South Seas Cocktail Lounge - at The Coast Inn - Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach, California, United States

The Coast Inn was built and opened in 1929.

The South Seas was established in 1936 as a pre-Tiki bar and most of its decor shown in photos below was in place by 1941.

There were actually two bars at the Coast Inn location. Part of the charm of both bars was that tropical aquarium fish tanks were used for the bar counter tops. The upstairs bar, known as the Tap Room, was quiet, dark and sophisticated. But the downstairs bar, called the South Seas, with its Polynesian atmosphere, invited customers to let down their hair.

The location, according to past owners, started with military servicemen and local young people, surfers, and more of a "straight" crowd, but began to see more and more of a gay crowd in the 70s until it became known as more of a gay bar by the mid 1980s. This coincided with a change of the name to the "Boom Boom Room" in 1978 by the new owner.

The "Boom Boom Room" shut its doors in 2007.

However, the Coast Inn endures as of the present time (2024)...