San Diego: Coronado or Pacific Beach?
 

We are planning on spending 5 nights in San Diego in mid September 2011, and are trying to decide what area is best to stay in. We are from Sydney, Australia and haven't been to San Diego before.
I thought that staying near the beach would be nice so am considering Coronado or Pacific Beach. We are a family of 4 with 5 year old twins so want somewhere family friendly (ie. walking distance to restaurants and shops). We want to visit Sea World, Lego Land and the Wild Animal Park and won't have a car. Should we stay at Pacific Beach as that area is closer to those attractions? On the other hand, I like the idea of getting the Old Town Trolley from Coronado and going into the old part of the city.
Would you recommend one of these beach areas over the other one?
Also, if anyone has hotel recommendations I'd love to hear them.
Thanks so much.

Pacific Beach is mainly for the 'young' bar hopping crowd and not really geared towards families.
Coronado Island is family firendly but it is somewhat removed from the rest of San Diego, which is appealing in itself. However, you're coming to do the main sights and that won't be convenient for you.
You're really going to need a car to do the things you want to do. Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park and Legoland are miles apart.
The La Jolla area would be a good base for a family. Or Mission Beach/Bay area.
You'll be able to grab the Old Town Trolley at a lot of different stops and sight see the downtown San Diego/Coronado Island location but you'll still need a car.

I agree with SOCAL, you don't want to stay in Pacific Beach. La Jolla or Del Mar are nice beach area options as well.

You really need to have a car for the things you want to do. Taxis are very expensive. Even going from La Jolla to downtown would be a good fifty dollars.

I live in La Jolla near Pacific Beach and it is definately not a nice place to stay with families. It's a great place for bar & club hopping college kids.

Coronado is only 5 minutes (anywhere on the Island) from Interstate 5. The freeway access is much better from Coronado than if you were in La Jolla or Del Mar. I would definately stay in Coronado and rent a car. You won't need it for the time you spend on the Island as you can bike or walk everywhere. And you won't need a car to get to downtown SD either. YOu can take a boat across the SD Bay to the Embarcadero or Gaslamp area.

btw there is more to do as a tourist in Coronado than in Del Mar, and La Jolla is very big and crowded IMHO (I've lived in both Coronado & currently live inLa Jolla) getting in and out of La Jolla requires a car and you're often stuck in traffic.

I'd go with Coronado too. La Jolla is nice, but the traffic stinks. I personally really like Pacific Beach, but I wouldn't choose it with kids.

Coronado the Hotel Del is the best bet then for beach walkable restaurants.

Most Hotels have Seaworld pick up and transport..arrange with
the Hotel Concierge.

http://www.buysandiegotours.com/tour...k_up_list.html

Legoland has hotel p/up too
http://www.trustedtours.com/store/Le...tion-C572.aspx

San Diego Wild Animanl PArk has hotel p/u too
http://tourguidetim.com/san-diego-gray-line-tours/

If you are without a car and have to rely on public transportation, then Coronado Island will be your best bet for an 'on foot' visit when you're at your base.
To give yourself a better idea of distance and travel times- I'd check out mapquest or googlemaps by plugging in your base options and destination sights. Do know the approximate 'travel time' is very generous. It doesn't include traffic which could happen anytime anywhere in So.Cal.
Also know, the Hotel Del Coronado is going to be $$$$. It's considered one of the best historic resorts in North America.

We stayed at the Marriott Coronado a few years ago and had a great stay. It is on the harbor side of Coronado rather than the ocean side, so you don't have the beach right there, but the pool area is nice and you are close to the ferry that goes to downtown San Diego. If you get a room facing toward downtown, you'll have nice views of the skyline. The beach is a 15 minute (I believe) walk from the hotel to the other side of Coronado. It is a nice option for being on Coronado if the cost of oceanfront lodging is too much.

I'd rec going to vrbo and look into renting a small 2 br beach condo near windansea beach in La Jolla. Sept is not peak season so you may be able to get a good deal. This would allow you to hit a grocery store for breakfast and snacks, light lunches to pack and take to the beach. I agree that a rental car is crucial to getting around SD -- there's really no other way to get around as the city has the worst public transportation of any place I've ever lived or visited.

IMO, Windansea is the most gorgeous beach in SD with a visually interesting coastline that you can walk along until you hit downtown La Jolla where you can stop and get a pastry at Girards or lunch at Brockton Villa. There's a "children's beach" in downtown La Jolla -- an expensive but very pretty area. For cheaper restaurant options, drive down La Jolla Blvd (1.5 miles) until you hit the all the eateries in Pacific Beach.

There are lots of good options.... I would go with where you get a nicest place for your price point. Coronado, La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana beach, and Encinitas would all be fine.

We usually stay in Encinitas (north of San Diego). Our favorite is this condo: http://lodging4vacations.com/moonlight-beach-condo/

Moonlight beach is very fun. You can rent all kinds of equipment there and it has a playground. It's just down the street from the condo. We walk to town (Encinitas) from there too.

You'd really need a car though.

Coronado is the only place you can get around without a car. You'd want one for sightseeing off the island. You can take a ferry to the downtown, Gaslamp, Embarcadero areas (of the greater downtown San Diego area). And as 1JAR has pointed out the Hotel Del Coronado has (and probably the Marriott does too) shuttle services to other sightseeing places. Coronado is very family friendly.


If you stay in La Jolla I would recommend La Jolla Shores because it has a more beachy, small town feel than Windansea or downtown La Jolla has.