The OC Beach Scene

Hey everyone! It’s Monday, which, oddly enough, means that it’s time to do the Sunday Spot Check here at the OC Beach Scene. After our short foray into the local beach culture of Santa Barbara, we’re back in the OC and the weather is…gloomy. With heavy showers expected to keep a damper on things for the next few days, you’re probably going to want to avoid the water, so this week we’re focusing on my favorite spot to shred when the waves are flat and/or contaminated with human waste–the Laguna Niguel Skatepark. (I know, I know–it’s an outdoor park, but I’ll take slippery concrete over poo-barrels any day).

Completed in 2003, the Laguna Niguel Skatepark is a fun, mid-sized concrete park that offers a well-balanced combination of ledges, rails, and transitions. While the nearby Laguna Hills Skatepark–just a five minute drive down Alicia Parkway–is free, Laguna Niguel’s newer, roomier answer to the aging park is well worth the $10 price of admission. Unlike the dilapidated Laguna Hills facilities, the Laguna Niguel Skatepark features fast, smooth concrete, a bowl that doesn’t suck, and high, pointy fences that, for the most part, seem to keep the stoner crowd to a minimum (although some of them seem to have slipped behind the front counter).

As seems to be the case with most Orange County skateparks, the crowd at the Laguna Niguel Skatepark can roughly be divided into two subspecies of skaters–aging soul-bros who have recently rediscovered the concrete glide after years behind an office desk, and pint-sized skate punks who worship the Baker crew and secretly have their moms drop them off around the corner. While the former are mostly harmless and stick to the clover bowl in the back, the latter are loud, obnoxious, and have no problem snaking you on the mini. These kids all have long, greasy hair, spit foul obscenities in squeaky voices, and to top it off, they skate better than you. Seriously, between the hours of 3 and 10, this place turns into a sort of demented daycare full of unruly Dennis the Menaces on wheels. However, if you are able to hit a midday sesh before the after school crowd gets on it, a fun, stress-free time can still be had.

For more information on the Laguna Niguel Skatepark, including hours of operation, head on over to the park’s webpage at www.ci.laguna-niguel.ca.us/index.asp?NID=424.