Whether you want to glide over the sparkling water, hang ten down a crashing wave or slip through a kelp forest, San Diego has just the right place for the water adventure of your choosing.
No visit to San Diego would be complete without getting on, into or under the water at some point. Whatever your skill or interest, San Diego has more than 70 miles of awe-inspiring coastline offering endless water fun. From Oceanside to the Silver Strand, here are some of the top places to let loose on the open water.
From Torrey Pines State Beach in the north to historic Windansea in the south, La Jolla is considered by many to be the most beautiful shoreline in San Diego, and the 6000-acre La Jolla Ecological Reserve between La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores is its crowning jewel. With abundant sea life and picturesque cliffs dotted with sea caves, these protected waters are the hotbed for many of La Jolla’s ocean adventures.
With a narrow channel access to the ocean, Mission Bay has 27 miles of shoreline created by the nooks and crannies of its islands, channels, bays and spits. Offering an abundance of water activities, it is a hub for calmer activities such as sailing and stand-up paddle boarding but also faster endeavors like wakeboarding and water skiing, as well as over-the-top thrills such as jetpacking and flyboarding.
Mission Beach is a spit of land that has the ocean on one side and Mission Bay on the other. Pacific Beach, known as P.B. to locals, is just north of Mission Beach and includes the famous longboard break at Tourmaline Surf Park. Ocean Beach, called O.B. locally, is just south of the Mission Bay channel. Even further south is Sunset Cliffs that has a few secluded beaches for surfing and sunbathing but is more known for its locals-only reef break.
The hilly peninsula of Point Loma protects the waters of San Diego Bay and those surrounding Harbor Island and Shelter Island, principal areas for boating and fishing excursions. Home to two military bases, a national cemetery, a national monument and a university, the peninsula offers limited ocean access but presents incredible views of San Diego’s skyline.
At the eastern edge of the San Diego Bay, Coronado Island and its beaches are linked to the mainland by the beautiful arch of the Coronado Bridge. With its wide sandy beaches stretching from the leash-free area for dogs at North Beach, south along Central Beach and its iconic Hotel del Coronado, to the 7-mile long isthmus the Silver Strand State Beach, Coronado has most of what water lovers would want.
The towns all along San Diego’s North Coast from Del Mar to Oceanside proudly embody the SoCal surf spirit, with woodies cruising Historic Highway 101, menus filled with beach-centric names and surfboards in nearly every garage.
Considered to be one of the best natural harbors on the west coast of North America, San Diego Bay is surrounded by the cities of San Diego, Coronado, National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach.
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