Laguna Beach | La Tour

La Tour at Victoria Beach in Laguna Beach

I saw a photo of this little castle tower somewhere on Instagram a few months back, and ever since I had been dying to go. It just looked so magical and special, I had to find it. Turns out, it was only a little over an hour away from me here in San Diego. The castle tower, often referred to as “La Tour” or the Pirate Wower, is located at Victoria Beach in Laguna Beach, CA. 

 Having lived in San Diego for over 10 years you would have thought I would have visited Laguna Beach multiple times by now, but nope, this was my first time! It gets hard to want to visit other areas when there is so much to explore in your own neck of the woods. Nonetheless, we did not have a magical tower, so we were off.

I read somewhere online that this tower was built maybe in the 20’s or 30’s and it was used as a staircase to get down to the beach from the house that was on the cliff above it. I am not sure how true that is or not, but that would have been pretty cool if you lived there! Anyhow if you are ever in the area and want to visit here is a little step-by-step based off of our own trial and error in finding this special little place:

1. When to go

 I recommend going at low-tide because of having to walk along some rocky areas which is much easier when the waves aren’t crashing up threatening to knock you over. You can google low-tide times online and plan accordingly. Also, if you can, I would recommend going during the week when there will be fewer people there. We went on a Sunday around sunset time, and there were a good amount of people there. I kind of expected more based on the reviews, but I think going during a week day would be ideal if you can.

2. Address to Google to arrive at beach entrance

 2713 Victoria Drive, Laguna Beach CA 92651

This will take you to the most darling little neighborhood/street you ever did see. Laguna Beach is a very hilly area which I think makes it all the more beautiful, so this street is like walking down a cute little alley way almost with these quaint (and when I say quaint I mean million-dollar home quaint) beach cottages & houses. You come to the address you googled and there is a stairway to go down which leads to the beach. The stairway is pretty obvious, you will see it. It is so darling going down, there are little cobblestone like benches built into the stairway, and gorgeous beach houses on either side. As soon as you can see the ocean, it is already a magical feeling. You see crystal blue (seriously, they were VERY blue in person the day we went) waves, sand, sun, and just all around beauty!

3. Parking

You won’t be able to park on Victoria Drive as far as I could see, but by googling the address you can at least drive by to see where you will need to go. After that you can go back out onto Pacific Coast Highway and park along there. We found parking pretty easily around PCH when we went.

4. Getting to the tower once you are at the beach

Once you have arrived on the sand at the bottom of the stairs you will see some rocks off to the right, and depending on the day and time you go you may see people walking around on the rocky area. To get the tower, you will have to walk over some rocks which are below a cliff like area. I would recommend wearing some slip proof shoes, or taking off your shoes while walking around the rocks. My sister actually messed up her sneakers which I felt really bad about so for sure wear something that you don’t care about getting wet or scuffing! There is this bright green moss stuff that is extremely slippery- so again, be careful! It isn’t far once you start walking to the right and you will see it shortly, there is also a man-made pool type area which people like to swim in.

Overall, I was super impressed with this little area. I didn’t expect actual magic or fireworks or anything but it was very beautiful and just a really cool thing to see. I plan to go back during the week when we have more time to hang out and explore! 

View from the staircase on the way down

Exploring the area

The rocky area you have to walk over

View of the beach area

Ocean view from the staircase