Crystal Cove

In the matter of the development of Crystal Cove (April 4), the environmentalists reveal their true identity: social engineers. With thousands of parkland acres available for camping with "picnic tables and rustic bathrooms" for those who enjoy nature from a sleeping bag, where is the justice in denying a facility for those who enjoy nature from satin sheets? A true environmentalist would demand that the shacks be demolished and the beach restored to its natural state. But now we know what they really are!

A new $15-million coastal campground will open Friday at Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County , but don't get your hopes up for a stay over the Fourth of July. Sites quickly sold out for the inaugural weekend of the year-round campground. Consolation prize: You can tour the site for free Thursday. The Moro Campground, while not directly on the beach, offers 60 hilltop campsites facing the ocean. Some, with electrical hookups, go for $65 a night; others, for tents and soft-sided trailers, are $50 a night.

It was with great interest that I read the article on Dale Ghere and the shrubs that are growing along Coast Highway in the area of Crystal Cove State Park (Feb. 15). I can't help but wonder if maybe the state parks [officials] don't want us to see the beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean as we drive up or down the coast in that area. After all, if we cannot see how beautiful the area is, we won't know what the state is giving away for development in Crystal Cove. MARILYN VASSOS Irvine

Crystal Cove State Park's 2,400 acres of hilly chaparral north of Laguna Beach have been closed since late December, when intense storms flooded canyons and triggered landslides that took sharp bites out of the trails leading to panoramic lookouts and primitive campgrounds. But the "No Entry" signs and yellow caution tape blocking trail heads have not stopped hordes of trespassers from roaming the park's 17 miles of backcountry trails on foot and on mountain bikes, making any attempt to respond to emergencies treacherous for park rangers.

For over 55 years, the Carter cottage at Crystal Cove has played a large and wonderful part in my life ("Crystal Cove Residents Try to Turn the Tide--Again," Dec. 29). During my teen years, there were some serious experiences of "passage" that took place there, and through the years some memorable parties and even a wedding. It is a marvelous, magical place, is Crystal Cove. Perhaps not Camelot, but definitely a kind of Shangri-La. Even today, if I walk down that rickety boardwalk, my nostrils seem to be 16 years old again; my eyes, now coated with contact lenses, seem to sharpen when I see the familiar cliff and the beach; my body becomes taller and slimmer; the surf invites me, and my smile is broader and brighter.

The decision by state parks officials not to allow a resort hotel at Crystal Cove was very gratifying to those of us who have believed all along that the park belongs to the people and should not be developed. Had these officials sought public input instead of making secret plans and commitments, they would have known early on that no one wanted a high-end resort. Save Crystal Cove, a coalition of environmental groups (including the Sierra Club and Village Laguna) headed by Jeannette Merrilees, has been opposing development in the park for the last four years, and recently other coalitions and Joan Irvine Smith have joined the battle.

When waste in government services occur, those responsible need to be held accountable. The state Department of Parks and Recreation finally has evicted the residents of Crystal Cove and announced its plan to rehabilitate the cottages at Crystal Cove to improve public access and make it possible for the public to rent them.

Re "Built Upon the Sand," May 5: In Southern California we have few communities that function as such: locales in which residents work daily to build and maintain their sense of connection to the place and the people. Crystal Cove is such a place and will be destroyed if the state follows up on its plan to evict residents and bring it up to code for use as a "public" resort. It is easy to preserve and refurbish buildings and contrive for tourists the appearance that nothing has changed.

Authorities are investigating reports that eight to 10 people came ashore at Crystal Cove State Park in a small boat, then shed their life jackets and some clothes before scattering. Border patrol officials said the group was aboard a panga boat, a type of open-hulled Mexican fishing boat frequently used in coastal smuggling. They arrived at the beach south of Newport Beach on Tuesday at about 7 a.m. A visitor at Moro Beach, one of the beaches at Crystal Cove, called police to report the incident.

THERE are two sides to Crystal Cove State Park, one of the most appreciated (and, it turns out, least appreciated) plots of mansion-free terrain left on Orange County's so-called California Riviera. Heading south on Pacific Coast Highway between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach, look to your right, and there's the side you probably already know about. Side A is a 3.

YOU'VE got to feel grateful, cocktail in hand, sitting in the winter sunshine on the deck of the Beachcomber at Crystal Cove. Down the beach, kids peer into tide pools; at the next table, someone reminisces about the Shake Shack up there on the cliff.

THE hottest tickets on sale the last week of April were not for Bruce Springsteen at the Greek or Madonna's extra show at the Forum. They were for the beach cottages at Orange County's Crystal Cove State Park. Up and online at the very hour reservations opened, I clicked and clicked until I got a cabin. Well, a room. With bunk beds. Facing Pacific Coast Highway, not the ocean. Still, I felt lucky.

Instead of a ribbon-cutting, they raised a martini flag. Instead of leaving mints on guestroom pillows, they sprinkled the vacation cottages with fake lobsters, diving helmets and seashell artwork. On Monday, state park officials unveiled what might be their most unusual seaside attraction -- Crystal Cove State Park Historic District, a once-ragtag enclave of Depression-era beachfront cottages refurbished into cozy lodgings.

Thirteen restored cottages overlooking the ocean at Crystal Cove State Park will be ready for overnight accommodations in June. But in a flurry of first-day ticket sales Wednesday, they were booked through October. The race for reservations at the seaside park just north of Laguna Beach began at 8 a.m., online and by telephone. By 8:46 a.m., there were 16,000 people competing for an overnight stay.

HOTEL review website Tripadvisor this week added "wiki" functionality to its website, www.tripadvisor.com, with a new feature called Tripadvisor Inside. "Wiki is a type of website that allows anyone visiting the site to add, remove or otherwise to edit all content," says Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Wiki makes it possible for visitors to Tripadvisor to contribute original content to an online guidebook. Anyone with more current or extra information can then edit and update it.

Overnight lodging at 13 restored cottages at Crystal Cove State Park will begin June 26, the state parks department announced Thursday. An average overnight stay will be $165, depending on the cottage and number of people, said Rich Rozzelle, Orange County district superintendent. The state anticipates high demand for the coveted cottages, which have been restored to offer visitors a California beach experience from the 1930s. Reservations can be made starting April 27 at 8 a.m.