Aquathon: A Daredevil’s Dream
By Carisa Carlton Grounded in tradition and passion, the Laguna Beach Aquathon is an adrenalin junkies multi-stage non-competitive endurance event involving the completion of sequential disciplines along eight dangerous miles of richly ragged coastline. Limits of courage are vigorously tested on the Laguna course that involves swimming, bouldering, and hiking in immediate succession for 6 to 7 hours. Even when weather and tide...
Hare Krishna Temple | Laguna Beach
Hare Krishna Temple, Laguna Beach aka International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Laguna Beach By Carisa Carlton The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Laguna Beach temple sits two blocks from the ocean in a 1930’s beach cottage neighborhood situated in the heart of an international tourist enclave. The temple itself is a converted two-storey former Baptist church (ISKCON) with vaulted ceilings and...
Chùa Điều Ngự Buddhist Temple
Chua Dieu Ngu Vietnamese Buddhist Temple Westminster, California Interview with the Venerable Thich Nhất Thanh By Carisa Carlton As the 2016 grand-opening keynote speaker, His Holiness the 14th Dali Lama taught “The Power of Compassion and as a Key to Accomplishing Values to Self and Others” at Chùa Điều Ngự Buddhist Temple in Westminster (“Little Saigon”), California. That prodigious event is a source of pride that bonds its...
Scuba Diving Laguna Beach: Beach Cities Scuba
By David Morse So you always wanted to scuba dive (or learn how to scuba dive) in Laguna Beach? The shoals off Laguna, at almost every turn, is loaded with colorful fish, lobsters, eels and more. Available to everyone, quick and easily. Not unlike most people in Laguna Beach I spent my youth and now my “other years,” on the Southern California beaches in the surf and watching the ocean. My love of the ocean never included diving, only...
Whales in Laguna Beach
By Carisa Carlton Southern California has the highest concentration of rare and endangered Blue Whales in the world according to David Anderson, International Wildlife Film Festival award winner, author of “Lily, A Gray Whale’s Odessy,” and owner of Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari in Dana Point. Blue Whale sightings off the Orange County coast number between 1,000 and 2,000 annually. The whale...
Pacific Marine Mammal Center | Laguna Beach
By Carisa Carlton The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach is a 501(3)(c) permitted facility that rescues, rehabilitates, and releases marine mammals stranded along the 53 miles of Orange County coastline. They provide programs, including school field trips and tours, designed to educate and raise awareness of the marine environment in an impactful manner. And, their research assists marine organizations and biologists...
Best Internet Café in Laguna Beach | Koffee Klatch
By Carisa Carlton Koffee Klatch attracts a rather eclectic, youthful crowd and the Laguna Beach coffee shop is busy from dawn to late nights. In fact, Koffee Klatch is the only coffee shop in Laguna Beach that is not only open when creative types are just getting their days started, but they are the only establishment in Laguna Beach I consider on par with fun Internet cafés one might find in Europe or Asia. You might bump into author...
Laguna Beach Charities and Their Salaries
By Carisa Carlton I went on a quest to discover how much Laguna Beach charities are paying their executives. I expected to find at least one charity paying an executive a ridiculous, unreasonable salary. But, when I began digging into charities with more than a million dollars in assets, I found just the opposite: Laguna Beach 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations surprisingly pay their executives nothing, or the salaries are reasonable...
Dolphins Don’t Smoke
By Carisa Carlton After purchasing two Groupons for a 5-hour fishing trip with my father, I couldn’t have been more excited about the day we had planned on Orange County waters with Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching. But, as I reeled in a baby mackerel, my largest catch of the day, the guy next to me flicked his cigarette butt into the water. I kept telling myself, “Remain calm. Do not feed him to the...
Laguna’s Giant Aquarium
By Carisa Carlton A marine reserve area (MPA) is a designated area in the ocean that serves to protect marine life, its ecosystem, and habitats. MPAs in California are required by the California Fish and Game Department. Five different California regions were established, and each region plays a pivotal role in the planning process. Laguna Beach’s State Marine Reserve covers 5.88 miles of the Laguna coastline and the Laguna...