Top Solo Travel Experiences in San Diego

San Diego’s coastline isn’t just for sunbathing and sunsets — it’s also the launch point for adventures ranging from wildlife tours to thrill rides across the bay. 

San Diego lies along the migration routes of several species of whales — including the blue whale, the world’s largest animal — making the region one of the best spots in the U.S. to go whale watching. From December to April, there’s the opportunity to see California gray whales as they make their way south to Baja California in the winter and then back to Alaska in the spring. Blue whales typically arrive in the summer months, and humpback whales make an appearance in the fall. Book a morning or afternoon excursion with a local whale watching company for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness these gentle giants out on the open sea. Several tour companies operate in town, each offering a unique experience to match your preferred level of adventure. City Cruises sails from the Broadway Pier and features an expert guide from the San Diego Natural History Museum; San Diego Whale Watch departs from Mission Bay for three-hour or extended six-hour expeditions; Wild Pacific Whale Watch embarks from Point Loma and its tours are aboard a luxurious 82-foot yacht; and Adventure Whale Watching offers a more intimate and adrenaline-pumping experience on smaller rigid-hull inflatable boats. 

If you're looking to get out on the water in a different way, fun and fast-paced bay tours offer a new perspective on the city. For a thrilling excursion, SEAL Tours takes you from the city streets straight into the bay aboard an amphibious vehicle, offering a fun look at the Embarcadero and Shelter Island, where you might see seals, sea lions or pelicans along the way. If you're craving speed, the Patriot Jet Boat delivers an exhilarating 30-minute ride with high-speed spins and swerves — prepare to get splashed, and ponchos will be provided. Short on time? Hop on the Coronado Ferry for a relaxing ride across San Diego Bay with plenty of views of the city skyline — it's 30 minutes round-trip. 

For a more tranquil aquatic adventure, try a stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) session, where you’ll glide across calmer waters while getting in a fun workout. Several companies offer guided instruction or board and equipment rentals if you’re an experienced paddler. Coast under the arches of the Coronado Bridge and soak in views of Downtown San Diego’s skyline on a tour with SUP & Saddle. Founded by two sisters nearly 30 years ago, Surf Diva in La Jolla is the first women-centered surf school and offers private SUP lessons at scenic La Jolla Shores, along with dedicated surfing clinics on the weekends just for women. (Surf Diva also welcomes men for lessons and clinics.) Also located in La Jolla Shores, Everyday California offers both group and private SUP lessons. For a quintessential Southern California experience, start the day with SUP yoga at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, a publicly owned recreation center, at a calm cove on Mission Bay.  

Exploring San Diego’s coastline by kayak gives you access to places you can’t reach on foot or by larger boats — hidden sea caves, tucked-away coves and rugged cliffs. The shoreline near La Jolla Cove is dotted with sea caves and is part of a nature preserve where leopard sharks (they don’t bite) congregate in the summer months. Book a tour with Everyday California, La Jolla Kayak or Bike and Kayak Tours for a guided adventure that will take you from the sands of La Jolla Shores right into the sea caves and past kelp forests to view the sharks and other local marine life.  

San Diego has a vibrant street and public art scene, and several neighborhoods are dotted with colorful murals, which can be experienced at your own time and pace. 

Barrio Logan is most famous for Chicano Park, a designated National Historic Landmark where more than 80 different murals celebrating Mexican-American culture are painted on concrete pylons below Interstate 5 and the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. There are dozens of murals in the alleyways, side streets and on storefronts in North Park, including the popular “Greetings From San Diego” postcard mural by Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs, which can be found near 30th Street and Howard Avenue. In nearby South Park, a 30-foot mural by Shepard Fairey — one of the most famous street artists today — depicting a Burmese monk can be found on the side of an apartment building near 30th and Ivy streets. 

The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library commissioned the Murals of La Jolla project, where a rotating roster of local and international artists create large-scale murals for the community to enjoy. Currently, more than a dozen murals can be found from Prospect to Pearl streets, including works by Gabriella Sanchez and John Baldessari.  

One of the city’s most impressive displays of public art is the Stuart Collection on the University of California San Diego campus, which is open to visitors. See a towering bear constructed from granite boulders, listen to the “Wind Garden” installation inside a eucalyptus grove and experience “Fallen Star,” a famous work encompassing a small cottage that sits high atop Jacobs Hall and looks as though it fell from the sky and onto the building. UC San Diego is easily accessible from the Blue Line on the MTS Trolley, which runs directly from Downtown San Diego and Little Italy to the campus.  

Downtown San Diego is just 30 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border, so it’s only natural that some of the best tacos in the country are found here. The options seem endless and go beyond standards like carne asada — there’s a bevy of Baja-influenced fish and seafood tacos, plus regional Mexican specialities such as birria (a flavorful meat stew) and adobada (marinated pork roasted on a vertical spit). In recent years, taquerias with roots in Tijuana have opened locations in San Diego, and others have been lauded in the Michelin Guide. Here are some suggestions for where to start a taco crawl by neighborhood; all can be accessed by the San Diego Trolley. Hit up a few spots and try one at each, and build your own list of your favorites. ¡Buen provecho!

San Diego is the main homeport of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and the city has a rich military history dating back to the 1840s. The scenic Embarcadero, or bayfront, celebrates this legacy with landmark museums and public art. Among them, the USS Midway — an aircraft carrier that served from 1945 to 1992 — has been transformed into a popular museum and now stands as a silent sentinel over the waterfront. It’s fascinating to explore this once-floating city, which housed as many as 4,500 personnel at a time, and to see the fleet of restored aircraft on the flight deck. See the Star of India, the oldest active sailing ship in the world, a steam-powered ferry dating back to 1898 and the U.S.S. Dolphin, the deepest-diving submarine in U.S. Navy history, at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Just steps from the USS Midway Museum at Tuna Harbor, a series of public art installations pay tribute to those who served. The "Unconditional Surrender" statue depicts the iconic kiss between a sailor and a nurse, captured in a famous photo taken at the end of World War II. The Bob Hope Memorial features life-sized bronze figures of troops gathered around the legendary entertainer, commemorating his decades of performing for service members. The “Greatest Generation Walk” along North Harbor Drive weaves together statues, plaques and memorials that honor those who served during wartime. The exciting Navy SEAL Museum just opened downtown near Santa Fe Depot, and goes behind the scenes on the mental and physical discipline required to join this elite force, along with exhibits diving into key missions, including the operation to capture Osama bin Laden. Visitors can also step into a cutting-edge virtual reality rescue mission — a program developed by a former Navy SEAL.

After all that sightseeing, stop by Portside Pier, a prominent waterfront dining destination that has a gelato and coffee shop and four locally owned restaurants — including seafood purveyor The Brigantine — all in one scenic spot.