Ocean Front Aly West, Balboa Peninsula

This beach-front street is the answer to any beach lover’s prayer. Only a sidewalk separates the million-dollar homes on this street from the sand and surf of Newport Beach. The ocean view extends all the way to Catalina, 25 miles off the coast.

W Ocean Front is actually just an alley, very narrow and with very few parking spaces. The houses are all two or three story (for a better view of the ocean) with a garage below. The houses are very close together with only small yards or patios on the ocean side, but most have balconies or rooftop decks.

Several of the houses on W Ocean Front have been remodeled or rebuilt by top architects. All the beauty of W Ocean Front comes at a price. These homes sell for millions of dollars. Some are rented as vacation homes at a steep weekly rate.

W Ocean Front extends from the mouth of the Santa Ana River and down the Balboa Peninsula past the Newport Beach Pier. It ends at Newport Beach Elementary (which wins my vote as having the coolest location of any school on earth) then continues on the other side of the school. At the Balboa Pier the street name changes to E Ocean Front. The street continues for a short distance to the end of the peninsula, where it ends at Jetty View Park and the famous Newport Beach surfing spot known as “The Wedge.”