Overview
About Montego at Rancho San Clemente
Montego at Rancho San Clemente covers 41.3 acres and holds 133 addresses on 148 parcels, at a median parcel of 0.123 acres. Nine streets serve it, none of them carrying the Calle or Via prefix common elsewhere in the city: Maracay leads with 31 addresses, then Segovia, S Montilla, Burriana and Cartagena, with four short Puerto streets closing it out. It is the 35th largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here.
Residential Low Density land accounts for 17.1 acres inside the boundary, private open space for very nearly as much at 17, and public right of way for 7.1. The whole boundary lies inside the Rancho San Clemente Specific Plan area and belongs to the Rancho San Clemente master association. All 41.3 acres sit in the state's High fire hazard severity class. Capistrano Unified's own school locator returned San Clemente High, Bernice Ayer Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary at all five interior points tested.
View available homes in Montego at Rancho San ClementeHistory
How Montego at Rancho San Clemente was built
Montego is one of the named neighborhoods inside the Rancho San Clemente master plan, and its 133 detached houses went up in 1986 and 1987. A good number of them are single story, which up here is worth something, because a low roofline in front of you is the difference between an ocean view and a neighbor's tile. Owners pay into the Rancho San Clemente master association that sits over the top of the neighborhood, the normal arrangement in a plan that was released neighborhood by neighborhood rather than built all at once.
The street signs are the most specific thing about the place. Puerto Caravaca, Puerto Morant, Puerto Royal and Puerto Valdemo all open with the Spanish word for port, and they run alongside Burriana, Cartagena, Segovia, Maracay and Montilla, which are towns in Spain and in Spanish America. Montego reads as one more harbor in the same set. San Clemente has been naming its streets this way since Ole Hanson founded the town in 1925 and required Spanish Colonial design on every building he sold, and the builders who filled the inland hills sixty years later kept the naming convention even where they kept nothing else of it.
By the Numbers
Montego at Rancho San Clemente by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Montego at Rancho San Clemente lifestyle
San Clemente keeps ten beaches of its own along the shore, from North Beach past the pier to Riviera, and the city's Marine Safety division staffs them. The pier itself carries restrooms, metered parking, fire rings and the Amtrak and Metrolink platform at its foot.
The city publishes five trail networks that run from the sand up into the canyons and along the ridgelines. Bikes are welcome on all of them, electric bikes are not allowed on the Beach Trail, dogs are welcome on a leash, and horses are permitted on the Forster Ridgeline, Prima Deshecha and Cristianitos trails. City parks are open from 6 am to 10 pm without a reservation unless a group needs a permit.
Schools
Schools serving Montego at Rancho San Clemente
Capistrano Unified assigns Montego at Rancho San Clemente to San Clemente High, Bernice Ayer Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary. The district's own school locator returned the same assignment at every point tested inside the boundary, and enrollment comes from the federal count for 2024-25.
9-12 · 2,740 students
6-8 · 919 students
K-5 · 328 students
FAQs
Common questions about Montego at Rancho San Clemente
How big is Montego at Rancho San Clemente?
The boundary the city publishes covers 41.3 acres, with 133 addresses on 148 parcels at a median of 0.123 acres. It is the 35th largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here.
Which schools serve Montego?
Capistrano Unified's school locator returned San Clemente High, Bernice Ayer Middle and Clarence Lobo Elementary at all five points tested inside the boundary. Confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district before you rely on it.
When was Montego built?
Tract 12426 was recorded in 1986, and the county assessor carries a build year on all 133 parcels here, every one of them 1986 or 1987.
How much open space is inside the boundary?
The city's land use layer gives 17 acres to private open space against 17.1 acres of Residential Low Density, so the two are almost evenly matched across the 41.3 acres.
What is the fire hazard rating?
All 41.3 acres sit in the state's High fire hazard severity class. Raise it with an insurer early.