We plan to be in San Diego in August. We are use to the water in Galveston(warm). Can anyone give us an estimation about how cold the water in the ocean will be? I remember as a child going to a Los Angeles area beach in the summer and it seem to be very chilly. If we have only one day to spend at a beach, which should we go to? We can drive further up the coast if it is worth it. Are there parking lots nearby?

The water is around 65 degrees during summer. The nicest beaches are along La Jolla shores.

By August, the water temperature should be around 70F. Right now it's 66F and my kids, who are San Diego natives, thought it was chilly yesterday. It's nice to cool off if the air temp is high,which it is now, but if you're planning to spend a lot of time in the water surfing or boogie boarding then a wet suit would help.

The beach at La Jolla Shores is great,with lots of parking. However,you will be here during school summer vacation and that parking lot fills up quickly.

A bit to the north you will find Torrey Pines State Beach, one of my favorites. Went there yesterday, 4th of July, and got a parking space at 10:30am! Plenty of parking - $4 to park all day. Has bathrooms, changing rooms and cold showers to rinse sand off.

Further up the coast, Del Mar has a lovely beach, with bathrooms, etc, BUT parking is a bear!!

Before going to the beach, try to buy a beaach umbrella, available almost everywhere, because once on the sand there is no shade. Be sure to wear some kind of shoe/sandal/flip-flop because the sand gets very hot. None of the beaches have food or drink to buy, you have to take your own. Although at La Jolla Shores and Del Mar there are good restaurants both right on the beach and a couple of blocks away.

Thanks Strings and Barbara for your helpful info on the beaches. I just read about Coronado beach. Is it worth going to or is it a private hotel beach? Do you take your car? I saw a picture on a site that looked like a ferry going to a peninsula. Is that the prefered means of getting there?

There are no private beaches in California. To get to the beautiful beach by the Hotel Del, it is much easier to drive, although parking can be tricky once you get there. I definitely would not call the ferry the preferred way to get there. After you get off the ferry it's quite a long walk to the beach, which is right at the other side of the "island".

It will be 68-72 degrees. I find 68 to be tolerable for a couple of hours (I swim at a pool in the 85-90 degree range at home). 72 is comfortable all day. It doesn't much matter where you go - it's about the same everywhere. You can look in the paper (weather page) to see if there is any variation.