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Also try HB Wahine, a fun store for gals who surf and those who want to learn – ask about their lessons. You’ll find Etni hoodies, Truth tanks, Emu boots, and sleek baby-blue surfboards stocked here. There’s even an indoor sk8 ramp. The name is pronounced wah-hee-nee, the Hawaiian word for girl.

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BADDEST BEACH DIVE BARS

Turc’s, Sunset Beach – Ivy-covered, dark and made for drinking. Gotta problem?

Mother’s Tavern, Sunset Beach – If your mother’s here, be worried.

Goat Hill Tavern, Costa Mesa – Ladies, avoid the bathrooms.

Marine Room Tavern, Laguna Beach – There are few marines, but lots of Harleys. Rockin’.

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NEWPORT BEACH

pop 72,000

Primetime soap The OC may have lasted only four short seasons, but its impact on Newport Beach, home of the fictional Cohen family, will likely be felt for years. The adventures of its glamorous but angst-ridden teens lent a hipper, youthful sheen to the city’s longstanding image as a paradise for wealthy yachtsmen and their trophy wives. Pictures of the TV teens still grace local travel guides and their quasi-fictional haunts are still draws, although the actors’ once-ballyhooed concrete handprints have been banished from the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau and sent to less glitzy digs at a neighboring (Recreational Vehicle) RV park and campground.

Prime-time fame aside, the city’s basics haven’t changed too much: seafood lovers still flock to the harbor for just-off-the-boat seafood, boogie boarders still brave man-eating waves at The Wedge and the ballet of yachts in the harbor still captivates the imagination. Retail shopping remains popular too, especially at Fashion Island, a posh outdoor mall that continues to be one of the county’s major shopping centers.

Orientation

Hwy 55 (Newport Blvd) is the main access road from I-405. It intersects with Pacific Coast Hwy, then merges with Balboa Blvd leading to the eastern tip of the Balboa Peninsula. Hwy 73 (Corona del Mar Fwy) also connects I-405 with Newport Beach via MacArthur Blvd before continuing as a toll road to Laguna Beach and beyond.

PCH skirts the harbor on its route through town; though the highway runs north–south through the state, in Newport it cuts east–west. In town PCH is called West Coast Hwy and East Coast Hwy, depending on which side of the bay it’s on. South of PCH via Balboa Blvd, the Balboa Peninsula makes a natural 6-mile barrier between Newport Harbor and the ocean. Most tourist activity is centered here, including beaches and the Balboa Fun Zone. Six of the seven harbor islands are artificial, the result of dredging (Bay Island is natural and allows no vehicular traffic).

Balboa Island is the biggest, and has fun boutiques and eateries stretched out along Marine Ave. The remaining islands are exclusively residential. There’s also more shopping north of PCH at Fashion Island.

Information

BOOKSTORES

There’s a Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Fashion Island inside Atrium Court.

INTERNET ACCESS

FedEx Kinko’s ( 949-760-1595; 230 Newport Center Dr; per hr $12; 6am-11pm Mon-Fri, 8am-11pm Sat & Sun) On the southern end of the Newport Center Dr ring, near Anacapa Dr.

Public Library Balboa Branch ( 949-644-3076; www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl; 100 E Balboa Blvd; 9am-9pm Mon & Wed, 9am-6pm Tue, Thu-Sat) Closer to the beach than the main branch. Ask for a two-hour internet guest pass.

Public Library Main Branch ( 949-717-3800; www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl; 1000 Avocado Ave; 9am-9pm Mon-Thu, 9am-6pm Fri & Sat, noon-5pm Sun) The main branch is near Fashion Island. Again, ask for a two-hour internet guest pass.

MEDICAL SERVICES

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian ( 949-764-4624; www.hoaghospital.org; 1 Hoag Dr, cnr Hwys 1 & 55) Emergency room operating 24 hours. Follow Superior Ave north from PCH, turn right onto Hospital Rd and follow it to Hoag Dr.

Newport Walk-in Medical Group ( 949-760-9222; 360 San Miguel Dr; 8am-8:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat &