Welcome to Seal Beach
Named for the seals that once swam the waters of this quaint seaside community Seal Beach sits on the coast as the gateway to Orange County between the cities of Long Beach and Huntington Beach. Of the Orange County beaches, it offers the best blend of shopping and beach-ing that you’ll find. Sure, there’s a lot to do in Laguna Beach but the traffic is daunting. Newport Beach doesn’t offer much shopping along Main Street near its beaches, unless you seek souvenir gifts. Huntington Beach Main Street shopping offers a few gems but lacks those great antique stores, garden shops and clothing for the over-25 crowd.
Though Long Beach, California’s 5th largest city with the busiest port in the nation looms next door, Old Town Seal Beach features shady, tree-lined Main Street, a beautiful beach and 2nd longest pier in California reminiscent of small town America during the mid-1900’s. Locals today enjoy the mostly quiet beach location where TV shows will sometimes come to do location shoots. An art faire, Christmas parade, summer concerts on the green and 4th of July celebrations are a few annual events of special interest.
Seal Beach offers two strikingly different experiences. The quaint beach town to the west of Pacific Coast Highway is of greatest interest to tourists. East of PCH is tract housing, Leisure World, a gated senior citizen community of almost 9,000 residents, shopping, freeways and high-tech space and defense facilities, such as Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and Boeing. The space defense industries attract many visitors to the region who also love to play “tourist” when not working on assignment or contract.
Located at the mouth of Alamitos Bay, Seal Beach provides access for boats and yachts entering the Pacific Ocean from Huntington Harbor. It is known as a great location for windsurfing and even has a kite surfing launch area near the River’s End Café.
Seal Beach has retained it’s quaint, small-town atmosphere and is the most popular beach experience in Orange County when you consider the premier beach shopping, free parking and restaurants offering something for everyone at affordable prices.
Los Alamitos High School, which serves the communities of Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and Seal Beach, is a nationally recognized high school, whose reputation has been further enhanced by its success in sports. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, the football team was consistently nationally ranked and at one point went over 45 games without a loss. Its 2005 girls soccer team won the mythical national championship, and its tennis and volleyball teams have had extraordinary success – the latter having captured three state championships in 2003, 2005, and 2006.