Balboa Island
Newport Beach neighborhoods
A man-made island where $25 lots became million-dollar cottages
In 1906, developer William S. Collins dredged a two-acre mudflat in Newport Bay and sold the resulting lots for $25 each — promising streets, sewers, a ferry, and a future. Today those same lots support some of the most coveted real estate in Orange County, and the island he built still holds the small-town, pedestrian-first character he envisioned. No traffic on the perimeter boardwalk. No chain stores on Marine Avenue. No hotels anywhere.
Balboa Island is the most charming square mile in Newport Beach — and the place where locals send guests who want to experience the city the way it actually feels to live here, rather than visit it.
2.6-mile harbor boardwalk
Pedestrian village
No hotels — rentals only
Family & romance
Historic cottages
At a glance
Created1906 — dredged from a mudflat by W.S. Collins
AccessMarine Ave bridge or Balboa Island Ferry (since 1919)
Boardwalk2.6 miles — rings the full island perimeter
Population~3,000 residents on three islands
StreetsNamed for gemstones: Ruby, Pearl, Opal, Diamond…
LodgingNo hotels — vacation cottage rentals only
Best forFamilies, romance, heritage seekers, nostalgia
Three islands, one address
Most people refer to “Balboa Island” as a single place. In fact it’s three distinct islands separated by narrow water channels, each with its own character. Knowing the difference shapes where you’ll want to stay.
Main Island (Big Island)
Marine Ave corridor
Most visited
The heart of the community — Marine Avenue bisects it with all the shops, restaurants, and both frozen banana stands. The 2.6-mile perimeter boardwalk runs around the waterfront edge. Streets are named for gemstones: Ruby, Pearl, Sapphire, Topaz, Opal, Diamond, Emerald, Onyx. The most active, walkable, and visitor-facing of the three islands — and the most common location for vacation rentals.
Little Balboa Island
East end, small bridge
Very quiet
The quieter sister island connected by a small bridge at the end of Marine Ave. Entirely cottages and single-family homes. Ruby Street Beach — at the end of Ruby St — is a neighborhood secret: small harbor waves, almost never crowded, perfect for young families. The place island residents go when they want peace from summer visitors.
Collins Island
Gated — 8 homes only
No cars
An exclusive, gated pocket of eight homes with no vehicles allowed, accessible only by private bridge. Named for developer William Collins. James Cagney famously bought — or possibly won in a poker game — Collins Island in 1938 for $32,000. One of the most exclusive addresses in Newport Beach. Rarely available on the rental market.
The Balboa Island Ferry
In continuous operation since 1919
One of the oldest ferry services west of the Mississippi River
The Balboa Island Ferry is a 3-to-5-minute crossing of approximately 800 feet of harbor water —
connecting the island’s south shore to the Balboa Peninsula Fun Zone. It runs 365 days a year,
carries cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, and departs roughly every 10 minutes. The alternate
route by road adds six miles; nearly everyone takes the ferry.
It started in 1919 when Joseph Allan Beek bid $50 a month to run a boat service after arriving on the island to sell real estate lots. His first “ferry” was a large rowboat with a small engine that came with oars in case of failure. By 1920, the first car had been pushed across the bay for a dime. Three 64-foot double-ended ferries — built on Balboa Island in the 1950s and still running today — now carry three cars each.
Taking the ferry, even if you don’t need it for transport, is the correct way to arrive on Balboa Island. The view of the Pavilion and the harbor as you cross is the single best photograph in Newport Beach.
It started in 1919 when Joseph Allan Beek bid $50 a month to run a boat service after arriving on the island to sell real estate lots. His first “ferry” was a large rowboat with a small engine that came with oars in case of failure. By 1920, the first car had been pushed across the bay for a dime. Three 64-foot double-ended ferries — built on Balboa Island in the 1950s and still running today — now carry three cars each.
Taking the ferry, even if you don’t need it for transport, is the correct way to arrive on Balboa Island. The view of the Pavilion and the harbor as you cross is the single best photograph in Newport Beach.
1919
Year service began
800 ft
Crossing distance
3–5 min
Crossing time
365 days
6:30am–midnight
The best photo in Newport Beach: Stand at the back of the ferry and look toward the Balboa Peninsula as you cross. The Balboa Pavilion, harbor boats, and morning light create the image that defines what people picture when they imagine Newport Beach. Take it from the island side, heading toward the peninsula, early morning.
Marine Avenue — the island’s main street
Marine Avenue is a single walkable block — a concentrated collection of locally owned boutiques, bakeries, candy shops, restaurants, and galleries. No national chains. Every business independently owned. Everything you find here you can’t find anywhere else in the county.
Eat & drink
- Basilic Restaurant — 217 Marine Ave. French-Swiss fine dining — seasonal menu, nightly fish specials, intimate room. The island’s most elegant dinner option. Reservations essential.
- Royal Hen — 311 Marine Ave. The island’s best date-night dinner — thoughtfully assembled, strong local following. A Scout Guide Newport Beach founding member and the go-to recommendation for a proper evening without leaving the island.
- Balboa Island Baking Company — Orange County-famous cinnamon rolls, baking classes (book ahead), and the correct first stop before a boardwalk walk. Sells out early on weekends.
- Huskins Coffee — The island’s local café and morning social hub. Arrive before 8:30am on weekends for a quiet table before the visitor crowd arrives.
- Sapori — 1080 Bayside Drive. Italian at the island entrance where locals retreat from Marine Ave’s summer crowds. Excellent pasta, quieter atmosphere — the open secret among island regulars.
- Village Inn — 127 Marine Ave. The island’s neighborhood watering hole — a community bar that’s been here longer than most visitors have been alive.
Shop & explore
- Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society — 210 Marine Ave. Free admission. Hollywood Golden Age exhibits (John Wayne, Bogart, Garbo, Cagney), island creation story, scavenger hunt for kids. Mon–Thu 10am–5pm, Fri–Sun 10am–6pm. Worth 20 minutes before walking the boardwalk.
- Balboa Candy — 301 Marine Ave. Saltwater taffy institution — the essential souvenir stop and the place where every child on the island ends up at least once per visit.
- Once Upon an Island — 118 Agate Ave. Immersive mermaid experience for children — genuinely beloved by families, particularly strong holiday programming in winter months.
- Sur La Mer Coastal Goods & Isabelle’s Cabinet — Marine Ave boutiques for coastal home décor and accessories — the kind of locally owned shops that make Marine Avenue feel like a village rather than a retail strip.
- Balboa Surf & Style — 213 Marine Ave. Paddle board, bike, and gear rentals alongside surf apparel. The practical starting point for anyone wanting to get on the water from the island side.
Parking strategy: In summer, park on the north side of the island — those spots fill slower than the south side near the ferry. Better yet: take the ferry from the Peninsula ($1.50 per person) and avoid island parking entirely. The bridge from the mainland is free but both-side lots fill by 10am on summer weekends.
The great frozen banana rivalry
Two frozen banana stands. One small clothing boutique and a Catholic church between them. A rivalry that has outlasted every trend in the food industry. Neither stand will tell you the same story about who invented the treat — and the truth, it turns out, belongs to neither of them.
Sugar ‘n Spice
Est. 1945 · 310 Marine Ave
Bob and Dot Cook opened as Dot & Bob Candies. Their 11-year-old son Don accidentally put a batch of bananas in the freezer instead of the refrigerator. Rather than throw them out, Bob dipped the frozen fruit in warm chocolate fudge and rolled it in English toffee and chopped peanuts. The shop changed its name to Sugar ‘n Spice in 1959.
Signature: classic chocolate + English toffee & peanuts
vs
Dad’s Donut & Bakery Shop
Est. 1960 · 318 Marine Ave
Opened fifteen years after Sugar ‘n Spice and immediately claimed their own “Dad’s Original” frozen banana — adding butter brickle and honey almond granola toppings Sugar ‘n Spice didn’t offer. Also home to the Balboa Bar (ice cream dipped in chocolate and rolled in toppings), debated as fiercely as the banana itself.
Signature: butter brickle & honey almond granola toppings
The truth about the banana
Neither stand invented it — the patent belongs to someone else entirely
The concept was patented in 1940 by Don Phillips, who operated “The Original Banana Stand” near the Balboa Island Ferry landing — five years before Sugar ‘n Spice even opened. Phillips likely adapted the idea from food vendors at Chicago’s 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair. In 1963, Bob Teller opened Banana Rolla Rama near the ferry, coined the term “Balboa Bar” for the ice cream version, and popularized both before selling the business in the mid-1970s.
The frozen banana that inspired Arrested Development’s Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand has a murkier provenance than either surviving stand will acknowledge. The good news: both are excellent. Try both. Form your own opinion. Just don’t bring it up at the other stand.
The frozen banana that inspired Arrested Development’s Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand has a murkier provenance than either surviving stand will acknowledge. The good news: both are excellent. Try both. Form your own opinion. Just don’t bring it up at the other stand.
The 2.6-mile perimeter boardwalk
The perimeter boardwalk — a continuous paved path ringing the island’s entire harbor-facing edge — is Balboa Island’s defining feature and its daily ritual. Residents walk it before coffee. Visitors walk it after dinner. Cyclists use it. Dogs love it. The views change continuously: harbor homes with private docks on one side, open water and the distant Peninsula on the other.
The boardwalk connects all three islands via small bridges. The South Bay Front side faces the main harbor channel with views of the Pavilion and Fun Zone across the water. The North Bay Front side is quieter — residential docks, moored sailboats, and weekend morning silence.
Complete circuit: approximately 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. Sunrise is the best time — light on the harbor water and almost no foot traffic. Sunset runs close second, with the western sky reflecting off the bay.
Local morning circuit: Ferry across from the peninsula at 7am → coffee at Huskins → cinnamon roll at Balboa Island Baking Company (arrive early; they sell out) → full boardwalk loop (45 min) → back via the ferry. This is the morning that defines what Newport Beach actually feels like to people who live here.
Getting on the water
The harbor surrounding Balboa Island is calm, protected, and extraordinarily well-suited to self-guided water exploration — no ocean swell, no dangerous currents, and harbor views in every direction.
Duffy Electric Boat Rentals Most popular
The quintessential Newport Harbor experience — whisper-quiet electric boats for up to 12 passengers, 5mph, BYOB encouraged, dock at waterfront restaurants along the way. Multiple rental operators work out of Balboa Island and the Fun Zone. Sunset departures book earliest — reserve 2–3 weeks ahead for summer weekends. The Christmas Boat Parade viewed from a Duffy is the December superlative; book in August.
Paddleboard & Kayak Rentals
Balboa Surf & Style (213 Marine Ave) and Sports Rents LLC both offer paddleboard, kayak, and electric bike rentals. The harbor’s calm water makes SUP accessible to beginners; the route around the island’s perimeter by water is a particularly beautiful alternative to the boardwalk walk.
Whale & Dolphin Watching
Newport Landing and other operators run daily tours from the Balboa Village dock across the channel. Gray whales December through April; blue and humpback whales May through November. Newport Harbor’s position at the edge of the Santa Barbara Channel makes this a genuinely world-class whale watching location — not a tourist gimmick.
Ruby Street Beach Local secret
The small public beach at the end of Ruby Street on Little Balboa Island — calm harbor waves, minimal crowds even in peak summer, entirely residential vibe. Beloved by local families with young children precisely because it has none of the intensity of the Peninsula beaches. Not on most visitor maps. That’s the point.
Annual island events
April (annual)
Balboa Island Garage Sale
One Saturday morning, residents island-wide open their yards and driveways. Starts 7:30am. Treasure hunters arrive from across Orange County. A genuine community event that captures the small-town character of the island perfectly.
Summer (annual)
Balboa Island Parade
A beloved island tradition: children on bikes, dogs in costumes, decorated golf carts, vintage cars, the USC Marching Band, drill teams, school bands, local dignitaries, and the Keystone Cops. Exactly what a neighborhood parade should be — because it is one.
Dec 16–20, 2026
Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade — island viewing
The island’s perimeter boardwalk is one of the prime viewing locations for the 118th Annual Parade. Boats pass directly alongside the seawall. The Ring of Lights home decorating competition is best experienced by walking the island boardwalk during parade week — both harbor shores fill with extravagantly decorated homes.
December
Holiday Home Walking Tour & Tree Lighting
Annual self-guided tour of decorated bayfront and island homes, paired with a tree lighting and Snow Day community event. A quintessential small-town holiday experience in the middle of a major coastal city.
The stories behind the island
Founding story
The man who built an island — and went broke doing it
In 1902, William S. Collins and his business partner bought approximately 900 acres of land centered around Newport Bay for $50,000. Collins began dredging in 1906, using the excavated sand to raise a mudflat above the waterline and create a 160-acre residential island. He sold lots for $25 each, promising streets, sewers, streetlights, a ferry, and a bridge.
Considerable land was sold to residents of Pasadena — which is why so many longtime island families still have strong ties to that community. Development was slow. The island officially joined Newport Beach in 1916. And Collins himself? He never saw the return on his gamble. He lost everything and went broke. The island that trades at millions per parcel still carries his name only on the private eight-home enclave that a Hollywood star later acquired for $32,000.
Considerable land was sold to residents of Pasadena — which is why so many longtime island families still have strong ties to that community. Development was slow. The island officially joined Newport Beach in 1916. And Collins himself? He never saw the return on his gamble. He lost everything and went broke. The island that trades at millions per parcel still carries his name only on the private eight-home enclave that a Hollywood star later acquired for $32,000.
Hollywood’s harbor hideaway
Bogart, Cagney, Wayne, and the Golden Age of the island
In the 1920s and 1930s, Balboa Island became the preferred escape for Hollywood’s golden generation. Because Los Angeles had no public marina until the 1960s, Newport Harbor served as the city’s coastal playground. John Wayne had a home here. Humphrey Bogart was a regular visitor. Greta Garbo, Jane Russell, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Shirley Temple, and Buddy Ebsen all frequented the island.
James Cagney went further — he reportedly bought Collins Island in 1938 for $32,000 (some accounts say he won it in a poker game). The island that Collins went broke building ended up in the hands of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors. The Museum’s Hollywood exhibit tells the story through photographs and memorabilia. Free. Worth 20 minutes.
James Cagney went further — he reportedly bought Collins Island in 1938 for $32,000 (some accounts say he won it in a poker game). The island that Collins went broke building ended up in the hands of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors. The Museum’s Hollywood exhibit tells the story through photographs and memorabilia. Free. Worth 20 minutes.
Pop culture connection
Arrested Development, the banana stand, and why visitors still look for it
Mitch Hurwitz, creator of Arrested Development, grew up in the area and set his fictional Bluth family in Newport Beach. The Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand — “there’s always money in the banana stand” — was inspired by the real dueling stands on Balboa Island. The show’s establishing shots of the island are real footage; the scenes were filmed in Marina del Rey. The actual Bluth stand doesn’t exist, but Sugar ‘n Spice and Dad’s have leaned into the association for two decades.
The island also appeared in Gilligan’s Island (Pirate’s Cove at the harbor entrance was used in establishing shots) and served as backdrop for MTV’s Newport Harbor. For a 160-acre dredged mudflat, it has had a remarkable amount of screen time.
The island also appeared in Gilligan’s Island (Pirate’s Cove at the harbor entrance was used in establishing shots) and served as backdrop for MTV’s Newport Harbor. For a 160-acre dredged mudflat, it has had a remarkable amount of screen time.
Staying on Balboa Island
There are no hotels on Balboa Island. This is not an accident — the island’s residential zoning preserves its character by design. The only authentic way to stay here is in a private vacation home. Most rentals are Victorian-era or mid-century cottages: compact, charming, and within walking distance of everything Marine Avenue has to offer. This is precisely why guests who stay on the island tend to fall in love with it in a way that hotel guests never quite do.
Bayfront cottages with harbor views
The island’s most coveted rentals — directly on South or North Bay Front with private docks, harbor views, and immediate boardwalk access. Some include a Duffy boat or kayak at the dock. These book 4–6 months ahead for summer and holiday periods and rarely appear with short lead times.
Classic gem-street cottages
The heart of the inventory — compact, character-filled homes on the gemstone streets (Ruby, Pearl, Sapphire) within walking distance of Marine Avenue. Dutch doors, trimmed hedges, small patios. The classic Balboa Island experience for families and couples. 1–3 bedrooms, most with parking for one vehicle.
Larger family homes (2–3 BR)
The island’s modest scale means few properties exceed 3 bedrooms, but larger homes do exist — particularly on the interior blocks. Best for families who need multiple bedrooms and want to self-cater without requiring a waterfront location.
Little Island quiet retreats
Rentals on Little Balboa Island offer the most private, residential feel — away from Marine Avenue foot traffic, with access to Ruby Street Beach. Right for couples or small families who want the island experience with meaningfully less summer congestion.
Booking timing: Balboa Island rentals for July 4th weekend and the Christmas Boat Parade week (mid-December) are the two most competitive windows in Newport Beach. Plan 4–6 months ahead for both. Shoulder season (May–June and September–October) offers the same village experience with meaningfully easier availability.
Who stays here
Balboa Island draws guests who want the village experience over the beach-party experience — walking, dining, browsing, and genuinely slowing down. It’s Newport Beach without the summer intensity of the Peninsula boardwalk.
Families with younger children
Romantic couples & anniversaries
Heritage & nostalgia seekers
Arts & culture travelers
Digital nomads (mid-term stays)
Active & wellness travelers
Holiday & event travelers
Stay Beach Cities · Direct booking
Find your Balboa Island cottage
We manage a curated selection of vacation homes on Balboa Island — bayfront properties with private docks, gem-street cottages, and Little Island retreats. No OTA markup, no booking fees. Book directly with the local team that knows this island.