San Diego – Best Beaches In California
1. Visit Old Town and witness the living legacy of San Diego history. Guests wander through Old Town’s historic buildings, including the blacksmith shop, Seeley Stables and the oldest schoolhouse in San Diego. Some visit Old Town for shopping – some of the shops carry very nice handicrafts. Others like to have a big platter of tacos and enchiladas washed down with a margarita while still others poke around inside the historic buildings, imagining life in early California.
2. Visit La Jolla Cove and stop by “the” Cave (via the Cave Store) where you go down a narrow stairway through a manmade tunnel into the mysterious Sunny Jim Cave. The cave’s first owner, Sunny Jim, thought he could make a living from his cave, so he hired two Chinese laborers in 1902 to excavate an underground tunnel to the interior of the cave. The workers finished the cave using only picks and shovels and carrying out the dirt with a wheel barrow. Back then the public could only get down into the cave by lowering themselves down a rope. You can also enter the cave from the sea (via kayak) along with the other six ocean-carved caves, but Sunny Jim is the only sea cave in California that you can access from a stairway.
3. Visit downtown San Diego’s Seaport Village for hours of free entertainment, leisurely strolling and window-shopping. Here you can explore 50-plus diverse shops, 17 unique eateries and outdoor entertainment and find everything under the sun. Alongside four miles of tree-lined paths you’ll find all sorts of entertainers doing their thing. Bands, singers, dancers, magicians, whatever. There’s something for any age, so have a seat, take in a show and get a little sun. Check for the scheduled stage performances and daily entertainers. All of the talent performs, where else, outdoors – after all, you’re in San Diego!
4. Bike or jog along Mission Bay Park’s many trails. Joggers and walkers share more than 20 miles of scenic running paths that wind through sunlight and shade near the shoreline and feature workout courses at planned stations along the route. Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the United States (over 4,235 acres). Here you’ll find tons of stuff to do including paths for walking and jogging, and playgrounds for children. It is one of San Diego’s most popular locations to picnic, ride a bike, fly a kite or sail a model yacht. Fire rings make it possible to cook out and stay warm. Here, away from overhead wires, friends and family gather to launch colorful kites into the bay breezes. A great place for a beach chair and a book.
5. Grab your beach towel and Coppertone and get to one of dozens of San Diego beaches (they are all free) and swim, jog, boogie-board, read a spy novel, watch world-class surfers or just bake in the sun. Alcohol is prohibited on all San Diego beaches. Both South Mission Beach and Ocean Beach are hotspots for beach volleyball. Ocean Beach has six courts, and South Mission Beach has 15 courts.
Terry Hunefeld took early retiremend from his position as a CEO to pursue his passion of sailing the world’s oceans observing seabirds and marine mammals. Terry and his wife purchased and now operate a quiet, imtimate B&Bin the little surfing community of Encinitas near San Diego. For more information visit: San Diego Bed and Breakfasts or San Diego Beach Hotels.