Dana Point Waterfall

Dana Point / San Juan Capistrano, California, USA

About Dana Point Waterfall


Hiking Distance: roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2017-01-09
Date last visited: 2017-01-22

Waterfall Latitude: 33.46357
Waterfall Longitude: -117.70127

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Dana Point Waterfall (or Dana Point Falls) was something we weren’t really made aware of until recently when it popped up on one of the Orange County blogs.

Perhaps part of the reason why this place was so unknown to all but locals or those familiar with the Dana Point area was that this was a very temporary or ephemeral waterfall. In other words, if you weren’t here in the middle of a storm with heavy rainfall, you’re not likely to see this waterfall flow.

Julie experienced this firsthand when it was raining in Los Angeles County, but when she showed up to this part of southern Orange County about an hour or two after leaving home, the falls was merely trickling.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_019_01222017
Contextual view of the Dana Point Waterfall
It wasn’t until two weeks later when we were here in the middle of a fairly nasty rain storm that resulted in lots of local street flooding and people hydroplaning on the freeways did we finally get to see this waterfall in a state that you can see in the photo at the top of this page!

And even if the falls wasn’t flowing, this little “oasis” was well-situated near the Dana Point Harbor beneath cliffs where expensive homes were perched above.

It was the kind of scene that we might have encountered further up the coast in Malibu, but here we were south of Laguna Beach in the scenic coastal suburb of Dana Point.

Visiting the Dana Point Waterfall

Visiting this waterfall was pretty straightforward as this was essentially a drive-to waterfall. It was right off the road across the street from a park on the harbor front.

The falls itself was fronted by palm trees with the whitish and brown cliffs adding to the scenic allure of this spot.

Yet even despite the lack of physical exertion required to experience the Dana Point Waterfall, we do have to reiterate the catch-22 nature of this excursion.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_017_01092017
Contextual look across the street towards the trickling Dana Point Waterfall with some folks loitering around the plunge pool
Indeed, in order to see this falls perform, the timing has to coincide with heavy rain, which means braving the accident-prone driving conditions on the freeways and local streets where the slippery conditions (especially with the hydroplaning) must be respected.

In addition to the bad driving conditions, the waterfall itself was composed of suburban runoff from the community above the cliff. Thus, the water would be bacteria-laced under stormy conditions, and we could certainly smell the refuse when we finally got to see this place in person.

Of course, under more benign conditions, the falls would be no more than a trickle. So you definitely have to take the good with the bad with this one.

Finally, given the ephemeral nature of the Dana Point Waterfall, I would marginally count this as a legitimate waterfall.

However, it was the scenic allure and oceanfront location that sort of gave this falls the benefit of the doubt. So instead of a 0.5 or lower score, we opted to bump the score of this falls up to 1. But as stated before, timing was everything with experiencing the spectacle of the falls.

Authorities

To my knowledge, the Dana Point Waterfall does not belong to a reserve or some kind of authority overseeing it. However, if you’re looking to do this excursion and want to inquire about current conditions, you might have some success asking the Dana Point City Hall. More information is available at their website, or you could just do a Google search.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_002_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_003_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_007_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_012_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_022_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_028_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_032_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_038_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_043_01222017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_003_01092017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_006_01092017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_008_01092017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_010_01092017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_013_01092017
Dana_Point_Waterfall_015_01092017


The fastest way that we were able to visit the Dana Point Waterfall from Los Angeles was to take the I-5 freeway all the way south to the Pacific Coast Highway 1 off-ramp (exit 5) near San Juan Capistrano. From around the 91 freeway and I-5 interchange, this stretch of the drive took us about 45 minutes though we were driving pretty deliberately under the rainy conditions despite the relatively light traffic.

Once we got off the I-5 at the Hwy 1 ramp, we then followed the highway towards its end as it transitioned towards surface streets. We kept on the left lane in anticipation of having to turn left. Once we reached a traffic light at the junction of PCH and Dana Point Harbor Drive, we then made the left turn. And once upon Dana Point Harbor Drive, we drove just under a mile where the Dana Point Waterfall could be clearly seen from the road on the right side.

However, legal street parking was on the east-bound side of the street so in order to park the car legally, we had to make a U-turn and then park across the street from the falls. Additional caution must be made to cross the street to get closer to the falls given the potential high speed of traffic along this street. That said, there was no fee for visiting this waterfall other than the cost of gas to make this drive.

Find A Place To Stay

Comprehensive sweep of the falls starting from the right side and ending on the left side under some heavy rain


360 degree sweep from right in front of the falls showing the traffic on Dana Pt Harbor Drive and the spectacle that drew quite the crowd despite the heavy rains

Related Top 10 Lists

No Posts Found

Tagged with: dana point, dana pt, san juan capistrano, orange county, dana point harbor, waterfall



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall


Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps