Overview
About The Coast
The Coast covers 280.1 acres and holds 577 addresses on 590 parcels, at a median parcel of 0.196 acres. It is the fourth largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here by area and the fifth by address count. Twenty six of its twenty eight streets begin with Calle, led by Calle Frontera with 97 addresses, then Calle Vallarta, Calle Gaucho and Calle Juarez, and the naming runs between Mexican cities and the vocabulary of a working ranch: Reata, Cuadra, Ganadero, Corral and Burro among them.
Residential Low Density land accounts for 125.3 acres inside the boundary and private open space for 112, so nearly as much of the line is open space as housing. No specific plan governs it. The state fire hazard severity map places 126.5 acres in its High class and 107.6 in Moderate, leaving 46 acres it does not reach. Capistrano Unified's own school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary at all five interior points tested.
View available homes in The CoastHistory
How The Coast was built
The Coast is a hill neighborhood at the north end of San Clemente, and the most specific thing about it is written on the street signs. Ganadero is a cattleman, corral is a pen, cuadra is a stable and reata is the rope a vaquero throws, and Burro, Gaucho, Macho, Embocadura and Paisano keep to the same working vocabulary, with Guadalajara, Vallarta, Juarez and Hidalgo taken off the Mexican map. That is ranch language rather than resort language, and it points at what this ground was doing long before it held houses.
Ole Hanson's town of 1925 was two thousand acres running between El Camino Real and the ocean, and these hills were not part of it. They opened later, and one date did it. Interstate 5 was completed through San Clemente on 7 November 1960, El Camino Real stopped being the main road through town, and for the first time the hills above the old grid were available for large scale housing. The population went from about 8,500 people in 1960 to more than 17,000 by 1970. The Shorecliffs development just south of here, roughly 500 residences built between 1963 and 1965, was the first of the big subdivisions, and the north end of San Clemente as it stands today follows from that decade.
By the Numbers
The Coast by the numbers
Lifestyle
The The Coast lifestyle
San Clemente keeps ten beaches of its own along the shore, from North Beach past the pier to Riviera, and the city's Marine Safety division staffs them. The pier itself carries restrooms, metered parking, fire rings and the Amtrak and Metrolink platform at its foot.
The city publishes five trail networks that run from the sand up into the canyons and along the ridgelines. Bikes are welcome on all of them, electric bikes are not allowed on the Beach Trail, dogs are welcome on a leash, and horses are permitted on the Forster Ridgeline, Prima Deshecha and Cristianitos trails. City parks are open from 6 am to 10 pm without a reservation unless a group needs a permit.
Schools
Schools serving The Coast
Capistrano Unified assigns The Coast to San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary. The district's own school locator returned the same assignment at every point tested inside the boundary, and enrollment comes from the federal count for 2024-25.
9-12 · 2,740 students
6-8 · 634 students
K-5 · 328 students
FAQs
Common questions about The Coast
How big is The Coast?
The boundary the city publishes covers 280.1 acres, with 577 addresses on 590 parcels at a median of 0.196 acres. It is the fourth largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here by area.
Which schools serve The Coast?
Capistrano Unified's school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary at all five points tested inside the boundary. Confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district before you rely on it.
When was The Coast built?
Tracts 9272 and 9066 were both recorded in 1977, and the county assessor carries a build year on 565 parcels here, running from 1978 to 1990 with 400 of them in the 1980s.
How are the streets named?
Twenty six of the twenty eight begin with Calle. The names run between Mexican cities such as Vallarta, Juarez, Guadalajara and Hidalgo and ranch words such as Gaucho, Reata, Cuadra, Ganadero, Corral and Burro.
What is the fire hazard rating?
126.5 acres sit in the state's High fire hazard severity class and 107.6 in Moderate. Raise it with an insurer early.