This island resembles a doll house wonderland with perfectly manicured yards, private docks and retiree walking clubs. Strolling through the streets feels like you are in a surreal world where everyone invites their neighbors over for wine parties and leaves their front doors unlocked.
While spending time in Newport Beach, Mark and I enjoyed the afternoon walking through the little Balboa downtown lined with adorable boutiques and gift shops. While walking through the cozy streets and along the beach paths we had perfect views of the docked boats and gleaming ocean water.
One of the first things we did in downtown Balboa was get a chocolate dipped frozen banana, topped with nuts. There are a few stores in town with these famous frozen bananas but we chose Dad's Original because it had the shortest line (which fluctuated every few minutes) and claimed to be the original frozen treat maker, according to them. This healthy treat has a thick frozen banana center, dark chocolate shell and crunchy nuts. We enjoyed our desserts on a bench along the downtown road while people watching and enjoying the warm weather. Visiting Balboa Island is the perfect way to spend an afternoon, enjoy the outdoors and pretend house hunt while you walk among the picture perfect beach homes.
Transportation Tip: You can either drive into Balboa Island over the bridge on Marine Ave or you can take a quick 5 minute $1 passenger ferry (which I recommend) with the most beautiful ocean views. If you are worried about being carless for a bit, you could walk from one tip of the island to the other in about 20 minutes.
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