I have lived in San Diego since August but as a poor college student I have not gotten to do the tourist things or had the chance to eat at a fabulous seafood restaurantand now I have people coming to visit me in March and I need some advice!...I know they want to take a surf lesson, go whale watching, maybe go to Mexico, and of course I have to take them to some great restaruants! If you have any suggestions please let me know!! We are all college students on spring break. I just want to show them a good time in the beautiful city that I love!!
Thank yoU!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ttt

Any advice for ajechort?

Hi..
I live here and I love to do and find cheap and great things to do here because it is so expensive but you don't need much $$ and here is my take.
Brigantine.com (best seafood happy hour and cocktail hour) all over SD
$2.50 huge fish tacos,$2 pints
Lahaina in PB..oceanfront and great patio on oceanfront/boardwalk with music and pitchers of beer and watch the sunset.(alot of college kids)
Happy hour Crab Catcher.com La Jolla.. oceanfront with great cheap seafood specials and the food is really good!
Whale watching..I still think you can get coupons from the Reader.com
Reader is a good resource for coupons, cheap and fun..The seals at LJ & the Cove are great and to walk that coastline..then have lunch at Alfonso's then split a Large Nachos and a Mex Beer..
Torrey Pines State Beach is a great hike and then Roberto's at Carmel Valley or Solana Beach for the best Chicken tacos and carne asada burrito..
Kono's for breakfast at the Crystal Pier in PB for the best cheap breakfast..$3+ and soooo good.. watch the surf on their patio..a line but it goes quick.
Have fun and you can do it cheaply!

When I was in San Diego I enjoyed Old Town for strollling, shopping & eating, Point Loma, Coronado Beach, Balboa Park and SeaWorld. I live in an area with a very good zoo, so I was underwhelmed by the zoo. It is a good zoo; I believe it was ahead of its time for a long time...but no longer. I don't remember any specific resturants...sorry! Enjoy your friends; they will be happiest to see YOU!!

The 2 links are:
crabcatcher.com
sdreader.com

Sorry for the typo..

We did the trip to Mexico from San Diego...it was...Ok...I mean, I wouldn't do it again. We took the train to the border, crossed over, took the cab to the strip in Tijuana, walked it, shopped, BARGAIN HARD, (things were sooo over priced) had a margarita, took the cab back to the border and stood in line for 1.5 hrs. to get back to the train, 45 min. train back. This trip was from about
1PM until 8PM.
To me, a big waste of time.

I wished we had seen more of San Diego.
Oh well, Next trip!

We drove over to Coranado, then kept
driving down to Imperial Beach...
walked out on the pier and had fish
tacos at the joint at the end. Cheap!
The best view to dine and watch the sun go down.

Have fun! Just walking around Gas Lamp and having a drink somewhere cool is impressive. That area is amazing. GO for a cocktail at the rooftop bar at the Marriott. It is wonderful up there! The view! wow. I wish I was there right now in front of that fire pit...

We were in San Diego last week, and had dinner at a terrific restaurant in La Jolla called Sammy's California Woodfired Pizza. It's a gourmet pizza restaurant that also serves delicous tapas and other entrees besides pizza.

Are you 21 yet? It sounds from your post as if you're not.If you and your friends go to TJ to drink, don't forget that the SD police may be waiting for you at the border. They do that a lot over Spring Break.

You can whale watch from the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma without the expense of the boat trip. Plus you get awesome views of San Diego.

If you go to Mexico, and drive over, the wait to get back into the states was backed up for hours! Our cab driver said the wait can be about 3 hours to get back in. The train is a quicker option!!

How about Little Italy for a meal? We really enjoyed Filippe's.

Also, if you get to the zoo before it opens there are alot of locals with season passes to the zoo. They are allowed to take 1 guest in with them each time they visit. While we were in line a man approached us and asked if one of us would like to get in for free with him. We noticed several other locals offering up a free pass to others. Of course this is just luck of the draw so to speak. But if you're planning to do the zoo (which I loved) I would get there before the gates open.

kono's for breakfast is a great place to start your day.
i enjoy going whale watching just for the boat ride. there are quite a few people who get sea sick though. tell your friends to take some drugs for nausea if they think this may happen to them.
re mexico. if you are all over 18 i'd recommend skipping tj and go to rosarito beach. it's a nice drive down and there are some fun bars. have a "dd" and be smart. lots of stupid young drunks get in trouble down there over spring break.
another thing i liked to do with guests is we'd pick up some food from von's deli and go spend some time down at sunset cliffs while enjoying dinner. it's beautiful.
go to blacks beach and watch the hangliders.

Here are some restaurant suggestions. We live a few hours from San Diego and travel over there a lot. Going there next weekend for a wedding, in fact. And when we go we like to try new places or suggested places.

Here are a few ideas; If your people like Sushi, San Diego has wonderful sushi restaurants. Sushi Itto downtown and Hillcrest is one of our favorites. Zenbu in La Jolla is another. Other posters can probably suggest other favorites. There are many good ones to choose from.

For fish, The Fishery in the Bird Rock area (south of LaJolla) is one of our favorite seafood restaurants in San Diego. No view but great food, selection, and prices. We have also had great fish meals at Jakes in Del Mar.

For cheap, Pt Loma Seafoods for lunch (their crab cake sandwich is to die for) is wonderful. You can sit outside and fend off the gulls. Also Rubios Fish Tacos are favorites for cheap eats, and In and Out Burger also good cheap burgers, but you might have enjoyed those already.

On the beach, we have had good meals at World Famous in Mission and even better at Jakes on the Beach. Green Flash a few doors down is also pretty good. You can sit outside and enjoy the sunset there.

We love Balboa Park. It is one of the most beautiful places in San Diego, in my opinion. The architecture is amazing and it is just a lovely place to stroll around, poke into a museum, grab a coffee and spend the afternoon, morning.

The village in La Jolla is also a fun place to walk around. Many good restaurants there. George's has always been a favorite. You can sit on the balcony and order food and enjoy the view. Nice shopping there too.

Just driving around the scenic drives of La Jolla or around Coronado is nice. Amazing views.

And we love the Gaslamp because you can walk around and enjoy the night life atmosphere, pick your own restaurant by looking at the menus. Lots of different cuisines to choose from and of course awesome Italian. And Little Italy does have some wonderful food and ambience as well. Fantasticos is very good and there are some other new places there too.

Have fun. It is a wonderful, beautiful city with some of the greatest food ever. Enjoy yourself. Hope your guests are paying...

Anthony's Grotto or Star of the Sea restaurants are usually popular with visitors because of the great selection of seafood. We also like the Prado, out in Balboa Park.

If you drive further down into Mexico (30 or 40 more minutes) you can go to Puerto Nuevo for lobster tacos. The famous restaurant is called "Puerto Nuevo #1" and on the weekends its always got a LOOOONG line outside of it, we've eaten there before and its great, but right next door is "Puerto Nuevo #2" which is owned by the same person (at least that's word on the street), has the same prices (about $18 for a whole lobster, cut in half and fried, served with refried beans, mexican rice, soup or salad, and salsa and fresh flour tortillas. Yummy!), and never has a long wait (simply because of the fame of "Puerto Nuevo #1). Just remember to bring cash because you have to take a toll highway that costs about $8 roundtrip (they take US money), but the restaurants take credit cards. I think its fun to go to Puerto Nuevo. I took my family there for Lobster tacos when they visited in August, my mom found nice little souvenirs. Tijuana is pretty sobering the first time, so I don't really recommend hanging around there more than you have to, but there are some pretty good restaurants there too, such as "La Cantina de Los Remedios", and "Sanborns" is always a safe bet too. Also, when you first drive into Tijuana from San Diego keep your eyes peeled, because on your right near a small variety store there is a sort of outdoor shopping area with a dirt parking lot with a lot of different sellers of pottery and other souvenirish stuff that is MUCH cheaper than on Ave. Revolucion.
I used to always park in the US and take the bus over because I was paranoid about something happening to my car, and then the first few times we drove over we always paid about $12 for a day of Mexico car insurance, but now I just drive right over with no worries. But I only take day trips into TJ and usually park on very busy streets or private lots within the city (I'm not crazy!). Whatever you do, don't just walk across the border to Ave. Revolucion. It's too depressing with all the little kids selling bubble gum. When my brother and I went the first time back in 2002, we walked over and got so depressed by the dirtiness and the poverty that we only stayed for one hour and then we left. And make sure everyone brings their IDs so you can cross back over with no delays (of course you already knew that!). Let me know if you need more details about directions or anything.

Have you thought about getting Go San Diego Cards they include shopping/dining deals and low-cost price for all the major attractions. Might be a good deal if you want to do whale watching and rent surfing equiptment and go to mexico (i believe all that is included with the card) http://www.gosandiegocard.com...ohhh and guess what, I just looked AND their on sale (prob. for spring break)

Some great places to eat- The Little Fish Market or King Seafood Company in Mission Valley

Alfonsos of La Jolla-Mexican- great great food

Don't worry they will have a great time, i'm sure they're more excited to see you than just the city! Have a great time.

www.gosandiegocard.com

sorry (my oohh and ahhh got caught in the link!)