California - Which airport best for Dana Point?

Need some advice about driving to the st. Regis in Dana Point?
If we have to choose between lax and San Diego airports which has the easier/shorter drive?
I know John wayne is best, but that is not an option for us.
Thanks

What time of day, what day of the week?

Friday, late morning, early afternoon, sept 28th.

SNA, no question.

As SNA is not an option (as OP pointed out) given the time you're flying in, I would go with SAN. To be honest, the travel time by car will be about the same from both SAN and LAX.

I missed that. It will be better driving up from SAN than driving down from LAX, particularly on a Friday.

San Diego all the way.

Is CLD an option? I've flown into CLD for a stay at Dana Point and the drive was easy.

Thanks for your help.
By the way what is the driving time from the airports?

Thanks for your help.
By the way what is the driving time from the airports?From SAN and LAX, it's about the same, depending on the traffic -- 90 minutes or so. However, on Friday, there is a lot of traffic heading south from LAX, so it could be significantly more. That's why SAN is a better bet.

From SAN and LAX, it's about the same, depending on the traffic -- 90 minutes or so. However, on Friday, there is a lot of traffic heading south from LAX, so it could be significantly more. That's why SAN is a better bet.

Carlsbad is almost certainly the shortest drive, but I don't know if there's any convenient flights for you.

It is SoCal traffic, so drive time can really vary. Getting out of SAN metro area on the 5 Freeway can be tricky sometimes, but once you're out of the downtown area, it is smooth sailing all the way up to Dana Point (unless there is an accident - at which point you could be delayed hours). Same goes for LAX. Figure anywhere between 60 - 90 minutes. The drive up from SAN is all along the coast though - very pretty drive.

From SAN and LAX, it's about the same, depending on the traffic -- 90 minutes or so. However, on Friday, there is a lot of traffic heading south from LAX, so it could be significantly more. That's why SAN is a better bet.

And that's why CLD, if the flights work for the op, is an even better bet.

I agree that CLD is a great little airport and certainly the closest to Dana Point. However, the only commercial flights I know of into CLD are UA Express from LAX. That would mean an extra flight plus connection time at LAX - probably adding about 2 hours to flying time. Even though the drive from CLD is probably only about 30-40 minutes, the total time including the connection is likely to be longer.

It may be worth it to reduce the hassle of the longer drive, but I think that would be a personal choice. Also, the OP didn't indicate what the original departure point would be, why SNA is not an option, and whether a UA Express connection from LAX would work.

We are coming from DTW and SNA would be 7hrs with a stop in MSP and my husband is going to a conference that evening and doesn't like to take chances with a missed connection. LAX and SAN are nonstop.
Since the driving times are not that different, we are leaning toward LAX because the flight there, the rental car and the flight we are taking to SFO which is our departure airport to get home are all cheaper.

We are coming from DTW and SNA would be 7hrs with a stop in MSP and my husband is going to a conference that evening and doesn't like to take chances with a missed connection. LAX and SAN are nonstop.
Since the driving times are not that different, we are leaning toward LAX because the flight there, the rental car and the flight we are taking to SFO which is our departure airport to get home are all cheaper.

Depending on the rental car company you could have a substantial wait for a rental car - or just getting to the rental car company office at LAX, so might want to keep that in mind. The nice part though is traffic shouldn't be too much of an issue, just avoid the 405 Freeway. I would take the the 105 East to 710 South to the 91 East to the 5 south. Sounds confusing, but shouldn't be too much trouble and this will help you avoid the gridlock of the 405 - which is constant no matter what time of day it seems.

The real issue could be your return to LAX, but this depends on the day and time of your departure. Terminal 5 at LAX isn't bad though. Nice SC - albeit often very crowded. The Delta terminal at SFO (T1) is terrible though, so hope your layover there isn't too long.

Having just spent 5 days based in northern San Diego County, including a drive in both directions from and to Santa Barbara through LA, my one piece of advice is, whichever option you choose, leave a lot of extra time. It seemed as if, no matter what day of the week or what time of day, we always ran into unexpected (at least to me) traffic and slowdowns. If you are on a tight schedule, you will create a lot of extra anxiety. That's just the way it is, driving around southern California.

Probably not an option, but LGB would be a better airport than LAX if there are available flights - pretty good hub for JetBlue.