Del Mar Neighborhood Guide
A Day at the Races in Del Mar
Where the Turf Meets the Surf.
The old cliché still rings true in the idyllic coastal community of Del Mar and its country counterparts: Rancho Santa Fe, Carmel Valley and Fairbanks Ranch. In fact, if you rise early in the morning before beach umbrellas and boogie boards crowd the sand, you might spot thoroughbred horses from the world-famous Del Mar Racetrack exercising along the shore.
Once a secluded getaway resort for Hollywood celebrities, Del Mar's old beach bungalows have given way to multi-million-dollar mansions, but the fanciful flags and Hobie Cat sailboats beached out front reveal that "Del Martians" are on holiday year-round - in spirit, if not in deed. Across the freeway, the wooded estates and farm plots of Rancho Santa Fe are reminiscent of San Diego's early agricultural roots, while the exploding residential developments around Del Mar Heights reflect the city's 21st century prosperity. Del Mar is the kind of neighborhood that locals can't imagine ever leaving, and visitors can't wait to come back to.
Cruising around
The Pacific Coast Highway (aka: Camino Del Mar in these parts) runs right through the middle of town, and the intersection of Camino Del Mar with 15th Street is the center for shopping and dining, the perfect place to start or end your tour of the neighborhood. On the southwest corner is the old Stratford Square building with its exotic array of books and baubles, and the luxurious L'Auberge Del Mar Resort & Spa is across the street to the northwest. On the northeast corner you can explore the Del Mar Plaza shopping center with three terraced levels of haute couture and ocean view dining. Heading south on Camino Del Mar, you'll find even more great restaurants and stores.
Just down the end of 15th Street, the turf literally does meet the surf at Sea Grove Park, a grassy playground on the bluff that's popular with families and picnickers, and at Powerhouse Park down by the beach, offering excellent bathroom and shower facilities and the exciting prospect of oceanfront dining at Jake's Del Mar or The Poseidon. From this point northward to 29th Street, private homes front the beach with public access corridors at every cross street and lifeguard towers (active in season) every few blocks. The beach south of 15th Street all the way to Carmel Valley is fronted by low cliffs, with precarious foot trails. There are patches of rock and reef offshore here that appeal to surfers, but make the place less than ideal for swimming.
Traveling inland on Via De La Valle from the north end of Del Mar, you'll find the world famous Del Mar Race Track and Fairgrounds just to your right on Jimmy Durante Boulevard. Beyond the fairgrounds, you'll find the Flower Hill Promenade with upscale shops and restaurants, as well as more practical fare like grocery stores and movie theaters. Leaving the freeway you'll pass Del Mar's invisible boundary dividing town and country. In the open river valley to your right-hand side are tomato farms and polo fields; in the tree-covered hills to the left are sprawling horse ranches and palatial residential estates.
Inside tips
Just as Del Mar has its two faces—town and country; surf and turf—it also has two seasons—summer and the rest of the year. Summer is a lively, fast-paced, crowded time. First, in mid-June thru early July, the annual
San Diego County Fair comes to town, complete with livestock competitions, carnival games and dizzying rides. The fair draws crowds from all over Southern California, especially in the evening for its nightly offering of headliner bands, culminating in a spectacular fireworks show on the Fourth of July. Then, from late July thru early September, horse racing season kicks in at the Del Mar Race Track adjacent to the fairgrounds. Post times are 2 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. on Friday (with live music shows), and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday; no races are held on Tuesday. Meanwhile, down at the beach, families stake their claim on the sand while surfers and swimmers play in the warm waters offshore, an endless parade of cars creeps up and down the coast searching for parking, and hungry diners keep the tables filled at local restaurants. Once school resumes in the fall, the crowds thin, things slows down and the residents settle back into their small town routines.
Del Mar City Beach is one of the best in San Diego, and you don't need to be at 15th Street to enjoy it. There are fifteen blocks of fun, and parking is often better the farther north you go. The same discouraging features (cliffs and rocks) that make the beach between 15th Street and Carmel Valley (Torrey Pines State Beach) less appealing to the masses, also mean it's a lot less crowded. If you want to get away from it all, head south—just remember, conditions are rougher at the reefs and there's no regular lifeguard service. There's golf at the nearby Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course and any number of private clubs in the area, plus a driving range at the Del Mar Golf Center by the fairgrounds. Other popular activities around Del Mar and environs include: hot air ballooning (try Skysurfer or Hot Air Flyer), volleyball (at the rivermouth), hiking at Torrey Pines State Beach and Park and running and cycling, which are popular up and down the coast, throughout the North County.
Accommodation ranges from the moderately-priced motels around the freeway, to mid-range, bed-and-breakfast style inns on Camino Del Mar and Coast Boulevard, to the upscale hotels around the Race Track and up in Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch. There are great restaurants in Del Mar Plaza, on Camino Del Mar, down on the beach by Powerhouse Park, and all along Via De La Valle. Once you've exhausted all the great possibilities in Del Mar, check out Restaurant Row, right on the beach and just up the highway in Cardiff. Shoppers will like the stores around 15th Street and Del Mar Plaza. Also at Flower Hill Promenade and the Knorr Candle Shop (formerly the Old Del Mar Candle Factory) just past the Polo Fields on Via De La Valle. For original art, handmade furniture and other one-of-a-kind items, visit the South Cedros shopping district just up the coast in Solana Beach on South Cedros Avenue. And, to round out your day in Del Mar, check out the Belly Up Tavern, also on South Cedros Avenue, one of San Diego's best live music venues.
Getting there
From the North: On INTERSTATE 5 coming from the north, exit Via De La Valle west, south on Pacific Coast Highway (Camino Del Mar) to 15th Street.
From the South: On INTERSTATE 5 coming from the south, exit Carmel Valley Road west, north on PCH (Torrey Pines Road) to Camino Del Mar and 15th Street. There is also an Amtrak train station conveniently located just off PCH at the intersection of Lomas Santa Fe and Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.
