PCH or street parking. there is free parking by the hospital on the weekends only. You have to go early otherwise its hard with parking.

It just looks like alot when walking on them

Yes, we saw a few dogs there.

I have not visited the tide pools in Laguna, only those found in Corona Del Mar. All of the California coast is accessible to the public (California Coastal Commision) you need to go when the tide is low. Tide tables are available through several sites, Surfline and visitlagunabeach look under things to do, beaches, tide-pools,this site has contact information to give you the answer you need. Good Luck!

Yes, there are plenty of restaurants on the beach. I will suggest what I think will help you. One of the best views, cliff side, is The Cliffs. It is in a village which has a lot of little shops and the good thing about this place is you are right on the cliff over the ocean and the bar has a great happy hour and music. It is great for all ages. There is The Deck, but on certain nights, weekends mostly, it is a young scene with a DJ and it is crowded, not very calming. There is the Casa Del Camino hotel roof with a marvelous roof top 180 degree view of the ocean and the hotel itself was built in the 1920's and renovated keeping that era's integrity, downstairs is their restaurant K'ya which is fantastic and reasonable. I live across the street from Las Brisas which is a famous restaurant that is on the ocean side, has a view of the ocean, but not right on a cliff, like The Cliffs which I mentioned above and the drinks are far more expensive there than The Cliffs where drinks/foods are more reasonably priced, again, their happy hour is hard to beat. If you go further south, further down from the village, there are a couple of other ocean side restaurants with ocean views you should know about. 1. Coyote Grill -great Mexican food. 2. Mozambique -not on the ocean side, but the roof top bar and 2nd floor restaurant -both with views is great. They have music there also. But, if you are watching your costs, you must take advantage of their happy hour dinners. It is from 3:00 to 6:00 Mon. through Friday...$10.00 something for a choice of 3 or 4 awesome meals and wine/beer (including Stella Artois) are $5.00/ea. Mozambique has one of Laguna's best ambience as the interior is beautiful and there are live parrots on site in large, wrought iron cages. I know you are looking for restaurants on the ocean, but please, do not pass up going to the village and having a breakfast or lunch or dinner at The White House -an old Laguna tradition, all locals go there including me, food is great & reasonable, interior is comfortable. There is music many nights -different types and bar is great as well. If you go into the village... away from the ocean, I highly recommend two places that locals go, that are away from the crowds and offer a great atmosphere and good food -Zinc Café and The Lumberyard... Zinc café has a wonderful Jazz trio that plays there Fridays and Sunday evenings starting at 6:00, get there at 5:30 as the place is small and quaint... You will also get a different view of Laguna/the Village that tourists rarely see...in fact, we locals don't like to advertise this side of Laguna as we'd really like to keep it to ourselves to be honest. But if you venture into this part of the village, you will see old Laguna and hear the church bells ring... Hope this helps, I have invariably forgotten things to give you, but I think I covered most of it. Let me know if you have any further questions and have a great time while here in our town!!!

Yes. There are public restrooms in a little shack at the bottom of the stairs.

Depends on if you want to walk through the cave or swim? Go at low tide to walk/hike through the cave and high tide to swim. Check the local tide charts to find out when high and low tides are!

It all depends on the amount of people using the steps when you are there. It can get very crowded, especially on the weekends. In that case the dog would be a problem. But if only a few folks are on the steps it shouldn't be a problem.