Journal · Neighborhood

Living on the Sand: A Guide to Beachfront Homes in Sunset Beach and Surfside

From Surfside's Row A oceanfront to the homes on the sand along South Pacific Avenue, here is how the truly beachfront properties on this stretch of the Orange County coast actually differ.

July 23, 2026 · 7 min read

By Justin Ratowsky, Realtor®, Ratowsky Group at Compass

The most exclusive real estate on this stretch of the Orange County coast isn't measured in square feet or lot size. It's measured in how close you are to the water — and on the narrow run from Seal Beach through Sunset Beach and the gated Surfside Colony, a small number of homes sit directly on the sand. Not a block away. Not across Pacific Coast Highway. On the sand, with the beach as their front yard and nothing between the patio and the tideline.

Buyers ask us about "beachfront" all the time, and the word hides a lot of important distinctions. A home on the sand in Surfside's front row lives nothing like a condo a few streets back, and the price gap between them can be seven figures. Here is the honest, row-by-row breakdown of how beachfront living actually works here.

The beachfront complex just north of the pier

The most overlooked way to own on the water here is the beachfront apartment-and-condo complex just north of the pier. For a lot of buyers, it's the smartest money on the beach. You're buying the two things that never depreciate on this coast — the location and the ocean view — while the association shoulders the parts of beachfront ownership nobody enjoys: the salt-air maintenance, the exterior, the seawall.

It's a natural fit for a lock-and-leave second home, a downsizer who wants the sound of the surf without a big house to run, or a first step onto the sand before committing to a standalone beachfront property. You give up the privacy and the land you'd get with a single-family home, but you gain walk-out beach access and a view at a fraction of the entry price. When we walk a buyer through the trade-offs, this building is almost always part of the conversation.

Homes on the sand: South Pacific Avenue in Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach — annexed into Huntington Beach in 2011 but still very much its own village — is laid out along two streets: North Pacific Avenue on the inland side and South Pacific Avenue on the ocean side, with a wide greenbelt running between them. The prize is a home on the ocean side of South Pacific: front-row on the sand, with the beach as the backyard and no road, no highway, nothing between you and the water.

These are true beachfront homes, and they trade at a real premium over everything across the greenbelt. What you're paying for is permanence of view and direct sand access — you step off your deck onto the beach. Homes a row back, across the greenbelt, still enjoy the neighborhood and the walkability, but they are beach-close, not beachfront, and they price accordingly. If a client tells me they want to hear the waves from bed, South Pacific on the sand is where we start.

Surfside Colony: the difference between Row A, Row B, and Row C

Surfside Colony is the private, gated community tucked between Seal Beach and Sunset Beach — a few hundred homes behind a guarded gate, laid out in three rows running parallel to the ocean. Which row a home sits in is the single biggest driver of its value, and the differences are worth understanding before you fall for a listing photo.

• Row A is the front row — directly on the sand, oceanfront, with the beach as the backyard. These are the trophy homes of the Colony: the best views, the most light, the highest prices, and the deepest, most competitive buyer pool. When a true Row A home comes available, it moves.
• Row B sits one row back, behind Row A. You're still steps from the sand and often catch ocean views from the upper floors, but you trade the direct beachfront frontage for meaningfully better value and a bit more privacy from the foot traffic. For many buyers, Row B is the sweet spot.
• Row C is the back row, closest to the gate and Pacific Coast Highway. There's no oceanfront frontage here, and it's the most attainable way into the Colony — but you still get the gated community, the private beach, and the same short walk to the water. It's the entry point for buyers who want the Surfside lifestyle and address without the Row A price.

The mistake buyers make is shopping Surfside on price alone and not realizing that a Row A, a Row B, and a Row C are three different products in the same neighborhood. Sand access, view, privacy, and resale demand all shift as you move back from the water.

Which one is right for you

There's no universal best answer — there's the right answer for how you'll actually live. Want the waves at your doorstep and the strongest long-term view protection? That's Row A in Surfside or a home on the sand on South Pacific Avenue. Want beachfront light and sound with less house to manage? The complex north of the pier is hard to beat. Want the gated lifestyle at a friendlier number? Row B or Row C.

We've sold this coast since 1977, and we track what's trading — and what's about to trade quietly — across all of it. If you're weighing beachfront options in Sunset Beach, Surfside, or Huntington Harbour, reach out to Justin or Craig. We'll give you a straight read on which row — or which street — fits what you're actually after.

Craig and Justin Ratowsky are a father-son team with Ratowsky Group at Compass. Justin Ratowsky is a Realtor®, DRE #02026158.