The sign above Wind & Sea Restaurant went dark for the last time on September 15, closing the books on fifty-four years in the same spot at Dana Point Harbor. The building is fenced now, waiting for crews to start on Building 1 of Mariner's Village. Walk past that fence, though, and Turk's Dana Wharf is still slinging fish tacos, Frisby Cellars still has its patio doors open to the water, and the Wednesday farmers market is still setting up in the same lot it always has.
What closes and what stays open over these next five weeks isn't random. It splits along a line worth understanding before the rest of the Wharf goes dark on October 31: some businesses are using this forced move to plant themselves more firmly in Dana Point, and some are using it to leave the harbor market altogether.
What's Already Gone, and What's Still Open
Wind & Sea traces back to 1972, when Bob Mardian opened it with Don Hansen, the same Hansen who had just started the whale-watching charter that turned Dana Point into a launch point for boat tours. Its sister restaurant, Harpoon Henry's, closed in August 2025 after fifty years, and the regulars who lost that spot largely folded into Wind & Sea. Now that building is closed too, which means both halves of a Dana Point restaurant dynasty have ended within thirteen months of each other.
That closure follows an earlier round in spring. Beach Harbor Pizza, after eleven years under owner Mario Bahena, closed on April 30 alongside Village Market, Bella Bazaar, and The Brig, as Phase 3 and Phase 5 construction moved into their footprint.
What's left standing through October 31: Turk's Dana Wharf, Proud Mary's, Jon's Fish Market, Gemmell's, and Frisby Cellars & Brewing, along with retailers Art Sea, Gift Chateau, and Vintage Yacht Club. Dana Point Harbor Partners announced on July 15 that the remaining Wharf buildings close to the public on November 1, as the commercial core moves into its fourth and final construction phase. Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching and Catalina Express aren't part of that closure. Both are relocating into temporary trailers nearby and continuing daily departures.
Two Ways to Leave the Same Building
The businesses displaced this year aren't handling it the same way, and the difference tells you something about who was renting a location on the Wharf and who was building a presence in Dana Point.
Frisby Cellars took the harder route. Rather than close, the winery moved into the larger former Waterman's Harbor restaurant space on the same Wharf, picking up a wraparound patio with a direct water view, beer taps alongside the existing wine list, more food, and room for private tastings. Owner Josh Frisby has said the first four weeks of the soft opening at the end of June brought a noticeable jump in walk-in traffic from Catalina Flyer passengers and whale-watching customers heading back to their cars. That's a business betting its future on staying exactly where the boats come in.
Beach Harbor Pizza is making a similar bet from a different angle. Displaced from the harbor, the pizzeria has filed plans for a new location at Dana Marina Plaza, directly across the street. It's not reopening somewhere else in Orange County. It's trying to reopen within sight of where it used to be.
Cocoa Bloom Coffee is doing the opposite. Rather than look for another Dana Point address, the shop is moving to Newport Beach, taking its business out of the harbor market entirely. Bella Bazaar landed somewhere in between, no longer selling out of a harbor storefront but continuing through its local warehouse and online.
Three moves, three different answers to the same disruption. Frisby Cellars and Beach Harbor Pizza are keeping their businesses within sight of the water, while Cocoa Bloom Coffee and Bella Bazaar have each found a different setup that works for them.
The Weekly Things That Didn't Move
Some of what makes the harbor function day to day hasn't changed at all. The Certified Farmers Market still runs every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. near the harbor parking structure, drawing the same mix of locals restocking produce and boaters picking up something for the galley. The three-tiered parking structure at Golden Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive still offers four hours free, which has made parking easier during construction than it was before the structure existed.
Dana Point Harbor Partners has also leaned into the gap left by the spring closures with a limited-run pop-up called Smoke on the Water, a partnership with Delanya's Smokin' Hot Texas BBQ serving starting at 11 a.m. It's not a permanent tenant, but it's filling table space that would otherwise sit empty while Mariner's Village construction continues.
If the Wharf Feels Like Endings, PCH Has a Beginning
The closures are concentrated at the water. Up the hill, something new opened this year instead. The White Rooster took over the former Doheny Cafe space on Pacific Coast Highway on January 16, running a comfort-driven breakfast, brunch, and dinner menu. Chef Michael Campbell built his résumé as chef de cuisine at The Loft at Montage before running Pacific Pearl Café in San Juan Capistrano and opening Capas at River Street Marketplace. He also co-founded Portland's Sustainable Seafood Summit, so seafood sourcing is part of his professional background. He's also a Doheny surfer himself, which puts the restaurant's orientation toward the people who already live and surf here rather than toward hotel guests passing through.
It's a useful contrast to hold next to the Wharf timeline. The harbor is losing a fifty-four-year restaurant this fall. A few blocks away, a new one just built its first year of regulars.
Green Group Real Estate tracks these changes as part of watching Dana Point day to day, not just as a footnote to construction updates. If you want to know when Beach Harbor Pizza's new spot opens or which Wharf tenant reopens somewhere else in town, reach out to Green Group Real Estate.
