The Dana Point Harbor Wharf Closes Nov. 1. Here's Where Everything Is Moving
When the harbor's 984-space parking structure opened in July 2025, it looked like a place to leave the car on the way to somewhere else. After Saturday, Oct. 31, it becomes the place you're going.
The Wharf closes to the public on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. Every remaining Wharf business finishes on Saturday, Oct. 31, ahead of Phase 4 construction. The harbor keeps running through the winter, though. The Wednesday farmers market, the sportfishing and whale-watching office, Catalina Express and a new Thursday night market are all moving to the structure at Golden Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive or the lot next to it. If you go to the harbor every week, expect to start and end most visits there until the new waterfront opens.
This closure follows a run of earlier ones. The Brig and Beach Harbor Pizza in Mariners Village were set to close at the end of April 2026 as Phase 3 work moved forward, according to the Orange County Register. Wind & Sea served its last Wharf customers on Sept. 15 so abatement and demolition could start on Building 1. Buildings 2 through 5 close next.
Here's where each Wharf business stands, based on what Dana Point Harbor Partners told The Log in late July and what the Orange County Register reported about the closures:
| Business | Last day on the Wharf | What's been announced |
|---|---|---|
| Wind & Sea | Sept. 15, 2026 | In talks on a reimagined concept for the finished project |
| Turk's | Oct. 31, 2026 | In ongoing talks about the finished project |
| Golden Galleon | Oct. 31, 2026 | In ongoing talks about the finished project |
| Art Sea Gift Chateau | Oct. 31, 2026 | In ongoing talks about the finished project |
| Frisby Cellars & Brewing | Oct. 31, 2026 | Keeps pouring at its Rancho Mission Viejo tasting room; in talks about returning |
| Coco Bloom Coffee | Oct. 31, 2026 | Plans a café at 1500 W. Balboa Blvd. in Newport Beach this winter |
| Vintage Yacht Club | Oct. 31, 2026 | Looking at local relocation options |
| Proud Mary's | Oct. 31, 2026 | Closing with the Wharf |
| Top Brass | Oct. 31, 2026 | Closing with the Wharf |
According to The Log, Frisby's Rancho Mission Viejo tasting room is about nine miles from the harbor. Bryon Ward of Burnham-Ward Properties, a partner in Dana Point Harbor Partners, told the same outlet that the owners face different paths. Some are retiring, some are moving elsewhere in Orange County, and some are still talking about places in the redevelopment.
So if you have a favorite on that list, Saturday, Oct. 31, is your last chance to visit it on the Wharf.
Four things that used to be spread around the Wharf will now sit at or next to the structure.
Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching and Catalina Express. Both are moving into temporary trailers beside the parking structure and will keep running trips seven days a week. Harbor Partners told The Log that parking in the structure won't be interrupted, and that it will keep dedicated spaces for Dana Wharf and Catalina passengers plus permitted boater parking. Donna Kalez, Dana Wharf's co-owner, told the outlet the trailer is "a full-circle moment," because her father, Don Hansen, started the business from a trailer in 1971 while the original harbor was being built.
The Certified Farmers Market. It keeps its Wednesday hours, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and moves to the surface lot next to the parking structure. The harbor's listing for Nov. 4, the first market after the closure, names Black Sheep Farms, Bee Ladies Honey, Chaupain Bakery, Fresco Pasta, Jaime's Savory Almond and Little Herd Tallow among the vendors.
Harbor After Dark. This is new. It's a holiday night market put together with Modern Makers Mart, held on select Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at the parking structure, with rotating food trucks and local makers. The first listed date is Nov. 19. The event page also promises a seasonal drink from Coco Bloom Coffee, so the coffee shop leaving the Wharf on Oct. 31 will still turn up at the harbor on market nights before its Newport Beach café opens.
Parking. Four free hours in the structure continue during construction.
The fencing covers the commercial core, not the whole harbor. Harbor Partners told The Log that access to businesses outside the Wharf won't be interrupted during these phases. That includes:
For boat owners, the Embarcadero, the launch ramp, the fuel dock and the bait barge aren't affected by the Wharf construction either. The public boardwalk and boater dock access stay open along the Phase 3 and Phase 5 fence line. The Army Corps of Engineers is also repairing the west breakwater and dredging, and the harbor asks boaters to slow down, keep their distance and follow directions from crews on the water.
The Dana Point Marina Inn is still open and was taking reservations through December 2026, which helps if you have family coming for the holidays.
The holiday events are staying at the harbor, and the layout follows the same pattern. This year's displays use the new entrance, the island and the open space by Baby Beach, all away from the fenced Wharf.
The December parade lines up with the start of gray whale season, which Visit Dana Point describes as running from December into spring. Whale-watching trips will leave from the Dana Wharf trailer by the parking structure, not from the old Wharf office.
Phase 4 will replace the old Wharf with about 20,000 square feet of new waterfront buildings, with eight new tenants and as many as four returning ones. Plans include parkscapes, soft seating, public art and space for community events. No new tenants have been named. Harbor Partners told The Log that the entire commercial project is planned to finish at once, with new storefronts opening before the LA28 Summer Olympics, so the shops won't open one building at a time. When it's done, the commercial core will cover about 120,000 square feet in 12 multi-tenant buildings, with wider boardwalks and public plazas.
The work on the water is further along. The Marina at Dana Point opened Phase 11 on May 15, 2026, and Phase 12 on Sept. 14, 2026. It has passed four-fifths of its 15 phases, and Phase 13 is set to start this fall. The marina is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2027.
The two planned hotels, Dana House and Surf Lodge, are less certain. The Orange County Board of Supervisors deadlocked on Aug. 25, 2026, and didn't approve the restructured 66-year ground leases needed to finance them, so hotel construction is on hold. The Daily Pilot covered the vote. Work on the marina and the commercial core is going ahead in the meantime.
You can follow each phase on the harbor's construction schedule page, which updates as fence lines move.
If you own near the harbor and wonder how this long construction period, and the waterfront that follows it, might affect your home's value or your timing, we're glad to talk it through with you, with no pressure. The team at Milieu Homes follows the revitalization phase by phase and can explain what it could mean for your plans. Contact Us.
Whether you're buying, selling, or simply figuring out what comes next, we're here to help you make thoughtful decisions with a clear strategy and a perspective that's grounded in the bigger picture.
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