Dana Point is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, where State Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) meets the Pacific Ocean between Laguna Beach and San Clemente. The city takes its name from the prominent headland that writer Richard Henry Dana Jr. described in his 1840 memoir, Two Years Before the Mast. Today the Dana Point Headlands rise above one of the few natural harbors along the Orange County coast. The harbor is the center of community life. Dana Point Harbor shelters a working marina, a charter fleet, and waterfront restaurants and shops, and the city markets itself as the Dolphin and Whale Capital of the World, with seasonal gray whale migrations passing the point each winter. Surfing is woven into local identity, from the longboard breaks off Doheny State Beach to the family-friendly shore at Salt Creek Beach. Roughly 33,000 residents live across a compact footprint of hillside neighborhoods, bluff-top homes, and condominium communities. The population skews toward families, professionals, and retirees drawn by the coastal setting, the Capistrano Unified School District, and direct freeway and rail access to the rest of Orange County and San Diego. The walkable Lantern District, named for its historic street lamps, anchors a small downtown of restaurants and services along Del Prado Avenue. Dana Point sits at the southern gateway to Orange County's beach cities, with the resort district of Monarch Beach adding golf and destination hotels near the city's southern edge. The local economy revolves around marine recreation, tourism, and the harbor, while many residents commute north toward Irvine and other South County employment centers. Its combination of a working harbor, protected beaches, and a compact downtown gives the city a character that is both a destination and a lived-in coastal community, distinct from the larger tourist hubs to the north.