Upper Newport Bay (Back Bay)
Newport Beach (Orange County) · near Newport Beach · Los Angeles / SoCal
Kayaking & SUP
At a glance
- Best season
- Year-round; best spring & fall; winter is peak birding
What is here
- Wildlife
- One of the state's richest estuary bird habitats - herons, egrets, ospreys, migratory shorebirds, endangered Ridgway's rail; stingrays & occasional sea lions
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Kayaking & SUP detail
- Nickname
- The Back Bay Birding Paddle
- Water types
- estuary
- Exposure
- sheltered
- Sup friendly
- Yes
- Wetsuit
- Protected & warmer - ~68-72F summer, mid-50s winter; no wetsuit needed in summer
- Intl tip
- Check the tide chart and launch 1-2 hours before high tide - ride the flood in, the ebb back, and avoid getting stranded on the mudflats. Winter is the best birding; stay in the channels off the marsh.
The guide
Upper Newport Bay - the 'Back Bay' - is a quiet, glassy 750-acre estuary hemmed by bluffs in the middle of urban Orange County,…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Upper Newport Bay (Back Bay) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.6289, -117.8931