Overview
About Palacio Del Mar
Palacio Del Mar covers 32.3 acres and holds 86 addresses on 94 parcels, at a median parcel of 0.141 acres. Six streets serve it: Avenida Del Verdor with 31 addresses, Avenida Buenos Aires with 24, then Via Florida, Via Deseo, Avenida Acapulco and Via Colibri. It is the 44th largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here by area and the 41st by address count.
Private open space accounts for 18.6 acres inside the boundary against 12.9 acres of Residential Low Density land, so there is more open space inside the line than housing. All 32.3 acres sit in the state's Very High fire hazard severity class, one of only five of the fifty boundaries that fall entirely inside that class. Capistrano Unified's own school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia Elementary at all five interior points tested.
View available homes in Palacio Del MarHistory
How Palacio Del Mar was built
Palacio Del Mar is in the southeast corner of San Clemente, on canyon ground above the old beach town rather than inside it. The houses are Spanish in style, one and two stories, and they went up in 1979 and 1980. More of the land inside the boundary is private open space than is given over to housing.
The land underneath belonged to Rancho Los Desechos, the grant to Felipe Carrillo that covered most of what became San Clemente. Marcus Forster, son of Don Juan Forster, born John in Liverpool, a Mexican citizen by 1836 and a buyer of Mission San Juan Capistrano at auction in 1844, took 1,500 acres of it in 1883, and the family held the south end of this coast for a generation. It is the same end of town where Richard Nixon bought part of H. H. Cotton's estate in 1969, named it La Casa Pacifica and worked from it as the Western White House, so a short drive from Palacio Del Mar toward the water crosses ground that has been somebody's story since the 1840s.
By the Numbers
Palacio Del Mar by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Palacio Del Mar 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 Palacio Del Mar
Capistrano Unified assigns Palacio Del Mar to San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia 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 · 634 students
K-5 · 533 students
FAQs
Common questions about Palacio Del Mar
How big is Palacio Del Mar?
The boundary the city publishes covers 32.3 acres, with 86 addresses on 94 parcels at a median of 0.141 acres. It is the 44th largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here by area.
Which schools serve Palacio Del Mar?
Capistrano Unified's school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia 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 Palacio Del Mar built?
Tract 8188 was recorded in 1976 and the county assessor carries a build year on all 86 parcels here, running from 1979 to 1989 with 81 of them in the 1980s.
How much open space is inside the boundary?
The city's land use layer gives 18.6 acres to private open space against 12.9 acres of Residential Low Density land, so open space takes more of the boundary than housing does.
What is the fire hazard rating?
All 32.3 acres sit in the state's Very High fire hazard severity class, one of only five of the fifty boundaries entirely inside it. Raise it with an insurer early.