Laguna Beach or Newport Beach?

These two are about equal for beaches, but the beaches themselves are different. Laguna is a chain of small coves and pocket beaches under the cliffs, from Crescent Bay to Thousand Steps and Aliso. The water is clear and you can snorkel over the reefs, but many beaches are reached by stairways.

Newport gives you a single long strip of sand down the Balboa Peninsula, about 10km of it. It suits surfers and bodyboarders, and the Wedge is famous for its dangerous waves. The calm water inside the harbour suits small children, and Corona del Mar adds a few rocky coves similar to Laguna's.

Newport eats better, mainly because of what lies around it. Costa Mesa next door adds range and better value, and Little Saigon is about twenty minutes inland. In town, harbour-view seafood, Corona del Mar brunch and frozen bananas on Balboa Island cover most moods.

Laguna's choice is narrower. It has cliffside dining rooms, fish tacos and a few serious seafood kitchens, and many meals are priced for the sunset. Visitors who want variety end up driving inland, often through Newport.

Laguna has more to see, thanks to its history as a plein air art colony. The Laguna Art Museum focuses on California painting, and many galleries line Coast Highway and Forest Avenue. That fills a good morning.

Newport has a few points of interest rather than a cultural scene. These include the Balboa Pavilion of 1905 and Schindler's Lovell Beach House for fans of early modernism, as well as Sherman Library & Gardens. For a serious art museum, Newport visitors go to Costa Mesa.

Newport is where the area goes out. Beach bars by the Newport and Balboa piers fill with a young local crowd on summer weekends, and wine bars and lounges around the harbour suit a dressier evening. Neither town has real clubs.

Laguna is much quieter. A few old dive bars and terrace lounges see some life after dinner, and the village is quiet well before midnight. Laguna's own guidance for a proper night out is to drive up the coast to Newport.

Laguna has the wilder setting. Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Aliso and Wood Canyons rise directly behind the town, and the view from Top of the World reaches Catalina. Offshore, the whole coast is a marine reserve where people snorkel and shore dive over kelp and reefs.

Newport's best natural feature is Upper Newport Bay, a tidal estuary with a loop path and many herons and shorebirds in winter. Its harbour is good for paddling and sailing, and whale-watching boats leave it all year. Crystal Cove State Park lies between the two towns and serves both.

Both are equally good bases for day trips, since they are only about twenty minutes apart and each makes an easy outing from the other. Laguna is a little closer to Mission San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Diego and the Temecula wine country.

Newport puts Los Angeles about an hour away and has its own Catalina ferry from Balboa. Both depend on freeways, where traffic can double the journey times.

Newport is the more comfortable town for children. Shallow harbour beaches and Balboa Island suit toddlers, the Fun Zone has its ferris wheel and arcades, and the little car ferry counts as a ride in itself. Disneyland is around half an hour away.

Laguna is better for a few shore days than a whole family stay. Tide pools, lifeguarded beaches and the Main Beach playground are excellent, but steep stairways, scarce parking and costly family rooms make it harder work.

Laguna is easier to get around without a car, though only just. Its village around Main Beach and Forest Avenue is compact and walkable, and a free trolley runs along Coast Highway between the northern and southern beaches.

Newport is more spread out over the harbour and hills, so a car is needed for nearly everything. The exceptions are the flat Balboa Peninsula, where you can walk or cycle along the boardwalk, and the ferry over to Balboa Island. In both towns the airports and theme parks are freeway drives.

Newport is far stronger for fashion. An open-air centre above the harbour has department stores and designer labels, and one of the country's largest luxury malls is ten minutes away in Costa Mesa. Boutiques in Corona del Mar and nautical shops on Marine Avenue add smaller finds.

Laguna is better for art than for brands. Its galleries sell plein air landscapes and glass, and the summer festivals sell crafts straight from the makers. For the big labels, Laguna shoppers drive to Newport.

Both are very expensive, with resort-priced rooms, restaurants that charge for the view, and parking costs that add up. Laguna's free trolley, beaches and trails ease the costs a little.

In Newport, the car itself adds car hire, fuel and parking costs. Budget travellers to either town usually sleep inland in towns such as Costa Mesa or Irvine and drive to the coast.

Newport has a slight edge for most of the year because the Segerstrom Center for the Arts is ten minutes away. It hosts the Pacific Symphony, ballet and touring Broadway shows, and South Coast Repertory stages new American plays next door.

Laguna has the more unusual evening out. In summer, the Pageant of the Masters recreates famous paintings with live performers in a canyon amphitheatre, and the Laguna Playhouse stages plays all year. From Laguna the big Costa Mesa stages are half an hour away.

The two are evenly matched. Each offers clifftop resort spas, yoga studios and slow mornings by the water, but neither has thermal springs or public bathhouses. Laguna feels calmer overall, with its arts village and sunset walks along the bluffs.

Newport has more day spas and massage places around Corona del Mar, but the peninsula gets crowded on summer weekends. Visitors looking for quiet there tend to stay in the southern neighbourhoods.