Kimmie

I am going to San Diego in 16 days. I know that this beautiful city is known for it's beaches, but I wanted to get an opinion on which are the best ones. I will be here during for 10 days during July, so the more information, the better! I'll thank you in advance, I appreciate all the help.KIM

Joe

Taking the kids-La Jolla Shores
Taking the dog-Ocean Beach
Blading, biking, people watching-Mission/Pacific Beach
Romantic and Scenic-La Jolla Cove
Watching surfers-Wind n' Sea
Thrill ride-Body surfing at Marine St.
All of these beaches are withing 30 minutes of the airport. There are many beautiful north county beaches. Moonlight, Solano, Del Mar, and Torrey Pines State are 30 minutes farther. I've spent many days at these beaches and can not remember a bad day. Arrive early for hassle free parking. Leave early and wear sunscreen to miss the 2nd degree sunburns. July is a great month to visit. Have fun.

Emily

Coronado is also a good beach for kids and general swimming purposes.

Rebecca

I stayed there for two weeks one summer. I would go to Pacific Beach, and Ocean Beach, although I like Mission Beach better. It has a roller coaster, and a bunch of cool stores right there. If you want to go about an hour or so north, you should go to Oceanside. This is my favorite beach. It seemed cleaner and just better in general.

Kimmie

Thank You everyone for replying to me message. Everyone talks of San Diego as if it has no flaws.
The more replys I get, the more anticipated I become to vist this great city.
The more replys, the better! Please tell me more of your opinions, I need all the information I can get!
Thank You very much~Kim

Larry

I have been to San Diego many times and even though it is paradise, some beaches are not so great. Silver Strand Beach, which has an admission fee, is DIRTY and I am not sure that the sand has ever been cleaned. One of my favourite beaches, Marine Street Beach, can also be quite dirty early in the year until it is cleaned. And one beach that is rarely mentioned, except in a negative sense, is Imperial Beach, adjacent to Mexico. It is clean, has enough lifeguards and beach patrols, a few nice stores (including an adorable, inexpensive art store), and resembles the broad beaches in Brazil. Some people say that they feel insecure there and that the sewage from Mexico is in the water. BALONEY! I have never seen it. Any while you are in the neighbourhood, visit the U.S. Olympic Training facility at Chula Vista (Free!): you won't be disappointed.

xxx

Definitely make it over to Coronado Beach for a visit. Great place to watch the sunset from the patio bar at the Hotel Del Coronado.

anotherJoe

Torrey Pines state reserve has great sand and scenery, plus some good trails on cliffs above the ocean. Coronado is a great walking beach because you can walk forever, but the rips can be bad there.

Sam

I'm also making a trip to San Diego. We're planning to visit as many beaches as possible but top on our list is Coronado. My friend saw it on a show listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I've heard it's beautiful!
Sam

sheri

Black's beach, with swirls of black (sediment, maybe) is a wonderful secluded beah. My SD native friends took me down there. I think you go through La Jolla to get there, if it's not in La Jolla. You hike down and can find old naked men (very few). Also, at random you'll find a guy riding his bike selling cans of cold beer.

anon

actually, larry, if there is sewage in the water, most likely you will not see it. it's the bacterial levels in the water that you should be worried about. the year that i was living there, an underground sewage line south of the border burst, spraying raw sewage into the water. you could see it spreading in the aerial photos. of course, that is a totally uncommon occurrence. i don't mean to scare anyone off swimming in the water. it's safe and i believe agencies down there test the water regularly and close the beaches to swimming when there are problems.

Molly

I've lived in San Diego since '89 and I like Joe's list, though would add North County beaches like in Solona Beach or Encinitas which are 30-40 minutes from downtown but often cleaner. I like snorkeling at La Jolla Cove, which is an underwater park and on a clear day you can see big orange fish and schools of sardines. It also has cool tidepools. Coronado, menitoned by some, in my experience is often FILTHY and I've had friends get sick swimming there. The San Diego Union Tribune has published lots of articles on sewage spills. If you go to their website and search in the news archive, you can read more www.signonsandiego.com. Also I would avoid the Hotel Del Coronado, which has had sewage issues, and is in midst of a nasty labor dispute. Check out www.boycothoteldel.org for more info. Happy visiting. Molly

Bonnie

Last time I was in San Diego I stayed at Pacific Beach and loved it. Nice boardwalk, surfers in the water, restaurants nearby, very laid back, friendly area. Went on for miles.

David

Having been to San Diego a number of times, here are my opinions;
Mission and Pacific are fun beaches, crowded, people coming and going, great people watching area;
Torrey Pines State PARK: more isolate< beautiful scenery< cliffs come right up to sand:
Coronado, wide clean beach, hotel abutts beach (don't know what's presently going on re. reference in previous post)
Imperial beach has in the past been a subject of several news stories re waste contamination.

Janet

I used to live in SD and will be out there for a visit about the same time. Pacific Beach is great for Boogie Boarding, etc. Park near Law Street for easy access to the beach. Just be sure to stay on the south side of the flags, the north side is for surfers. Belmont Park in Mission Beach is fun with wooden roller coaster, etc. Across the street is a great bay area for younger kids (around toddler age). Be sure to try fish tacos while you are there. Have fun!