We will be in San Diego at the end of January (Super Bowl week) and are looking for suggestions on romantic beaches for strolling in the evening (sunset viewing a must!), and other suggestions for romantic evenings out on the town. We will be staying at the Manchester Grand Hyatt and will likely not be renting a car.

We don't often get away without children, so we want this trip to be quite special. I appreciate any suggestions you might offer.

Ocean Beach is convienent and the sunsets are great. Either that or if you can take the trolley down to IB.

try to have a bite at or even explore
the hotel del coronado...10ish minutes from midtown san diego. it's the hotel where the filmed 'some like it hot' and many celebs stayed there over the years. right on the beach, very old america resort. enjoy.

i would recommend going to sunset cliffs one night - if you go into ocean beach and go down to the street called santa cruz. can't do a lot of walking but bring a blanket, a picnic and enjoy the sunset while the waves crash against the rocks.
drive down torrey pines road on the way to del mar, there is a nice walking beach there.
laguna beach (1 hour north) is a lovely town to spend an afternoon and evening.
go walk around the la jolla cove area. can't walk on a "beach" but nice walkways.

Poster is not renting a car.

Tess, without a car, you're going to have difficulty getting to any beach. Every beach in San Diego has gorgeous sunsets (if it's not raining), and most of them are great for walking, but none of them are within walking distance of your hotel. From your hotel you will be able to walk along the Embarcadero, which is a lovely walk, although not a beach.

It would be well worth it to take a cab to La Jolla one afternoon and stroll around the village and along the oceanfront before a romantic dinner at one of La Jolla's many excellent restaurants.

This is in a great location for wandering around Seaport Village and hopping on the Trolly to various locations. The trolly stops at the convention center which means you can use it to go to lots of places. Check out the map: http://www.sdcommute.com/RiderInfo/trolley/trolleymap.asp
We went to San Diego without a car and had a great time.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Seaport and walked to the Gaslamp District for a nice dinner with seating out along the sidewalk. I don't know if the weather will permit this but if it's nice, lots of restaurant in the Gaslamp have this. We also walked to Horton Plaza, took the Trolly to Old Town and had Margaritas and appitizers. We were also without the kids for the weekend and it was really a great trip!! Have fun!

Tess, I would heed Barbara's advice. Try and rent a car, for at least a day or 2. It is well worth the trip to La Jolla. You can get by well without a car due to your location, however a trip to La Jolla is worth it for a nice romantic dinner. Visit the Marine room for a drink. If it is high tide the waves crash against the window. This sits right on the beach. Cool place.

You pretty much have to rent a car in SD. The public transportation is laughable at best.

Take the ferry from Downtown over to Coronado Island late afternoon and have a drink in one of the restaurants/bars (Peoyes (sp?) is good) as the sun sets, with the light reflected on the skyscrapers.

Make that Peohe's

Thank you for the suggestions! The Marine room/La Jolla were on my list of Must Do's, and we will probably rent a car for our last day or two in SD if we get tired of paying cab fare. The ferry over to Coronado is also on my list, with high hopes of it's being rather deserted on the trip back.

Through searches I've done here, it sounds like Peohe's is another good choice. I'd love to hear any more suggestions, and appreciate the advice so far!

Cross off the Marine room! The recent high surf came into the dining room, and they are expected to be closed for months.

The Marine Room was not damaged by the recent storms. I just called them to verify. It is still there and still open for business.