Located on the coast 16 miles southeast of Newport Beach and seven miles southeast of Laguna Beach. The point is a stubby peninsula with a sheltered cove on the southeast side. It was called Point San Juan Capistrano, after the nearby mission, or was shortened to San Juan Point. It had been called Punta de Arboleda. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., in "Two Years Before the Mast" described (1835) the hauling of dried hides in squeaking carretas from the mission and surrounding ranchos to the point and dumping them over the cliff to be picked up by the ship's small boats. This was at the cove which, like the point and the town, has been given the name Dana. The cove is now owned by Mr. Probar and is often called Probar's Cove. There is a short pier here for the landing of small craft. The town of Dana Point, started in 1926, is on the mesa back a little from the cove. Some people now apply the name Point San Juan to the west corner of the peninsula and Dana Point to the east corner. Maps do not agree as to these names. A mile up the coast (northwest) is Arroyo Salada (Salt Creek) where four or five small boats fish set lines the year round but their catches are delivered to and are credited to Dana Point.

Out from Dana Cove two small gasoline motored fishing boats run strings of lobster traps and at other seasons fish trammel nets. About 10 skiffs make headquarters here for trolling barracuda, chiefly, and albacore during runs. Two of these skiffs use setlines for halibut and other bottom fish.

In May, 1949, about 28,000 pounds of abalone were credited to Point San Juan and 20 pounds in 1950 were so recorded but normally the catches are reported as Dana Point. In 1950 and 1951 the landings at Dana Point averaged 64,000 pounds per year. The species were, in order of volume, lobster, abalone, albacore, sheep-head, barracuda and halibut.

The rocky shores of Dana Point and the offshore rocks were the fishing grounds for some of the first paddleboard skin divers along the coast and this area remains an outstanding locality for this sport.