Overview
About Emerald Bay
Emerald Bay occupies a cove and the slopes above it at the far north end of Laguna Beach, between Irvine Cove and Crescent Bay off North Coast Highway. The City of Laguna Beach draws it as evacuation zone 12 and records 700 households inside it. Across 98 acres the assessor counts 371 parcels, and they share just four street names: nearly every address inside the boundary is a bare number on Emerald Bay or Emerald Bay Drive, a numbering scheme used nowhere else in the city.
The whole of it is reached from one point on North Coast Highway, and the boundary holds no city park, no city trail and no bus stop, so the cove and the slopes above it are all there is inside the line. Laguna Beach Unified serves it from four campuses and 2,291 students, with El Morro Elementary the nearest campus at the north end of the city, feeding Thurston Middle and then Laguna Beach High.
View available homes in Emerald BayHistory
How Emerald Bay was built
In 1941 the Japanese farming families of Emerald Bay were interned. There are about 538 properties today, on both sides of Coast Highway and joined by a tunnel underneath it, with the only gate on the inland side. The association runs its own parks, tennis courts, recreation program, beach and fire station.
One quirk of the boundary is worth knowing. Emerald Bay is unincorporated county land, the only unincorporated populated place on the Orange County coastline, while its neighbor Irvine Cove a mile south is inside the city of Laguna Beach. Its 98 acres sit inside an evacuation zone of seven hundred households, and eleven of those acres fall in the landslide hazard layer.
By the Numbers
Emerald Bay by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Emerald Bay lifestyle
Laguna Beach occupies 8.84 square miles with a population of about 23,000 and roughly six million visitors a year on the city's own count, and provides its own police, fire and marine safety protection.
Beaches north of Aliso Creek close between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; beaches south of the creek close between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; Thousand Steps Beach closes between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The city permits surfing at Agate, Brooks, Rockpile and Thalia Street beaches. Smoking fines on city beaches, parks and trails run $100, then $200, then $500 within twelve months.
Schools
Schools serving Emerald Bay
Laguna Beach Unified serves Emerald Bay along with the rest of the city, from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. Attendance is set by the district and can change, so confirm the current assignment for a specific address with the district before relying on it.
K-5 · 404 students
K-5 · 536 students
6-8 · 524 students
9-12 · 815 students
FAQs
Common questions about Emerald Bay
How big is Emerald Bay and how is it laid out?
The city's published boundary encloses 98 acres, drawn as evacuation zone 12, with 700 households on the city record. The assessor counts 371 parcels sharing only four street names, so nearly every address is a bare number on Emerald Bay or Emerald Bay Drive. Access is from a single point on North Coast Highway.
Which schools serve Emerald Bay?
Laguna Beach Unified serves the whole city from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. El Morro sits at the north end of the city, nearest to Emerald Bay. Elementary assignment is set by the district, so confirm the current one for a specific address with the district office.
When was Emerald Bay built?
Six tracts were recorded between 1930 and 1957, beginning with F. Osthoff's Tract 942 in 1930 and closing with Winston I. Keerl's Tract 3125 in 1957. Construction ran later than the platting. The 1950s and 1960s together account for roughly two thirds of the houses standing today, and only about one in nine predates 1950.
What was here before the houses?
Farming. The Laguna Beach Historical Society records that in 1941 the Japanese farming families from Emerald Bay were interned. The first subdivision maps over the bay had been recorded a decade earlier, in 1930 and 1931, and most building came after the war.
What are the beach and park rules in Laguna Beach?
No alcohol at any age, no smoking in any public area, no fires at city beaches, no balloons and no single-use plastic food service ware at parks, beaches or trails. Smoking fines run $100, then $200, then $500 within twelve months. Beaches north of Aliso Creek, which includes this end of the city, close between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.