Big Bear Lake or Newport Beach?

Big Bear's lake is for boats and paddleboards more than for swimming. The water is cool, the shore is mostly rocky, and the small beach at Meadow Park is the only supervised spot. Newport is a proper beach town, with sand all along the Balboa Peninsula, surf by the piers and gentler water at Corona del Mar and inside the harbour.

Neither has warm water to float in. In late summer Newport's Pacific is only a little warmer than the mountain lake, which is why wetsuits and boogie boards come along. Still, the long beach days, volleyball nets and tide pools at Little Corona are something Big Bear cannot match.

Neither town has a cuisine of its own, but Newport eats far better. It has harbour dining rooms with boat views, brunch in Corona del Mar and fish tacos on the peninsula, and Costa Mesa next door and the Vietnamese cooking of Little Saigon, twenty minutes inland, add more choice.

Big Bear runs on diner breakfasts, burgers, barbecue and brewpub pints, and many visitors simply cook in their cabins. That is cheaper and easier for a group, though Newport's higher prices do buy more interesting meals.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, though Newport has a little more to look at. The Balboa Pavilion of 1905, the island ferry and Schindler's Lovell Beach House make a good walk for an architecture fan, and a proper art museum is next door in Costa Mesa. Big Bear's interest is mostly natural history at the Discovery Center, plus the gold-rush remains of Holcomb Valley, which you reach on a dirt-road drive.

Big Bear's evenings mostly end early, while Newport gives you a real choice of where to spend one. On the mountain, going out means après-ski drinks near the slopes in winter, a brewpub or a sports bar after dinner, and then back to the cabin hot tub.

In Newport, the beach and dive bars near the piers fill with a young crowd on summer weekends, and the harbour wine bars and hotel lounges suit a dressier night that ends before midnight. Neither town has clubs, so a big night out from Newport still means driving to Costa Mesa or Los Angeles.

Both are good for time outside, but Big Bear is the real mountain base. Around it are alpine forest, two ski areas in winter and mountain-bike trails in summer. It also has access to the Pacific Crest Trail and Southern California's highest summit, and bald eagles winter around the lake.

Newport's outdoors is coastal. You can go birding or cycle around the Upper Newport Bay estuary, walk the bluff and canyon trails in Crystal Cove, surf, or take a whale-watching boat from the harbour. For pine forest and real altitude, visitors drive about an hour inland.

Newport is by far the better base for outings. Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano are within half an hour, a ferry crosses to Avalon on Catalina, and Los Angeles and San Diego both work as long days out if the freeway traffic allows.

Big Bear sits at the end of slow mountain roads. The realistic outings are Lake Arrowhead along the Rim of the World road and the Oak Glen orchards, with Riverside's Mission Inn further down. Most visitors simply stay up the mountain.

Both are built for families, in different ways. Big Bear's draw is snow for children who rarely see it, with sledding, beginner ski lessons and the small Alpine Zoo, then the alpine slide and pedal boats in summer. The altitude and cold nights take some getting used to.

Newport is the easier base overall. It has shallow harbour beaches, the Balboa Fun Zone, the car ferry, tide pools and whale watching. Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are about half an hour away for families willing to spend time in the car.

Both need a car, but once you have arrived, Big Bear is a little simpler. The Village is compact enough to walk, and a local bus and a seasonal trolley link it with the ski areas and parts of the lakeshore. The drive up, though, can mean snow chains and slow weekend traffic.

Newport spreads along the coast and up the hills, its buses are slow and infrequent, and beach parking is hard to find in summer. The flat Balboa Peninsula with its boardwalk and Balboa Island do work on foot or by bike, joined by the little ferry.

Newport is a serious place to shop and Big Bear is not. Above the harbour, an open-air centre has department stores and designer labels, the big mall in Costa Mesa holds most of the major fashion houses, and Corona del Mar and Marine Avenue add boutiques and nautical gifts. Big Bear's Village is good for an hour of fudge, bear souvenirs, antiques and ski and lake gear, with bigger stores down in the valley.

Big Bear leaves much more room to save, as long as you choose your dates. A shared cabin midweek or in the shoulder seasons, with meals cooked at home and days spent hiking or sledding, keeps costs modest. Winter weekends, lift tickets and ski hire push them up sharply.

Newport is expensive even for California. Hotels charge resort rates, highest in summer, restaurants charge for the views, and car hire, fuel and parking keep adding up. Staying inland in Costa Mesa or Irvine and eating at casual taco and burger places helps only a little.

Newport wins because of its neighbour. Ten minutes away in Costa Mesa, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts stages touring Broadway shows, ballet and the Pacific Symphony, and South Coast Repertory puts on new American plays. Big Bear has a small community arts centre, free summer concerts by the lake and Bavarian bands at the autumn Oktoberfest, which are pleasant but rarely worth planning an evening around.

On the mountain, you unwind at your rental rather than going out to do it. A fire in the stove, a soak in the deck's hot tub and the quiet of the forest on a weekday are the whole plan. The few day spas and massage rooms in town are modest.

Newport is better for anyone who wants a proper treatment. The resorts on the coastal hills run full spas, Corona del Mar and Fashion Island have day spas and yoga studios, and the days settle into a gentle rhythm of morning walks on the bluffs and sunsets over the harbour. Neither town has thermal springs, and both lose their calm at peak times: Big Bear on winter weekends and Newport's peninsula in summer.