Hitting the Beach -- in Irvine?

It’s in the middle of a landlocked suburb, but it also might be the most pleasant place to spend a summer day at the beach.

No traffic -- is there ever in Irvine?

No crowds, either. Just 60 kids, with a dozen or so mommies, daddies and caregivers watching from chaise longues, beach chairs and front-row seats where the gloppy brown sand meets the water.

It’s a fake beach -- or inland beach, as caretakers of the private facility like to call it -- and it’s a mere dozen miles from a real one with those traditional amenities of pounding surf and ocean breezes.

But ignore the tract homes and manicured pepper trees encircling the lagoon, or better yet, rejoice if one of those houses is yours and you can tell friends you have a beachfront pad. Keep that same open mind about the wildlife, since quacking ducks rather than screeching sea gulls will saunter over to nibble your lunch.

And the sandcastle-building? Crabless.

Sizzling August days mean 70-degree water in the sun-warmed lagoon.

Bodyboards float by, girls posing on them like parade royalty. Topped with orange nylon bandannas to ease the frequent headcounts, a dozen kids from a nearby day-care center slip down turquoise slides installed on a mid-lagoon rock formation. One of five lifeguards sits on the rocks, his four counterparts stationed in chairs around the lagoon, providing comfort to nervous parents.

The lagoon, one of two beachfronts on the shores of Irvine’s artificial lakes, is open only to residents of the Woodbridge community and their guests. It’s remade every summer, when 500 tons of sand and 500,000 gallons of chlorinated water are trucked to the southwest edge of North Lake.

When the beach was built in the 1970s, the “sea� floor was painted brown to coordinate with the adjacent lake. About a decade ago, it was repainted white, giving it an almost surreal Caribbean look.

“It feels like an oasis in the middle of an urban landscape,� said Janice LaVelle, resting on a lounge chair next to a bottle of sunscreen and a spritzer of bottled water. Although calling Irvine “urban� is a bit of a stretch, LaVelle is right that the wide-open spaces are infinitely preferable to the people-packed sands at those coastal beaches.

“We have this whole expanse to ourselves,� she said, raising her voice above the gentle whir of a nearby motorboat on the lake. “It’s like a pool, but a lot more fun.�

Across from where LaVelle is watching her 6-year-old daughter fill buckets with water and sand, colorful umbrellas shield dozing moms and the remains of lunchtime barbecues.

A day at this beach is as easy as loading up the strollers and coolers, walking there and planting yourself wherever the mood strikes you, spreading your stuff wherever you want because there’s enough room for a hundred more families. Although 5-year-old Kate Jensen prefers the coastal beaches so she can jump over the waves, the calm waters of the faux beach gave her the security to learn to dive this summer.

“Here you feel safe bringing even your littlest kids,� said Eric Jensen, Kate’s father, as her almost-2-year-old brother Cole thrusts his chubby fingers into the sand. The water is only a couple of feet deep most places, sinking to about 5 feet in a roped-off deep end.

“This is the best beach in the whole Pacific,� Jensen said.

Even German tourists were charmed.

“It’s lovely,� said Angela Schubert, gazing at the glittering water. “It’s different, kind of weird, but quite lovely.� Her family, including 6-year-old Alina and 4-year-old Simon, was visiting the Jensens for two weeks and had visited the beach nearly a dozen times.

Her family’s usual beach? On the Baltic Sea.

But for the other Irvine beachgoers, options are much closer.

Still, don’t go singing the praises of Huntington, Newport and Laguna to Suzanne Helman, who came with her aunt, mother and 19-month-old son to Irvine’s lagoon. The three women lounged in beach chairs while Ryan toddled about in front of them.

“If I take him near waves, he freaks,� Helman said. “Here he’s happy and safe.�

Kathy Hamilton’s family moved last year to be closer to the beach. Every summer Friday is Lagoon Day for Hamilton and her friends. They meet in the afternoon to watch their kids play, and return in the evenings to barbecue near one of the fire pits.

If her family ever wanted to move, the home has a great selling point: “We’re steps from the beach,� she said. “How many people in Irvine can say that?�