"We're not going to be closed even for a day," Donna Kalez told The Log this summer. She co-owns Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, and she was talking about what happens after the Wharf closes to the public on November 1.
Her company has done this before. Dana Wharf opened in 1971, when the harbor was still being built, and it sold tickets out of a trailer while construction went on around it. Kalez said her father, Dana Wharf founder Don Hansen, signed his lease on the same day as Bob Mardian, who owned Wind & Sea Restaurant. Mardian had to wait for his building to be finished. Hansen only needed to sell a ticket and send people out to a boat.
Fifty-five years later, the harbor is about to work that way again. The restaurants and shops built on land are leaving for the next stretch. The businesses built around boats are staying, set up beside the parking structure. For the rest of this phase, the harbor is mostly its water side.
What leaves on October 31
Dana Point Harbor Partners announced on July 15 that the Wharf would close to the public on November 1. That starts Phase 4, the fourth and final phase of the Commercial Core Revitalization. Wind & Sea went first. Its last service was September 15, ahead of abatement and demolition on Building 1, after 54 years in the harbor. Buildings 2 through 5 stay open through October 31.
Here is where each remaining business said it was headed, based on the latest reporting in The Log and Dana Point Times:
Business | Harbor history | Stated plan after October 31 |
|---|---|---|
Turk's | Family-owned, on the harbor since 1984 | Plans to return after construction; exploring local options in the meantime |
Proud Mary's | Part of the harbor since 1977 | Owner would consider an existing restaurant space elsewhere; no plan in place |
Frisby Cellars & Brewing | In the harbor since 2018; moved into the former Waterman's Harbor space in June 2025 | In talks about a space in the new development, no lease signed; Rancho Mission Viejo tasting room stays open |
Golden Galleon Boutique | 46 years in the harbor | Looking for a temporary space near the harbor; hopes to return |
Art Sea Gift Chateau | Wharf tenant | In ongoing discussions about the final project |
Vintage Yacht Club | Wharf tenant | Exploring local relocation options |
Top Brass | Wharf tenant | Expected to close October 31 |
Coco Bloom Coffee | Temporary harbor storefront | Opening a café this winter at 1500 W. Balboa Blvd. in Newport Beach |
I have not found any announcement since then that gives a new address for Turk's, Proud Mary's, Vintage Yacht Club or Wind & Sea. When it announced the closure, Dana Point Harbor Partners said Wind & Sea's ownership was "in discussions" about a reimagined concept in the finished project. It said the same of the ongoing talks with Art Sea, Frisby, Golden Galleon and Turk's. For now, every return in the table is a hope or a conversation, not a signed lease.
Why the boats stay and the dining rooms go
The split follows what each business needs. A restaurant needs a building, and the buildings are coming down. A sportfishing fleet needs a dock and somewhere to sell tickets.
"There's no location that I could go to with 11 boats," Kalez told The Log. "It's not like we can just move across the street while the construction is being done and then move back."
So Dana Wharf and Catalina Express are moving their check-in to temporary trailers near the parking structure. Customers check in at the trailers and are then directed or escorted to their boats. Dana Wharf also plans a smaller retail area and space for its private charter business. Kalez expects Dana Wharf to operate from the temporary facilities for about 15 months, though she noted the construction schedule could change. Fishing trips, whale watching, private charters and the Catalina ferry are all expected to keep running. Dana Wharf's own site advertises daily whale and dolphin trips year-round.
On the parking structure, Dana Point Harbor Partners said there would be "no interruption," with parking set aside for Dana Wharf and Catalina excursions and for permitted boaters. The harbor's parking page lists four free hours in the structure. The fishing trip itself stays the same. Only the check-in moves, to a trailer instead of a counter on the Wharf.
The last three weeks on the Wharf
Today is October 9, which leaves about three weeks of the Wharf as it has been for decades.
Turk's owner Candy Varteresian told Dana Point Times that her team "will be pouring and serving daily through Oct. 31 on the Wharf," and invited people to "come down and celebrate the many memories we have shared on the water." Proud Mary's owner Steve Zdrakas bought the restaurant 21 years ago. He told the paper that people have gotten engaged there and held retirement parties and celebrations of life there.
Frisby Cellars & Brewing is keeping its regular events going until it closes: Wags & Wine, Taco Tuesday and live music on Sundays, plus private and upgraded waterfront tastings. Its last night falls on Halloween. The "Last Boorah" runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on October 31, with a live DJ, a costume contest, wine, beer and food. After that, the events move to Frisby's 6,000-square-foot Rancho Mission Viejo tasting room, about nine miles away, which recently signed a new seven-year lease. Dana Point wine club members keep their benefits there.
The harbor that's left in November
Once the fences go up around the Wharf, the open harbor is larger than the closed part. According to The Log's August 27 report, the following are expected to stay open through construction:
- On the water: Capt. Dave's Dana Point Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, Pure Watersports, Dana Point Yacht Club, Dana West Yacht Club and Aventura Sailing Association
- Education: the Ocean Institute
- Public waterfront: the boardwalk, Baby Beach, the Dana Point Fishing Pier and the Embarcadero
- Boating services: the launch ramp, fuel dock and bait barge
The Dana Point Harbor Certified Farmers Market keeps its Wednesday slot. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., behind and inside the parking structure. Kalez also suggested a walk across Golden Lantern to Dana Marina Plaza, whose restaurants, shops and service businesses are outside the construction area.
The Log also asked visitors for patience. Check-in locations may move, walking routes may look different, and construction will be part of the scenery for a while. The harbor's restaurant and shopping directory pages still showed Wharf tenants as open when we checked, so they are not yet a reliable guide to what is open after November 1.
The calendar through the Festival of Whales
The harbor's event schedule has moved to the open ground, much of it around the parking structure:
- Harbor After Dark, November 19, 4 to 8 p.m. An evening holiday market at the parking structure on select Thursdays, with rotating food trucks. The listing includes seasonal drinks from Coco Bloom Coffee, a few weeks after the café's Wharf storefront closes.
- Dana Point Turkey Trot, November 26, 7 to 11 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.
- 51st Boat Parade of Lights, December 11 to 13, 6:30 p.m. nightly. The official listing says the public can watch from the harbor's boardwalks and parkscapes.
- 56th Festival of Whales, March 5 to 7, 2027.
The boat parade is the clearest example of this phase. It happens on the water, people watch from the boardwalk, and none of it depends on the buildings coming down behind it.
What comes back, and what isn't known yet
Phase 4 calls for about 20,000 square feet of new waterfront buildings, with eight new tenants and up to four returning ones. It also adds public space, seating, public art and room for community events. None of those tenants has been named in anything published so far, and none has an opening date. The 15-month estimate comes from one operator's planning, not from a published schedule.
The marina's 15-phase dock replacement is running on its own track. The Log described it as more than two-thirds done and scheduled to finish by the end of 2027. Orange County's Fifth District page says completion is on track for 2028. The hotel component is less certain. County supervisors did not approve the proposed hotel land leases on August 25, which leaves the two-hotel plan unsettled, as the Orange County Register reported.
Until those answers come, the harbor runs much as it did when Dana Wharf first opened. "We're full circle," Kalez said. "We were in a trailer before the harbor finished."
As the Wharf changes and Phase 4 names its tenants, the businesses on the waterfront will shape what daily life looks like for the streets around Dana Point Harbor. If you'd like to talk through how the revitalization fits with a home you own or are considering nearby, Trey Dewey follows each phase closely. Let's Connect.
