in the coastal towns of Orange County. (Long Beach is another matter, but, contrary to many people's belief, Long Beach isn't in Orange County.)

All of coastal OC is pricey, but the towns vary a lot in tone and style. Seal Beach is "cute" and expensive.

Newport Beach is very expensive and a little snooty in a number of parts, although if you have a ton of money the Corona del Mar district is nice. Some people like the Balboa Peninsula district--it's more surfertown than most of NB.

Sunset Beach is a strip along the Coast Highway without any greenery--but good if you like the beach. Beach and road is pretty much all it is.

I live in Huntington Beach, which I like better than the other cities around here--more surfer-type laid back, less "planned," and a good mix of young people and old people. A pretty lively downtown and an active lifestyle.

Laguna Niguel, IMHO, is nowhere--just a sprawling development that couldn't get beach property. As Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, there's no there there. (There's a lot more "there" in Oakland than in Laguna Niguel.)

Laguna Beach itself is nice, but very expensive--and also bizarrely isolated. It's a bit of a drive getting in and out.

I find the southernmost beach towns, like Dana Point and San Clemente, to be generally boring, but they are exactly what some people are looking for.

Some people like Costa Mesa (which is walled off from the beach by a strip of Newport Beach. CM has a variety of features--the OC performing arts center, the OC fairgrounds, the Pacific Symphony, South Coast Plaza. Has a variety of housing options, from cute 1950s cottages to tract homes to apartment/condo complexes. On the other hand, Costa Mesa doesn't really have a "center" of town (or perhaps it would be better to say it has several). Very disorganized, and butts up against a whole buch of other cities (Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana...)

You might find San Juan Capistrano/Capistrano Beach to be interesting--a little different from other coastal OC towns.

My advice would be to schedule a week-long trip and hang out in the cities for at least a half-day each. It takes at least that long to figure out where the parts of each town are.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by traveller11

I would go for Seal Beach or Sunset Beach.

Thanks. Does that basically mean I'd be away from the hills and general beauty of southern OC?If I throw out "no hustle/bustle", marine layer (since it is only one month or so) and focus on "not high-crime", what might fit in southern OC? I'm just not too sure how bad crime is around the different areas.

Traveller11:

The above statement would be true IF I were wanting to live in a beach community.

I would rather not, because I like hills and general beauty, and they can be found in northern OC as well. Don't dismiss that area completely even though it is a bit more densely populated. There are good getaways but I'm not saying where.

For hills and general beauty:

La Habra, Fullerton, NE Buena Park, Brea, Yorba Linda, eastern Anaheim, northern and eastern Orange, Tustin, north Tustin, Lake Forest (which is the beginning of south OC).

Placentia is in between these areas and is more rolling terrain but has a City Council with weird priorities (such as train whistles).

Irvine is in a class by itself. You'll see hills all over the place and sometimes be in them in that city, but for all that you have to put up with neighborhood after neighborhood that have all the warmth and welcome of an industrial park (actually, some industrial parks are more inviting).